You Learn a Language Without Trying
The brain works in mysterious ways. For example, coaches tell top tennis players not to focus consciously when they serve, but to mentally picture each serve hitting the line. You've surely noticed how they say things like "everything seemed to go just right for me."
The Pimsleur Approach works in a similar way. It "goes right" for you because your subconscious does the work – without you really trying. So you pick up your new language the way you picked up your first language – without real effort.
Of course, you must commit to one thing. You must allow at least half an hour a day to pick up your new language. By listening, repeating and having little "conversations" with your teacher, it seeps into your mind.
You don't have to worry about verbs, nouns or prepositions. There is no linguistic theory. No homework or exercises to complete. You just find yourself speaking and understanding as you go along.
The way it works is simple. You play audio recordings, listen and repeat. Then you join in simple, every day conversations – the kind you really have in a country. Like meeting someone, introducing yourself, ordering a drink.
You can hear yourself speak, so you know how you're doing. Gradually the level gets a little more complex and you gain confidence and vocabulary. It is the sheer simplicity and ease which convinced large organizations and national intelligence agencies, whose people cannot afford to make mistakes, to turn to Pimsleur.
So why not give it a try? You can be the judge- prove to yourself it works, or you pay nothing.
He Got His New Language in a Week
This is a true story from an advertising man who had a language problem. It shows how quickly you get results with the Pimsleur Approach.
"I used to have to visit our office in Frankfurt regularly to review work being created for our biggest client – American Express. It was embarrassing, because I couldn't speak the language. Not a word.
I knew what a difference it made, because when I went to our offices in Madrid or Paris, I had enough French and Spanish to get by.
I took Pimsleur German on holiday with me in Barbados. I spent less than an hour every day for seven days. I strolled up and down each morning outside our chalet looking at the ocean, headphones on, listening and repeating.
When I went to Frankfurt shortly afterwards, my colleagues were really astonished. So was I, to be honest!" - Drayton Bird, Bristol, England.
And if you'd like to try this remarkable method yourself, it's just a click away.
4 Key Scientific Principles Make Pimsleur So Effortless
1. GRADUATED INTERVAL RECALL
Dr. Pimsleur discovered that if you are reminded of new words or facts at gradually increasing intervals in a given period, something extraordinary happens. Each time you remember them longer than the time before. That's because the word or fact moves from your short-term to your long-term, permanent memory.
2. PRINCIPLE OF ANTICIPATION
Have you noticed how in everyday conversation you come to understand what is said to you and "anticipate" the right reply? Dr. Pimsleur discovered how to initiate this dynamic "input/output" system and thus form new connections in your brain. Systematically asking you to understand and reply activates this principle of anticipation.
3. CORE VOCABULARY
We don't normally use that many words in our native language. That's why no matter what language you want to speak, you only need to master a limited number of words to do so effectively. Those words give you a "framework" for accelerated language learning.
4. ORGANIC LEARNING
The Pimsleur Method centers on functional mastery. You speak and understand right from the very first session. Your brain does all the work: acquiring the sounds, feeling the rhythm, and getting the intonation right - just as you learned your first language.
You WILL Succeed-Just Make the Time-No Need to Struggle
Some things are so obvious and natural that we forget them – till someone points them out to us. It is obvious and natural that the only logical way to gain a new language is the way you learned your own language to start with, isn't it?
You heard adults speaking, and you copied them. You never thought "I am learning". You didn't even know what learning was.
You never got told, "This is a noun". "This is a verb". "Don't use a double negative."
No, you were immersed in the language. You listened, your brain took it in – then one day you started making sounds, and the sounds were right. There was no conscious effort.
That's how the Pimsleur Approach works. Listen, repeat, converse. And one day you're thrilled to know you have mastered a wonderful new accomplishment - just as your family was thrilled all those years ago.
No more wondering how to ask the price. No more sitting at the table or in the meeting, tongue-tied, without a word to say, feeling inadequate.
You'll have achieved what you set out to do!