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 FSI Language Courses Forum : Learning Languages : General Discussion
Message Icon Topic: Should I spend my time with Pimsleur? Post Reply Post New Topic
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smoen
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Quote smoen Replybullet Topic: Should I spend my time with Pimsleur?
    Posted: 18 September 2006 at 9:58am
In particular, I am studying the Standard Chinese Course, and am about to begin with the French. I am wondering if there is any benefit to supplementing the FSI materials with, for example, the Pimsleur Materials. 
 
I have worked through the first 20 lessons or so of the Pimsleur Mandarin, and although I cover more vocabulary in a shorter time, (at least in the beginning), I don't seem to retain it as well.  With the FSI Standard Chinese materials, I am saying the Target sentences of the Orientation and Biographic modules in my sleep.  Am I gaining anything by going throught the Pimsleur materials as well?
 
This question would also apply to any of the languages which have both Pimsleur and FSI materials.
 
Thanks
SteveM
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bamboo
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Quote bamboo Replybullet Posted: 18 September 2006 at 9:39pm

My take is the Standard Chinese Course is one of the better FSI courses, if you prefer to listen only as their are detailed grammatical and idiomatic explanations as part of the Audio.  I am also using the FSI revised French and I find it less satisfying as it is mainly drills without audio grammatical explanations (their are explanations in the text).   I believe that the FSI Standard Chinese course will give you a good grounding in vocabulary and grammar, well beyond a Pimsleur course.  the FSI course also explains differences in Chinese spoken in Beijing and Taipei (roughly as representative of the way "Northerners" speak versus the way "Southerners" speak).  My suggestion is that if you want additional vocabulary, you can try some of the materials from www.chinesepod.com, which is also a free resource.  It is not as professionally done as the FSI STandard Chinese Course but as they have new podcast everyday, there is a lot of vocabulary.

With respect to FSI French, I've gone through the first three units and I found it a little bit unsatisfactory, mainly because of the lack of audio grammatical, idomatic and contextual explanations.  As a result, I've put it aside for now and have been using French in Action videos which are free from www.learners.org. I'm thinking of using the FSI French again, after I've gone through French in Action as drill exercise to reinforce what I've learned from French in Action. 
 
Bon Chance...
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bamboo
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Quote bamboo Replybullet Posted: 18 September 2006 at 9:50pm
Actually, thinking about my response, I think it should also be noted that whether you use Pimsleur may depend on your current level of skill set in Chinese and what your objectives would be.  I think Pimsleur system is a good way to start if you are starting off with zero knowledge of the language as it gives drills in small increments (and with very limited grammatical explanations).  However, it will not get you nearly as far as an FSI course will.  So if your aim is just to learn "enough" of the language for a short vacation then Pimsleur is a good tool.  However, if you have a goal for some higher level of language fluency, the FSI courses are better and in most case harder (the audio may not tell you everything, you may need to read the text etc.).
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Palomnik
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Quote Palomnik Replybullet Posted: 11 October 2006 at 10:27am
Personally, I have grave reservations about Pimsleur material; my impression is that in non-European languages they tend to force something like a literal translation of a term from English into the target language, even if at times it means using rare or obscure words in the other language.
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