A question: It is weird. While I prefer my input separate, I absolutely cannot stand audio only courses, like Pimsleur. I've tried a few times and failed miserably every single time. I was having problem with focus, perhaps similarily to Arthaey (who has just reminded me of this issue), my retention was low, my comprehension of what exactly they were saying wasn't stellar either. Any ideas what to do about that? Do I need to continue ignoring Pimsleur (no matter the fact I believe it is a good start in a language) or is there any kind of solution? Are there transcripts?
I've found I can use audio only courses without my mind wandering if I have something active to focus my eyes on. I did a bunch of lessons of Hindi Pimsleur in December while watching the cricket and it worked well and during the recent Ashes series I listened to JapanesePod101 and "Deutsch Warum Nicht". Actually, my mind did wander, but from the cricket, a wicket would be taken and I'd suddenly realise I had no idea who was bowling .
Cavesa wrote:While I prefer my input separate
I also prefer my input to be separate. A few years ago I always felt guilty because course instructions and forum posts constantly made me feel like I should be reading and listening at the same time. "Assimil is useless without audio" one person would say, "You'll develop bad pronunciation if you only read" another would chime in, "Shadow it!", "L/R!", "Take full advantage of the course!". But I get to the end of reading an Assimil lesson and say "Phew, that was nice, I feel so relaxed... hey let's do some more learning!". I get to the end of a session of simultaneous listening/reading and I am completely drained of energy, couldn't possibly do anything more.
These days I look at a course book and think "Hey let's spend a few minutes reading a lesson, that'll be fun", I used to look at them and think "Oh god, I should really be studying, erg but it'll be so much effort, ahhh, maybe later when I've got a bit more energy to deal with it".