how to review Pimsleur?

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how to review Pimsleur?

Postby miket12 » Wed Jun 07, 2023 3:50 am

I'm closing in on finishing Pimsleur III Italian for a trip in September. Unfortunately Pimsleur does not include review tracks, so I'm wondering what people do to keep what they've learned fresh? I could simply pick lessons and random and redo them but that doesn't seem like an efficient use of time.
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Re: how to review Pimsleur?

Postby rdearman » Wed Jun 07, 2023 10:27 am

(I moved your post to "Practical Questions and Advice)

miket12 wrote:I'm closing in on finishing Pimsleur III Italian for a trip in September. Unfortunately Pimsleur does not include review tracks, so I'm wondering what people do to keep what they've learned fresh? I could simply pick lessons and random and redo them but that doesn't seem like an efficient use of time.

I don't think review is probably that useful, as you say. If I were you, I would sit down any write out some likely scenarios you're likely to encounter, and then try to create/review those phrases. But more importantly, the answers.

The first time I went to Italy I had spent a load of time learning a lot of phrases like from Pimsluer, etc. So I rocked up to this bloke in the street in Positano, handed him a bit of paper with my hotel address on it and said: Dov'è questo albergo?

And he not only understood me, he gave me complete and detailed instructions on where to find the hotel. And I didn't understand a single word he was saying! Eventually he worked out that although I could ask, I couldn't understand the answer, so he used hand gestures until I understood, and I managed to find the hotel.

So I recommend you knock up as many conversations as you are likely to have and try to bone up on the questions and the possible responses. As well as some other phrases you might want to know.

  • Mi dispiace. Per favore, puoi parlare lentamente? (Hand gestures for "slow down!" help too)
  • Puoi dirmi dove trovare un [INSERT]
  • Accetti carte di credito americane? (Some don't unless you have chip&pin)
  • Quale autobus prendo per raggiungere [PLACE]
  • Possiamo parlare in inglese?

So run through some conversations and try to anticipate answers:
- Can you tell me how to get to my hotel?
- Sure, carry on straight, turn right at the big church and then walk down about 200 metres and it will be on the left.
- I'm sorry, I didn't understand, can you say it in simpler language?
- Straight, Right at Church, down the road on the left.


Things like that, because it will show up the words you don't know. In fact you can try to give directions to your house from the nearest bus stop, train station, airport, etc. Then translate those into Italian and make sure you know the words for left, right, straight, across, north, south, east, west, etc.

So I'll give you some supplementary Pimsluer prompts, but you'll have to find the rest of the conversations yourself.

- Imagine you're an American man, and you're lost, how do you find your way back to the hotel?
- Imagine you're an American man, and you've just had your luggage stolen off the train, and now you have no passport and no clothes. (Happened to me in Rome)
- Imagine you're an American man, and you've now got to purchase 2 weeks worth of clothing because your luggage was stolen on a train in Rome.
- Imagine you're an American man, and you've now got to find the Embassy and get a new passport.
- Imagine you're an American man, and you want to tell the guy trying to sell you an umbrella to sod off.
- Imagine you're an American man, and you want to complain about the annoying thumping noise coming from the air conditioner.
- Imagine you're an American man, and you want to find a place that sells beer, pasta and cannolli.
- Imagine you're an American man, and you've said "Un latte per favore?" and they brought you a glass of milk.
- Imagine you're an American man, and you've been speaking to an Italian woman like you learned in Pimsleur, now imagine you're trying to convince her 6'-3' rugby playing boyfriend that you weren't hitting on his girlfriend before he breaks you into little pieces.
- Imagine you're an American man, and you're locked up in an Italian jail for making lewd comments and getting into a fight with someone's boyfriend, and you have no passport, injuries, a criminal record and you're about to be deported.

Maybe some of those are a little extreme, but good language practice! :lol: :lol:
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Re: how to review Pimsleur?

Postby iguanamon » Wed Jun 07, 2023 2:34 pm

There's a dirty little secret to language-learning... there's always more to learn. As an audio course, Pimsleur isn't made for reviewing. Some people put words and phrases into Anki and use that. Using another course alongside pimsleur helps to fill in gaps and consolidate what you've learned through the program. Something that would complement Pimsleur well would be a traditional textbook with audio course. Some of the older beginner's courses are available for free and legal download.

For example, the old Cortina course Conversational Italian in 20 Lessons would be a good way to review what you've learned in Pimsleur and consolidate that knowledge. This is a traditional textbook with audio course. The textbook is in PDF format. I don't print these out. I put them on my tablet and it's easy that way to read and listen to the audio simultaneously. The lesson units are dense, but with diligent study, you could finish the course before you go to Italy in September.

There are many other free and legal alternative courses available. The FSI beginner courses are available for free and legal download.

When I was learning Spanish, pre-internet, the Charles Berlitz "Spanish Step by Step" course was just a book and no audio (with built-in phonetic transcription under the Spanish). It served me well as it provided a good foundation. These books are available on abebooks or amazon cheap. Italian Step by Step as low as $5.37 USD on amazon.

You could also do Assimil Italian and get really far along with it... possibly even finishing it in the three months betwen now and your trip.

Having Pimsleur under your belt will mean you can breeze through a lot of the early lessons.
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Re: how to review Pimsleur?

Postby miket12 » Wed Jun 07, 2023 11:10 pm

thanks, these are some good ideas!
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Re: how to review Pimsleur?

Postby Wayfarer » Sat Jun 10, 2023 9:15 am

I've had the same question. Review is really important. I did have one idea about how to review with Pimsleur. Each lesson begins with a dialogue which contains many of the words, phrases, and structures taught in the lesson. Using Audacity (or something similar) you could turn each conversation into an MP3 file. Then you can listen to the conversations repeatedly and shadow them as a way to review. Also, you can pause between sentences and what you just heard as a template to make up your own sentences.
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Re: how to review Pimsleur?

Postby rowanexer » Mon Jun 12, 2023 11:08 pm

The Pimsleur app has flashcards and pronunciation practice if you have that. Otherwise I would move onto a different course, maybe Michel Thomas? Or an entirely different type of course like Assimil, Teach Yourself etc.

Or podcasts, comics, TV shows etc in Italian. Or find an Italian conversation group or classes.

Basically you need to be doing something with the language until September so that you don't forget everything. It doesn't need to be just repeating Pimsleur, in fact I would recommend moving onto something else so you can advance in the language.

Edited to add that the Pimsleur app has Italian IV and V so you could continue with that programme if you're enjoying it.
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