Pimsleur Review

What’s Included?

The program is audio-based and comes as a digital download with a mobile app. The Pimsleur Method has been employed by the FBI, the Marine Corps, Homeland Security, and the State Department. 

For those who enjoy learning the more traditional way, it also comes with books and audio CDs. If you’re a visual learner, an enhanced version of Pimsleur with interactive components is available called Pimsleur Premium.

Pimsleur has also recently launched its first subscription-based service (see details below), which can end up being a significantly lower price than purchasing outright. 

This enhanced version is currently available for top languages only:

• Spanish
• French
• German
• Italian
• Portuguese
• Mandarin
• Japanese
• English (for Spanish speakers)
• Russian

Format

• Pimsleur + Alexa Skill (Levels 1 to 5 - 150 thirty-minute lessons with reading lessons 80 hrs)
• Pimsleur Premium + Alexa Skill (Levels 1 to 5– 150 thirty-minute audio lessons, 1500 flashcards, 150 Speak Easy conversation transcripts, Speed Round vocabulary recall game, earn-as-you-learn Skills Badges, and 1500 quick matches.)  
• Pimsleur CD (Levels 1 to 5 - 150 thirty-minute lessons with reading lessons 80 hrs)

How Does It Work?

Pimsleur is based on four key principles developed by Dr. Pimsleur. It focuses on organic learning and how children acquire their communication skills.

He developed a method of organizing materials of a language so it can be taught as a steady stream of speech to enter the student’s consciousness and absorbed by the brain.

Graduated Interval Recall

One of the most important aspects of learning a new language is to build your vocabulary. This is done by constantly memorizing new words in order to create phrases or sentences. Other languages such as Rosetta or Fluenz achieve this by correlating pictures with words but Pimsleur does this through a series of audio tracks.

New words are introduced gradually with increasing “intervals” to help students remember words for a progressively longer time. This is done through a pre-determined interval to move these words from the short-term memory to permanent memory.

Principle of Anticipation

Communication is enabled through automatic responses in the brain. Pimsleur tries to build these reactions making responses automatic. New brain connections are made through exercises.

Learning is made through understanding, pausing for a response and reinforcing correct responses. This is done repeatedly until correct responses are given automatically.

Core Vocabulary  

Pimsleur builds your vocabulary by introducing a set number of words within a pre-determined time. This steady stream of words is stored and reinforced to build a student’s core vocabulary. But words are carefully chosen, those which are determined to be most useful for communicating effectively. It does not try to force a huge number of words which only serves to frustrate a student.

Pimsleur does not put emphasis on the amount of time needed to learn a course. It is designed to work at a pace that a student is most comfortable with. This they believe gives the brain the time it needs to digest the information and create a working vocabulary.

Organic Learning

Pimsleur brings about teaching by presenting each lesson in a conversational manner. 

Every new item introduced in a Pimsleur course is given within the context of a conversation or exchange. This helps learning and retention by allowing your brain to automatically integrate intonation, rhythm, melody, and pronunciation, to embedding prompts for your memory. Conversations are designed to help the student learn proper pronunciation and formulate responses automatically.

• Graduated Interval Recall - Memory building
• The Principle of Anticipation - Automatic brain response
• Core Vocabulary - Focused learning, limits on how much you learn at a given time
• Organic Learning - Language is learned in context rather than in a vacuum

Costs

Pimsleur Subscription Service - $14.95/month after 7-day free trial

Pimsleur's new subscription-based service offers the first week free and a pay-as-you-go membership that customers can cancel at any time online or by phone. Like Pimsleur's other services, the subscription service can have users speaking at an intermediate level in just 30 days. In fact, the subscripion content is identical to the one-time purchase content.

Pimsleur's subscription service provides access to all the lessons for a given language. So users have the option of working ahead if they so choose. 

Pimsleur's subscription service is available in the following languages:

• Arabic (Eastern)
• Arabic (Modern Standard)
• Mandarin
• Dari Persian
• English for Spanish Speakers
• Farsi Persian
• French
• German
• Greek
• Hebrew
• Hindi
• Italian
• Japanese
• Korean
• Norwegian
• Pashto
• Portuguese (Brazilian)
• Russian
• Spanish
• Tagalog

One-Time Purchase Pimsleur Plans

Pimsleur courses were traditionally based on lessons divided into 150 30-minute tracks. It was audio-based, instructing students to take 150 30-min audio lessons daily.

The Premium comes with additional interactive tools to enhance learning, including more visual tools, review tools, cultural pointers, and access to the Pimsleur Alexa Skill for Amazon Echo devices.

The complete course (Levels 1 to 5) in basic digital format (Pimsleur) costs $550, Pimsleur Premium is $575, and Pimsleur CD is priced at $1,190. The Pimsleur and Pimsleur Premium courses are now available as a new low-monthly subscription offer starting at just $14.95/month with a full 7-day Free Trial. This is a great option for people who don't need to own the product and are looking for an affordable solution.
 

Bottom Line

Pimsleur is a great way to start learning a new language. It is a nice way for students to grab their first bite.

With 50 years of experience and 50 languages to teach, Pimsleur is one of the best language software in the market today.