Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
find that the Michel Thomas method moves more quickly than Pimsleur and includes more
technical detail.
During the Second World War, Michel Thomas found it necessary to learn several
languages quickly in order to survive. Along the way, he developed his own system that he
used first to become fluent in nine different languages, and later to prepare many prominent
figures—such as Grace Kelly prior to her marriage to the prince of Monaco— for situations
in which they would be required to speak a foreign language with a certain level of ease.
Later in his long life, he made his system generally available, and I recommend it as the
perfect follow-up to Pimsleur because of its emphasis on teaching grammatical structures
within the context of practical sentences. At time of writing, the Michel Thomas method is
currently available in twelve languages and is being extended to others as time goes on.
If the Michel Thomas method is not available in your chosen language, I recommend
an online search using the following guidelilnes to identify your best options. First, avoid
rote memorization as much as possible—your brain would much rather learn languages in
context. Look for titles that refer to conversation, and be willing to start from the very be-
ginning of a new technique. Most methods move more quickly than Pimsleur, so at worst
you'll be reviewing only for a short time; in all likelihood, you'll be filling in gaps in your
knowledge very quickly.
For reading, one fact that I haven't mentioned yet is that there are typically Pimsleur
daily reading lessons that can be used once the tenth audio lesson has been completed.
These lessons are a good place to start for basic literacy. The unique feature of the Pimsleur
reading lessons is that they focus on matching the written symbols of the new language
with the sounds that you've been learning to make, so when you begin, you'll be learning
to say words without knowing what they mean. This may seem strange at first, but over
time you'll come to appreciate the wisdom of the method, as your already very good pro-
nunciation will become excellent. Each lesson takes about five minutes to complete, and
if you're working with a partner, I recommend doing the lessons separately first and then
reviewing them together. You can do the lessons one day and review the next, if finding
time is a challenge.
Once you've completed all the Pimsleur reading lessons, you'll be in a strong posi-
tion to begin a book and/or CD series, an online course such as duoLingo, or a computer-
based program such as Fluenz. You may wonder, though, why I haven't discussed Rosetta
Stone up to this point, given all the publicity surrounding it. The answer is that, while
Rosetta Stone is valuable as a vocabularybuilding tool, it has a few limitations, in my opin-
ion, that make it less than ideal for those starting in a new language. The first and most
serious limitation is that from the first time you use Rosetta Stone, you'll see the words that
you're learning to pronounce: if the language involves the Roman alphabet, this fact can
interfere with the development of correct pronunciation in subtle ways. Although Rosetta
Stone does have techniques in place to help with the development of a correct accent, it's
