The most effective ways to learn a foreign language. The best methods for learning English

If you did not learn the language at school or college, then you should not worry and think that you are incapable of this: you could not learn it there.

By themselves, the school or college programs (if it is not about special program courses with a language bias) do not assume that you will be able to speak freely or correspond in a foreign language with friends, watch films without translation, read literature, etc.

London is the capital of Great Britain

The task of school and university programs is to lay the basic foundations, to acquaint students with the very process of learning a foreign language, to a greater extent than with the language itself. That is, not even the language itself is taught, but a certain subject that tells about learning a foreign language, with a certain number of examples.

But the most serious drawback of studying at a school or a non-core institute can be considered the fact that they teach everything in a row. How many useless details fall upon the mind of the trainee! But it is believed that better student will be buried under them, but he was given all the information.

At the same time, the conscience of the teacher is clear, as well as the cranium of the student is clear - in terms of mastering the language.

This way of teaching is similar to explaining how to find the right door: “First, go down the corridor straight to the first door, you don’t need to go there. After it, too, straight ahead, and not to the right, because to the right is a dead end. There will be a corridor on the left, there are two benches in it. Uncle Petya brought them last month and put them up after the holiday. You don't need to enter this corridor. Then there will be a turn to the right, there are such steep steps - pass by, you do not need to go there. Next, you will see two green doors on the left and three blue doors on the right. There is a window between them, but the view is not very interesting. The door you need is the last one in the hallway. In general, it is immediately visible from the entrance - if you enter from the right wing, and not in the center.

See how much unnecessary information? After all, one could immediately just tell the person that he needed another entrance to the building.

Approximately the same is felt by a person studying in a school or “regular” university program. Hence the apathy and unwillingness to learn the language, the prevailing idea that 95% is a routine and hard work.

However, this is not quite true. Methods of learning foreign languages ​​have evolved along with society, and now you can master a foreign language, already without those wasted time and boring lessons that you remember from your experience of learning in high school. Below we list the main methods of teaching a foreign language that you need to pay attention to.

Grammar-translational (lexico-grammatical, traditional) method.

The grammar-translation (traditional) method was one of the first methods of teaching. Initially, he largely repeated the programs for studying "dead languages" (Latin, Greek, etc.), where almost all educational process reduced to reading and translation. Its foundations were laid by enlighteners in the 18th century, and by the middle of the 20th, this technique was called the “Grammar-translational method” (“Grammar-translation method”).

According to this method, language proficiency consists of memorizing a certain number of words and knowledge of grammar. The learning process consists in the fact that the student consistently studies different grammatical schemes and replenishes his vocabulary. Text educational materials- this is the so-called artificial text, in which the meaning of what you say is not important, what matters is how you say it.

Most of the school programs, remember the well-known "family" exercises, when a student who has not yet woken up dejectedly mumbles the memorized: "My name is Ivan. I live in Moscow. My father was an engineer, my mother cooks…”.

The traditional method of teaching foreign languages ​​is somewhat outdated, it is considered boring, difficult, and the result is achieved too long - a lot of boring and difficult grammar rules, a lot of words that need to be crammed, dreary texts that need to be read and translated, and sometimes retelling. A teacher who interrupts and corrects mistakes all the time. All this boring stuff lasts for several years, and the result does not always live up to expectations.

The main disadvantage of the traditional method is that it creates ideal conditions for the emergence of what is called a language barrier, since a person does not speak, but simply combines words using grammatical rules.

This method dominated until the end of the 50s and was the only one with which absolutely everyone was trained - there simply were no other methods. Classes were held according to the scheme: read - translate, read - translate. This technique greatly reduced motivation and interest in classes.

But even then, many were wondering: why make a philologist out of a person - if he just wants to learn to speak and write in a foreign language, to understand it? A person needs practical skills, not a second specialty. At that time, the learner actually received knowledge about the language, and not the language itself; he distinguished well one grammatical construction from another, but he was not able to ask a simple question to a foreigner, being, for example, abroad.

However, despite all the shortcomings, the traditional method also has advantages - it allows you to learn grammar in high level in addition, this method is well suited for people with highly developed logical thinking, who are able to perceive the language as a set of grammatical formulas.

In the mid 50s traditional method no longer meet the basic linguistic requirements. As a result, dozens of alternative methods have covered the linguistic space with riotous young shoots. However, the traditional method, although it has changed a lot, has not lost its position and continues to successfully exist in the form of a modern lexical and grammatical method, according to which well-known language schools work.

The modern lexico-grammatical method is aimed at teaching the language as a system consisting of 4 main components - speaking (oral speech), listening (listening), reading, writing. The greatest attention is paid to the analysis of texts, writing essays, presentations and dictations. In addition, students must learn the structure and logic of a foreign language, be able to correlate it with their native language, understand their similarities and differences. This is impossible without a serious study of grammar and without the practice of two-way translation. The method is recommended for those who are just starting to learn a foreign language, as well as for those who have a strong logical and mathematical thinking.

Communicative method

It is by far the most popular study method. foreign languages- after the already described traditional. For the early 70s, it became a real breakthrough, because the main goal of this method is to teach a person to interact with other people in the language being studied, which includes all forms of communication: speech, writing (both reading and writing skills), listening and understand what the speaker is saying. This is most easily achieved by teaching a person in vivo- natural, first of all, in terms of common sense. For example, a teacher's question "What is this?" pointing to a chair can be considered natural only if the teacher does not really know what it is, etc.

The modern communicative method is a combination of many ways of teaching foreign languages. Today it is the top of the evolutionary pyramid of various educational methods.

The communicative method is suitable for most people, it allows you to learn a foreign language faster and more consciously. It is this method that the ITEC School of Foreign Languages ​​uses in its work.

Immersion method (Sugesto pedia)

This program appeared in the late 70s, and for many it became a hope, amid the dull cramming and methodical hammering of material.

According to this method, you can learn a foreign language by becoming another person for the period of study - a native speaker. Learning the language in this way, all students choose names for themselves, come up with biographies. Due to this, the audience creates the illusion that the students are in a completely different world - in the world of the language being studied. All this is done so that any person in the learning process can fully adapt to a new environment, relax, being in a game environment, open up, and speech and language skills become as close as possible to a native speaker.

That is, it is better to speak like a "fictional Jack" than like a "real Ivan".

The method can be suitable for creative people who like to improvise.

Silent way

According to the method called "Method of Silence" (it appeared in the 60s), knowledge of the language was originally embedded in the person himself, and the most important thing is not to interfere with the student and not impose the teacher's point of view.

Following this technique, the teacher does not speak a single word in the language being studied, so as not to knock down the students' subjective perception of the language.

When teaching pronunciation, the teacher uses color tables, on which each color or symbol represents a certain sound, and thus presents new words. For example, to "say" the word "pencil" - "pencil", you first need to show the box denoting the sound "p", then the box denoting the sound "e", etc.

Thus, knowledge of the language is formed at the level of the system of conditional interactions, up to the subconscious, which, according to the authors, should lead to brilliant results.

In addition, the authority of the teacher does not put pressure on the students, and the level of language knowledge of the teacher does not affect the level of language knowledge of the students. As a result, the student may know the language better than his teacher.

Unfortunately, training in this way can take a very long time.

Method of physical response (Total-physical response)

Another interesting method is called the physical response method. Its main principle is that you can only understand what you have passed through yourself, literally, “felt”.

Classes are held in the following way: the student at the first stages of training does not say a word - after all, first he must receive a sufficient amount of "passive" knowledge. During the first lessons, the student constantly listens to foreign speech, he reads something, but at the same time does not say a single word in the language being studied. Then, in the process of learning, there comes a period when he must already react to what he heard or read - but only react by action.

First, words denoting physical movement are studied. For example, when they learn the word "stand up", everyone gets up, "sit down" - they sit down, etc. . A good effect is achieved due to the fact that a person passes all the information received through himself.

It is also important that in the process of learning a language this method students communicate (directly or indirectly) not only with the teacher, but also among themselves.

This method is great for introverts - people who prefer to listen rather than talk.

Audio-lingual method

In a sense, this method is built on rote learning. On the initial stage learning, the student repeatedly repeats the phrase heard after the teacher. And as soon as the pronunciation reaches the desired level, the student is allowed to insert some phrases from himself, but further work comes down to the same principle - heard-reproduced. This method is well suited for people with pronounced auditory perception.

Today there are more than 100 methods of learning foreign languages, most of of which are not very efficient, and are a common way of earning money for enterprising people.

First of all, this is the method of the 25th frame, coding, neuro-linguistic programming, etc. similar techniques.

Remember - learning a language is not possible without effort.

But you can make this training interesting and motivating for further study of foreign languages, the desire to understand and feel in another language.

Learning a new language is complex and individual. While some are banging their heads against the wall, trying to memorize at least “my name is Vasya”, others already easily read Hamlet in the original and communicate with foreigners at ease. Why is it so easy for them to learn? Are there any special secrets of mastering a foreign language? You will learn more about this below.

How do we learn a language

When someone says they are unable to learn new language, then I want to object in response.

Anyone can learn a new language. This ability is hardwired into our brains from birth. It is thanks to her that we unconsciously and naturally master our native language. Moreover, being placed in an appropriate language environment, children are able to master a foreign language without any effort.

Yes, then we go to school, learn grammar and punctuation, polish and improve our knowledge, but the basis of our linguistic skills is precisely the base that is laid down in early childhood. Please note that this happens without any tricky techniques, language classes and teaching aids.

Why can't we, as adults, just as easily learn a second, third, fourth language? Maybe this linguistic ability is inherent only in children, and as they grow older it disappears?

Partly it is. The older we get, the more our brain plasticity (its ability to create new neurons and synapses) decreases. In addition to purely physiological obstacles, there is one more. The fact is that the process of language acquisition in adulthood fundamentally different from children. Children are constantly immersed in the learning environment and gain new knowledge at every step, while adults, as a rule, allocate certain hours for classes, and use their native language the rest of the time. Not less than importance also has motivation. If a child simply cannot live without knowing the language, then an adult without a second language is quite capable of successfully existing.

This is understandable, but what practical implications can be made from these facts?

How should we learn the language

If you want to quickly and efficiently master a foreign language, then during training you should try to follow some simple advice. They aim to minimize the effect age-related changes your brain, and also help you go through the whole process as easily and imperceptibly as children do.

Spaced repetitions

This technique allows you to better memorize new words and concepts. It lies in the fact that you must repeat the studied material at certain intervals, and the further, the smaller these intervals. For example, if you are learning new words, then they should be repeated several times during one lesson, then repeated the next day. Then again after a few days and finally fix the material after a week. Here is how this process looks like on a graph:

One successful application that uses this approach is . The program is able to keep track of which words you have learned and reminds you to repeat them after a certain time. At the same time, new lessons are built using the material already studied, so that the knowledge you have gained is fixed quite firmly.

Learn a language before bed

Mastering a new language requires, for the most part, simply memorizing large amounts of information. Yes, for grammar rules it is desirable to understand their application, but in general you will have to memorize new words already along with examples. For better memorization, do not miss the opportunity to repeat the material again before going to bed. A study by American scientists has confirmed that memorization before going to bed is much stronger than during a lesson during the day.

Learn content, not just language

Teachers with great experience are well aware that the abstract study of a foreign language is much more difficult than if it is used to master any interesting material. This is also confirmed by scientists. For example, an experiment was recently set up in which one group of participants studied French in the usual way, and the other was instead taught one of the basic subjects in French. As a result, the second group showed significant progress in listening comprehension and translation. Therefore, make sure to supplement your classes with the consumption of content that is interesting to you in the target language. This can be listening to podcasts, watching movies, reading books, etc.

We are all constantly busy, and making time for full-fledged activities is not so easy. Therefore, many people limit themselves to 2-3 hours a week, specially allocated for a foreign language. However, it is much better to practice, albeit less in time, but every day. Our brain does not have such a large buffer of RAM. When we try to cram the maximum amount of information into it in one hour, overflow quickly sets in. Much more useful are small in duration, but frequent classes. Just perfect for this, special ones are suitable that will allow you to practice at any free moment.

Mix old and new

We try to quickly advance in learning and get more new knowledge. However, this is not entirely correct. Things go much better when the new is mixed with already familiar material. So we not only learn fresh material more easily, but also consolidate the lessons learned. As a result, the process of mastering a foreign language is much faster.

Maria Golod, Academic Director of the Linguistic Center of the Institute of Foreign Languages, tells us about some interesting methods of teaching foreign languages.

Throughout the history of mankind, a great many different educational methods have been developed. At first, all methods of teaching foreign languages ​​were borrowed from programs designed to teach the so-called "dead languages" - Latin and Greek, in which almost the entire educational process was reduced to reading and translation.

It is this method, the foundations of which were laid by the enlighteners at the end of the 18th century, that took shape by the middle of the 20th under the name "Grammar-translational method" (grammar-translational method).

According to this method, language proficiency is grammar and vocabulary. The process of improvement is understood as a movement from one grammatical scheme to another. Thus, a teacher planning a course on this method first thinks about what grammar schemes he wants to cover. Then, texts are selected for these topics, from which individual sentences are singled out, and everything ends with a translation. First - from a foreign language to the native, then - vice versa. As for the text, it is usually the so-called artificial text, in which practically no meaning is given to the meaning (it is not so important what you say, it is important how you say it).

A good example of such a text is the "conversational topic" that everyone remembers from school days called "Bob's family", within which the following material is worked out: "Bob's family is very good. His father is a worker, his mother is a doctor. They have a dog. At the end of the week they have a week-end where they all eat Sunday pudding."

Despite some well-deserved complaints, this method has a number of advantages. Firstly, it really allows you to learn grammar at a very high level. Secondly, this method is very good for people with highly developed logical thinking, for whom it is natural to perceive language precisely as a set of grammatical formulas. The main disadvantage is that the method creates ideal conditions for the emergence of the so-called language barrier, since a person in the process of learning stops expressing himself and begins not to speak, but simply combines words through certain rules. This method the study of foreign languages ​​dominated until the end of the 50s and was practically the only one with which everyone was taught. By the way, all brilliant and phenomenally educated translators until recently were trained in this way.

In the mid-1950s, it became obvious that the method did not meet the requirements of linguistics that had been formed by that time. The result was the birth huge amount various techniques. I would like to talk about some of them in more detail.

According to the method called "Silent way" (method of silence), which appeared in the mid-60s, the principle of teaching a foreign language is as follows. Knowledge of the language is inherent in the person who wants to learn it, and the most important thing is not to interfere with the student and not to impose the teacher's point of view. Following this technique, the teacher initially does not say anything. Teaching on junior levels pronunciation, he uses complex color tables, on which each color or symbol stands for a certain sound, and thus presents new words. For example, to "say" the word "table", you first need to show the box that represents the sound "t", then the box that represents the sound "hey", and so on. Thus, manipulating in the learning process all these squares, sticks and the like symbols, the student is moving towards the intended goal, practicing the material covered with his classmates.

What are the advantages of this method? Probably, the fact that the level of knowledge of the teacher's language has practically no effect on the level of knowledge of the student's language, and in the end it may turn out that the student as a result will know the language better than his teacher. In addition, in the learning process, the student is forced to express himself quite freely. It should be noted that this method is very good for lovers of high technology.

Another interesting method is called "Total-physical response". The basic rule of this method is: you cannot understand what you have not passed through yourself. According to this theory, it is the student who says nothing in the first stages of learning. First, he must obtain a sufficient amount of knowledge, which goes into a liability. For about the first twenty lessons, the student constantly listens to foreign speech, he reads something, but does not say a single word in the language being studied. Then, in the process of learning, there comes a period when he must already react to what he heard or read - but only react by action. It all starts with the study of words meaning physical movements. So, for example, when they learn the word "stand up", everyone gets up, "sit down" - sit down, and so on. And only then, when the student has accumulated quite a lot of information (at first he listened, then he moved), he becomes ready to start talking. This method is good, first of all, because the student feels very comfortable in the learning process. The desired effect is achieved due to the fact that a person passes all the information received through himself. It is also important that in the process of learning a language using this method, students communicate (directly or indirectly) not only with the teacher, but also with each other.

It is impossible not to pay attention to the so-called immersion method ("Sugesto pedia"), the triumph of which took place in the 70s. According to this method, one can master a foreign language by becoming (at least for the period of study) a completely different person. Learning the language in this way, all students in the group choose new names for themselves, come up with new biographies. Due to this, the audience creates the illusion that they are in a completely different world - in the world of the language being studied. All this is done so that any person in the learning process can completely relax, open up, and his speech becomes as similar as possible to the original. So that he speaks, for example, not like the real "Petya", but like a fictitious "John".

The next way to learn foreign languages, which I would like to talk about, appeared in the late 70s. It is called "Audio-lingual method" (audio-linguistic method). Its essence is as follows: at the first stage of training, the student repeatedly repeats what he heard after the teacher or the phonogram. And only starting from the second level, he is allowed to speak one or two phrases from himself, everything else consists, again, of repetitions.

The 70s were marked by the emergence of the so-called communicative method, the main purpose of which is to teach a person to communicate, to make his speech understandable to the interlocutor. In accordance with this method, this can be achieved by teaching a person in the so-called natural conditions - natural, first of all, from the point of view of common sense. For example, a teacher's question "What is this?" pointing to the table can be considered natural only if he really does not know what it is. The method that is called communicative, at present, in fact, is no longer it, although it pursues the same goal - to teach a person to communicate.

The modern communicative method is a harmonious combination of many, many ways of teaching foreign languages, being probably at the top of the evolutionary pyramid of various educational methods...

Vladimir Rastorguev, "Education and business"

How often do you notice that you feel uncomfortable without knowing any foreign languages? You didn't get the job you wanted, couldn't solve a problem in a hotel abroad or expanded your business? The more often you encounter such situations, the faster the understanding will come that to speak at least English is no longer a luxury, but a necessity dictated by modern life. Modern ones will allow you to quickly master the basic knowledge so that after a while you will feel confident in an unfamiliar language environment. Consider the most popular of them.

Rosetta Stone - an effective method of learning foreign languages

This language learning program was developed specifically for Windows, and today you can learn 34 languages ​​with it, including Welsh, although only in basic level. With its help, you can learn 7 languages ​​most deeply - Chinese, English (in two versions - British and American), Spanish (also in two versions - Spanish and English). Latin America), German, French, Italian, Russian. This is especially useful if you want to use the Work and Travel program.

The Rosetta Stone program uses a combination of text, sound and various images in such a way that the student can memorize words and grammar at an intuition level without using dictionaries. Each time the difficulty increases. For the main languages ​​listed above, there are five levels of difficulty, some languages ​​are given only at the basic level.

This method of learning foreign languages ​​offers the student a wide variety of tasks in order to better memorize. For example, when showing four photos detailed description given to only one of them. This photo is to be determined. Another example of tasks is the continuation of the description of the photo.

Correct pronunciation also plays an important role. To this end, the student uses a microphone, and his pronunciation is corrected as necessary. Written tasks are also offered, and an additional keyboard can be used to enter non-Latin characters.

Assessment is carried out at all stages of training. With systematic classes, the student can reach the level of knowledge of B2 languages, which will give a good impetus to further study.

"Language Resonance Matrix" - Nikolai Zamyatkin's Methods for Learning Foreign Languages

This modern method of learning foreign languages ​​is based on a combination of several principles, which result in a good command of the language. First of all, the student must have a real desire to learn the desired language.

A language environment is artificially created: television programs and films in the native language are excluded from viewing, reading books, communication in the native language is reduced to a minimum. As a result, the student experiences an information hunger, which can be filled by learning languages.

Then repeated listening to selected dialogues is offered. Best study methods: Set aside at least 3 hours per day for 10-15 days. If the first listening takes much more time until the student gets used to the sound and learns to distinguish sounds, then starting from the fifth dialogue, the time spent will decrease. At this stage, it is not necessary to translate, the task is only to distinguish between sounds and words.

This is followed by the stage of listening in combination with reading, that is, the student himself pronounces what he heard. After that, each of the dialogues is repeatedly pronounced with a breakdown into phonemes and imitation of intonations. This is allotted 25-30 dialogues that need to be read in a row for two months. There should be no confusion of languages ​​at any stage.

Best learning methods: after passing through this stage, it is proposed to proceed to reading books on topics of interest, and it is highly recommended not to “hover” over an unfamiliar word. Over time, the student will feel the need to start talking.

Ilya Frank's reading method - a modern method of accelerated learning of foreign languages ​​(video)

This modern method of learning foreign languages ​​is based on passive learning. That is, a person will not speak the language, since language practice is not expected here, but he will be able to successfully read books, replenishing vocabulary and mastering grammatical constructions. Then this knowledge can be successfully applied in conjunction with other techniques.

How does the training take place? An adapted text of a book is proposed, divided into paragraphs. Each sentence is interspersed with a translation with the necessary comments. Then the same text is offered without adaptation and translation.

First, the text is read with adaptation, then without it. Best learning techniques: It is necessary to capture the general meaning of a non-adapted text, even if some words are forgotten. There is no need to return to them, they will still be encountered more than once in the course of the text.

In the course of reading, the reader will now and then stumble upon already familiar words that no longer need translation. As soon as the number of familiar words reaches the moment when the given translation begins to annoy and interfere, it is worth starting to read in reverse. First read the unadapted passage, and then, if incomprehensible places remain, check with the adaptation.

In this article, we have presented only three effective methods of learning foreign languages but there are certainly many more. We will talk about others a little later. Choose the one that seems most convenient to you and get started. Don't put it off until tomorrow - because today you will be able to say your first sentence in a foreign language. Even if it's just a simple "hello".

It is necessary - people have understood this for a long time. And if earlier English was the most popular, now others, both European and rarer, have been added to it. In an effort to help everyone who wants to master knowledge faster, teachers and scientists come up with new ways of learning. For example, the study by the Pimsleur method has become extremely popular. Today we propose to find out what is remarkable about him.

Why learn foreign languages?

In the context of the rapid rapprochement of countries from economic, political, cultural and other points of view, knowing only the native dialect has become an unaffordable luxury. English is a necessary minimum that can be useful to any person at any time. Foreign online stores, instructions for use, some highly specialized articles, interesting books and films, travel - to access many of these benefits of humanity and realize their full potential, you need to know at least one foreign language.

It is not surprising that, realizing this, people began to develop various methods that allow them to assimilate new knowledge as quickly and efficiently as possible, in other words, to begin to speak and understand interlocutors from other countries. These methods are based on a variety of principles.

Basic principles of study

Polyglots and professionals say that if you wish, you can learn any language. For some it is easier to do this, for others it is more difficult, but it is extremely important to observe two principles: comprehensive practice and regularity. It is believed that learning foreign languages ​​is most effective from three main sides at once: reading, listening and speaking. As for the second principle, it is very simple - you can do it quite a bit, but every day. It is better if new information constantly arrives, as well as a repetition of the old. In the early stages, you can focus on vocabulary, but grammar will also be needed very soon, so it will not work to neglect it for a long time.

And yet, despite the fact that you will have to learn the same things, you can do it in completely different ways. Linguists, translators, philologists and just enthusiasts have developed a lot of ways over the years.

Modern techniques

If you do not mention each method specifically, conditionally they can all be divided into 6 large groups that involve certain memorization mechanisms. So, there are the following main methods of learning a foreign language:

1. Traditional (lexico-grammatical). Everyone, without exception, is familiar with it, because in accordance with this methodology, training programs are built in most educational institutions. According to this method, language memorization is based on learning words and grammatical rules, compiling your own sentences and translating in both directions. Programs according to this technique can be built according to a variety of principles, but they all have one thing in common - constant active practice.
2. Wednesday dive. As a rule, this method involves a temporary move to the country of the language being studied. However, without minimal knowledge, it is still useless - it is better to obtain relevant knowledge by applying it to known basic principles. The advantage of this approach in pure form consists in the simultaneous understanding of the culture of the country, the peculiarities of life in it, etc. On the other hand, part of the knowledge may be lost.
3. communicative method. Today it is the second most popular after the traditional one. In this case, the goal is to learn not to read or make dry sentences that are not related to life, but to start interacting with people using your knowledge. This group of techniques is considered the most advanced and effective, so its popularity is not surprising. A well-designed program can produce truly brilliant results.
4. Silence method. This approach assumes that the teacher does not "put pressure" on the student with his authority, does not influence his level of knowledge with his own, but simply guides. According to this technique, not a sound is pronounced in a foreign language until the study of transcriptions and reading rules is completed. This approach quickly fell out of favor, probably due to its time consuming and dubious effectiveness.
5. Physical response method. This method is also quite unusual due to the fact that students have to literally "pass through" all knowledge. The first lessons are based on the study of verbs, to which each student begins to react over time. At the word "stand up" he performs the necessary action, thus, remembering not abstract lexemes, but using associative memory.
6. audiolinguistic method. Often it is based on simple cramming according to the "hear - repeat" scheme. This is not suitable for everyone, since the perception of hearing is well developed in a few. It is to this group that the widely advertised method of Dr. Pimsleur belongs. But what makes him stand out from this group?

The Pimsleur method: the essence

This approach belongs to the last, audiolinguistic group. The standard course contains 90 lessons divided into three levels. The first one is for beginners and the other two are for advanced ones.

According to the creator of the methodology, the student does not need any textbooks, literally from the first lessons he will be able to start speaking. It is stated that this approach is patented and has been used by American intelligence services for several decades.

In fact, it all comes down to repeated listening and repeating some colloquial phrases, that is, certain communicative patterns are formed. It's valuable, but no language ends there.

Building Lessons

Each lesson lasts no more than half an hour, since it is believed that a long duration tires the student and reduces his level of motivation. In addition, scientists believe that this is the period during which the brain assimilates new information most effectively. Training involves one lesson per day, so the entire course is designed for approximately 3 months.

The lessons according to the method of Dr. Pimsleur involve the constant repetition of the information received during the previous lessons, later there are also tasks that involve the translation of previously memorized phrases. Thus, memory is trained and persistent patterns are formed for certain situations.

Efficiency

As already mentioned, almost all audiolinguistic methods do not justify the efforts of the student. They are convenient as a support, additional practice, but not the main approach. By themselves, the lessons of the method of Dr. Pimsleur are not something innovative or breakthrough. However, the right move was to make the duration of the lesson no more than half an hour, because otherwise the students would quickly get tired and start to be frankly bored.

Of course, everyone wants to find a miraculous way that allows you to immediately begin to speak a foreign language and understand it, but, unfortunately, this does not happen. The acquisition of knowledge, and even more so in such a complex area, requires a lot. This is probably why polyglots are so admired.

In addition, Paul Pimsler studied the mechanisms of language learning mainly on the example of children, who in this sense are very different from adults.

For Russian speakers

You can learn a range of Chinese, Greek, Hindi, Arabic, French, Spanish, German) using the Pimsleur method. This is also slightly suggestive, because no one-stop solution it can not be. True, such big choice available only to those who already know English, while the rest have to be content with much less. Whether this is due to the gradual fading of interest in the technique after the death of its creator or doubts about its effectiveness is unknown.

So, for example, the Pimsleur method for Russian speakers is limited to only the most popular language- English. However, there are many analogues that have a much larger set, but approximately the same effect. Few audio courses involve the study of grammar, and without it, the value of knowledge is reduced to almost nothing.

Advantages

Like any audiolinguistic approach, Dr. Pimsler's method immediately forms correct pronunciation and teaches to understand foreign speech by ear. Moreover, learning is not individual words, and phrases gives a certain advantage, which students are often deprived of in other approaches. In this case, a person does not have to form a phrase in their native language, and only then translate it into the desired one. Linguistic patterns allow you to react to certain situations immediately, without this delay, since constant practice produces an unambiguous reaction. However, this is also a disadvantage at the same time.

Flaws

Of course, the student will be able to ask a foreigner a question and even start a dialogue with him, but any deviation from the "standard" will be a kind of shock, and the same thing can be said completely different words. Replacing any word in an existing phrase is incredibly difficult, and Pimsleur lessons do not prepare very well for this.

The second major drawback is the focus of the approach solely on colloquial speech. A rather limited vocabulary is formed, and grammar generally remains undeveloped. In addition, students subsequently find it difficult to correlate written and oral speech. So there is no need to talk about a thorough and comprehensive study if only the Pimsleur method is used.