Can The Pimsleur Spanish Course Be Used For Effective Learning Of The Spanish Language

Before starting on the discussion, you might want to consider this tip when you start studying Spanish at home.

Being in a relaxed and receptive state of mind can be enormously helpful when studying. Back in the 1970's, a Bulgarian professor of psychiatry and psychotherapy - Dr.Georgi Lozanov - developed an accelerated learning method of teaching languages, which he called "Suggestology" or "Suggestopedia". This method has many aspects, but one of the most important is to provide a comfortable and relaxing learning environment. One of the techniques he used was to play classical Baroque music to students while they were in class. The Baroque selections used for this are usually largo and adagio movements that have a rhythm of about 60 Beats Per Minute. Some examples are the Pachelbel Canon in D Major, the Albinoni Adagio, and the Largo from the Vivaldi Guitar Concerto. Lozanov found that if he played the music in the background while he was teaching, the students absorbed and remembered many more words than they did when not exposed to the music. Playing beautiful music while youre studying is something you can add for free to any home study course. Just find a piece of Baroque music that you really enjoy and let it play in the background while you concentrate on your lessons.

To continue with the main topics of this article - What I am really asking here, is whether or not a self study Spanish course can be effective, what the necessary ingredients are to make it so, and what the benefits of self study are compared to a traditional language course with a teacher and other students. I will also explain what it is that makes the Pimsleur language courses so unique and effective.

One of the principal ingredients for effectively learning a language is comittment and regularity. More specifically, it translates to learning something new every day. It soon adds up, and in addition it keeps you involved with the Spanish language. A self-study Spanish course makes this very simple. You don't need to leave the house to go out to a course, and you don't need to waste time commuting.

Another factor for success is ease of use under different conditions. If you can take the language course with you, you are then able to study on your way to work, while out and about, on vacation, etc. like this you can make good use of time that would instead be wasted, and this makes it easier to continue your commitment and consistency to the language study.

Cost is another factor to keep in mind if you are going to learn a language. Self study is far cheaper than going to regular classes at a good language school. If you consider the cost of 3-5 lessons each week at a serious language institute, over a period of a few months, you will immediately see that even the most costly home study course will be a good deal cheaper.

In the end, however, it all boils down to how effective a self-study course is - and here is where the Pimsleur Spanish course shines. The procedure developed by Dr. Pimsleur relies on two core principles - the first is the "Principle of Anticipation", which requires you to "anticipate" a correct answer. This is implemented by giving you questions to which you can easily anticipate the answers, following on from what was previously said. The next principal is that of "Graduated Interval Recall" which is based on asking you questions about material that was presented before, at continually greater intervals. This principal makes the learning almost effortless. In addition since the course is only audio, it's simple to have with you on a digital music player and to learn while traveling to work or going for a walk.