Learning Japanese the Pimsleur Way

I've always been fascinated with learning new languages, especially foreign languages. The thought of new mysterious lands, opened up to me by the power of knowing the language, has always been a thought that has captivated me.

Recently, I started learning Japanese. I'm learning Japanese through the Paul Pimsleur Training Method, developed by Dr. Paul Pimsleur. This is a really wonderful training program, which uses neuro-linguistic programming techniques to enhance the learning process. Though there are other training methods ( Michel Thomas, Linguaphone, Berlitz, Eurotalk, Rosetta Stone - one of the more popular ones), I've only used Pimsleur till now. You can visit their website by searching in google for pimsleur or going to this link

Dr. Pimsleur developed a new method (The Pimsleur Method) that is based on two key principles: the Principle of Anticipation and a scientific principle of memory training that he called "Graduated Interval Recall."

Simply put, the "Principle of Anticipation" means that in the lesson, our tutor makes a comment or poses a question, and we have to understand what he is asking, and respond appropriately. This involves construction of the proper response, and actual vocalisation of this sentence.

"Graduated Interval Recall" means that when we learn a new word, it resides in our short-term memory. If we use the newly learnt word within a minute, it strengthens in our memory. If forced to recall the new word at optimally graduated intervals, the word shifts from short-term memory to long-term memory. Pimsleur Courses take advantage of this method of functioning of the human brain, to make learning easier and faster.

The actual course consists of three modules for the japanese language. However the price is really steep, at least for Indians, since each module costs $300, which puts the entire cost of the training course at $900 (excluding postage). That comes to around 41000 Rs ! #@@%**&. However, you can probably find a good deal on this course at amazon, or ebay. Where there is a will, there is always a way ;-)

You can think of these 3 modules as Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced. Each Module has 30 lessons, so the entire course consists of 90 lessons, each lesson being around 30 minutes. The idea is to complete only one lesson per day, which means that in an ideal world, one could complete the entire course in just 3 months.

However, I've found that I simply don't have the discipline required to do so. There seem to be gaps in my training, which usually span 10 lessons at a stretch. However, for a more determined/disciplined person, this should not really be a problem.

Each lesson is very easy to absorb, and introduces not more than 10-15 words max. The course is designed in such a way, that every lesson refreshes what you had learnt in the last lesson(Graduated Interval Recall). This ensures that as long as you managed to get 75-80% of the responses in a lesson correctly, you can move on to the next lesson.

On the whole, I'd say that the course is pure gold, the only minus point being that it costs likewise :-( I really wish they'd come out with an Indian version maybe costing around 5000 - 6000 Rs. This'd put it in the range of most middle class people.