Pimsleur French Level 1: Learn to Speak, Understand, and Read French with Pimsleur Language Program
The Easiest and Fastest Way to Learn French
Whether you want to travel, communicate with friends or colleagues, reconnect with family, or just understand more of what’s going on in the world around you, learning French will expand your horizons and immeasurably enrich your life.
The exceptional thing about Pimsleur's French 1 is that in just 30 minutes a day for only one month, you can learn how to introduce yourself and get to know people, to order food in a restaurant, to ask directions, to go shopping – and that’s just the start. The scientifically-proven method teaches you on a deeper level than just drills of vocabulary, so that you can keep learning with every conversation you have. The very best part is that your accent – as you order a drink or inquire about someone’s job or family – will be authentically French. And you, having heard and responded to French as part of your daily practice, will be better prepared to understand not only the words taught in the course, but to make an educated guess at words you’ve never heard before.
Pimsleur Makes Learning Easy
• 30-minute core lessons you can take anywhere, or do at home with Alexa®
• Synch progress across devices
• Stream lessons or download to use in offline mode
• Individual progress tracking for one main account holder and up to 3 additional household members
• Car mode for easy driving and learning
• Compatible with Amazon Echo devices for working through lessons at home
Why Pimsleur?
• Quick + Easy – Only 30 minutes a day.
• Portable + Flexible – Core lessons can be done anytime, anywhere, and easily fit into your busy life.
• Proven Method – Works when other methods fail.
• Self-Paced – Go fast or go slow – it’s up to you.
• Based in Science – Developed using proven research on memory and learning.
• Cost-effective – Less expensive than classes or immersion, and features all native speakers.
• Genius – Triggers your brain’s natural aptitude to learn.
• Works for everyone – Recommended for ages 13 and above.
What’s Included?
• 30, 30-minute audio lessons
• 110 minutes (about 2 hours) of reading instruction to provide you with an introduction to reading French designed to teach you to sound out words with correct pronunciation and accent
• in total, 19 hours of audio, all featuring native speakers
• a digital Reading Booklet
What You’ll Learn
With this newest edition of French 1, we reflect the general trend in France toward casual interaction and have updated vocabulary and structures. What you are learning is neither stilted “textbook” French, nor “street” French, but rather everyday French as spoken in France.
In the first 10 lessons, you’ll cover the basics: saying hello, asking for or giving information, scheduling a meal or a meeting, asking for or giving basic directions, and much more. You’ll be able to handle minimum courtesy requirements, understand much of what you hear, and be understood at a beginning level, but with near-native pronunciation skills.
In the next 10 lessons, you’ll build on what you’ve learned. Expand your menu, increase your scheduling abilities from general to specific, start to deal with currency and exchanging money, refine your conversations and add over a hundred new vocabulary items. You’ll understand more of what you hear, and be able to participate with speech that is smoother and more confident.
In the final 10 lessons, you’ll be speaking and understanding at an intermediate level. More directions are given in the French language, which moves your learning to a whole new plane. Lessons include shopping, visiting friends, going to a restaurant, plans for the evening, car trips, and talking about family. You’ll be able to speak comfortably about things that happened in the past and make plans for the future.
Reading Lessons begin in Lesson 2 and are included and provide you with an introduction to reading French. These Reading Lessons, which total about two hours, are designed to teach you to sound out words with correct pronunciation and accent.
Learning the sound of each letter alone and in culturally distinct combinations allows your brain to process what you’re hearing in the audio lessons from a new and different perspective. It’s a powerful combination that makes Pimsleur different from every other method on the market.
The Pimsleur Method
We make no secret of what makes this powerful method work so well. Paul Pimsleur spent his career researching and perfecting the precise elements anyone can use to learn a language quickly and easily. Here are a few of his “secrets”:
The Principle of Anticipation
In the nanosecond between a cue and your response, your brain has to work to come up with the right word. Having to do this boosts retention, and cements the word in your mind.
Core Vocabulary
Words, phrases, and sentences are selected for their usefulness in everyday conversation. We don’t overwhelm you with too much, but steadily increase your ability with every lesson.
Graduated Interval Recall
Reminders of new words and structures come up at the exact interval for maximum retention and storage into your long-term memory.
Organic Learning
You work on multiple aspects of the language simultaneously. We integrate grammar, vocabulary, rhythm, melody, and intonation into every lesson, which allows you to experience the language as a living, expressive form of human culture.
Learning in Context
Research has shown that learning new words in context dramatically accelerates your ability to remember. Every scene in every Pimsleur lesson is set inside a conversation between two people. There are no drills, and no memorization necessary for success.
Active Participation
The Pimsleur Method + active learner participation = success. This method works with every language and every learner who follows it. You gain the power to recall and use what you know, and to add new words easily, exactly as you do in English.
The French Language
French is spoken by 55 million speakers in France, 3 million in Belgium, 1.5 million in Switzerland, 6.5 million in Canada, and 5 million in former French and Belgian colonies. It is an official language in 44 countries and an official language of the United Nations. An estimated 50 million people around the world speak French as a second language.
Tech Talk
• Audio lessons can be streamed or downloaded for offline use in the Pimsleur App for iPhone®, iPad®, and most Android™ devices.
• Audio lessons can also be played on Amazon® Echo® devices using the Alexa® Pimsleur Skill.
• A desktop version is available for Mac® or Windows® computers.
• All purchased courses are backed up in your Pimsleur.com cloud-based digital library account.
• Pimsleur is designed for use by one registered user, plus up to three household members, and may be installed on up to four devices.
Pimsleur (Author), Pimsleur (Narrator)
Audiobook
