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Your Guide to Learning a New Language the Smart Way — How to Learn a Foreign Language by Paul Pimsleur

Book Notes Summary

How to Learn a Foreign Language (Unless otherwise noted, links are affiliate links. “As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you. If you use these links, thank you for your support!”)

About How to Learn a Foreign Language

In How to Learn a Foreign Language, well-known language teacher Paul Pimsleur lays out his principles and methods for learning a foreign language. He focuses on the most natural, understandable methods, which often are at odds with how students learn languages in the classroom, and also discusses the reasons and motivations for foreign language learning.

Most Important Lessons I Learned From This Book

1. Learn examples before you learn rules.
2. Create your own oral practice using a recorder and the principle of anticipation: the learner must anticipate the correct response, saying it before the recording does. Use cue-pause-response for learning: devise a series of cues in the foreign language to elicit the sentences with the desired grammar. Then record the cue, a pause (for you to recall), and the correct answer. 10 such recordings = a pattern drill.