Pimsleur Bookchips are available for use in the Freedman Center

The Pimsleur Comprehensive series offers three 30-lesson sets -- 90 lessons in all -- designed to help you reach specific spoken proficiency skill levels. Each level builds upon the last, to progressively help you reach your goals. Each level offers approximately 15 hours of training, divided into 30-minute daily lessons that can be completed in as little as a month.

Self-Instructional Language Learning

Dr. Paul Pimsleur (1928 - 1976) is now hailed as the household name in foreign language training, but he was a controversial figure during his own career. He challenged the status quo in academic circles by developing the Pimsleur Method™, a system guaranteed to teach nearly anyone how to speak a foreign language, in just a half hour per day - with no pop quizzes or tedious written homework.

The Intermediate-Low Spoken Proficiency Level

Upon completion of the Pimsleur Comprehensive Level I Program (30 lessons), the learner will have achieved spoken-language communication skills at the Intermediate-Low Level. This level is characterized by the ability to participate in simple, direct conversations on everyday topics, in everyday situations; by being able to satisfy immediate needs, such as ordering food and making simple purchases; and by being able to establish rapport with strangers in a foreign country.

The Intermediate-Mid spoken Proficiency Level

Upon completion of the Pimsleur Comprehensive Level I and Level II (60 lessons), the learner will have achieved the Intermediate-Mid Level. This level is characterized by creative ability in the target language and by being able to communicate personal meaning to native speakers by combining and recombining known elements and conversational input to correctly form sentences of increasing length.

The Intermediate-High Spoken Proficiency Level

Upon completion of the Pimsleur Comprehensive Level I, Level II, and Level III (90 lessons), the learner will have achieved the Intermediate-High Level. This level is characterized by the ability to obtain, sustain and bring to a close a number of basic communicative exchanges, to satisfy personal needs and social demands, and to survive and cope in the target language and culture. The learner can converse with growing ease and confidence, narrate and describe in terms of past, present and future using connected discourse of considerable conversational length.