Armenian (Western), Compact: Learn to Speak and Understand Western Armenian with Pimsleur Language Programs (Simon & Schuster's Pimsleur) [Audiobook] [Audio CD]

Pimsleur (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 074355065X | ISBN-13: 978-0743550659 | Publication Date: April 24, 2006 | Edition: 10 Lessons + Notes

Western Armenian is the dialect most often encountered among Armenians outside of Armenia. It is spoken by the majority of Armenians living throughout the Middle East, North and South America, Europe, Africa, and Australia, collectively called the Armenian Diaspora.

This Compact course provides an introduction to the Western Armenian language with ten thirty-minute lessons of spoken language practice. With this product you start from zero, learning first survival phrases and vocabulary, then progressing to speaking and understanding at a functional level. Every lesson contains an introductory conversation, and isolated vocabulary and structures, as well as full practice for all vocabulary introduced. Emphasis on pronunciation and comprehension. At the completion of this course, you’ll have a basic vocabulary and speak with a near-native accent. This course provides you with a solid foundation upon which to expand your language skills. Culture Notes are provided to give you further insight into the Armenian language and culture. A Notes booklet is also included in PDF format.

 

The Pimsleur® Method: the easiest, fastest way to learn a new language. Completely portable, easily downloadable, and lots of fun. You’ll be speaking and understanding in no time flat!

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Dr. Paul Pimsleur devoted his life to language teaching and testing and was one of the world’s leading experts in applied linguistics. After years of experience and research, Dr. Pimsleur developed The Pimsleur Method based on two key principles:  the Principle of Anticipation and a scientific principle of memory training that he called “Graduated Interval Recall.”  This Method has been applied to the many levels and languages of the Pimsleur Programs.

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Pimsleur; 10 Lessons + Notes edition (April 24, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 074355065X
• ISBN-13: 978-0743550659
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.9 x 2.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #180,835 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dr. Paul Pimsleur (b. 1926, d. 1976) devoted his life to language teaching and testing and was one of the world's leading experts in applied linguistics. He was fluent in French, good in German, and had a working knowledge of Italian, Russian, Modern Greek, and Mandarin Chinese. After obtaining his Ph.D. in French and a Masters in Psychology from Columbia University, he taught French Phonetics and Linguistics at UCLA. He later became Professor of Romance Languages and Language Education, and Director of The Listening Center (a state-wide language lab) at Ohio State University; Professor of Education and Romance Languages at the State University of New York at Albany; and a Fulbright lecturer at the University of Heidelberg. He did research on the psychology of language learning and in 1969 was Section Head of Psychology of Second Language Learning at the International Congress of Applied Linguistics.

Dr. Pimsleur was a member of the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF), American Educational Research Association (AERA), Modern Language Association (MLA), and a founding member of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL).

His many books and articles revolutionized theories of language learning and teaching. After years of experience and research, 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." This Method has been applied to the many levels and languages of the "Pimsleur Programs."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent method; learn at your own pace, September 1, 2006

By 

feminaformosa (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Armenian (Western), Compact: Learn to Speak and Understand Western Armenian with Pimsleur Language Programs (Simon & Schuster's Pimsleur) (Audio CD)

I ordered this so my husband and I could learn a little Armenian (I am of Armenian descent). I have other Armenian language tools, such as the VocabuLearn cassettes, a textbook, and Samuelian's transliteration dictionary, and they are all helpful in their own way, but in terms of amount of progress for time spent, Pimsleur beats them all.

If you have ever listened to the Pimsleur compact programs for other languages, you will be familiar with the structure. I have listened to the first lesson of two other languages, and the Western Armenian one is no different. They start out by teaching you how to ask someone if she understands Armenian (or whatever language the tapes are for), and by the end of the first lesson, you can understand and participate in a brief conversation that centers around that. Each subsequent lesson builds on that first lesson, teaching you more words and phrases. The lessons are in both English and Armenian, just as an FYI. This is not done in an immersion method.

The way that Pimsleur handles pronunciation is also very helpful, especially for individuals who are not used to hearing Armenian. Some of the words are very long, and can sound very confusing. Pimsleur walks you through the pronunciation of each word, starting with the final syllable and working backwards. My husband, who has pretty crappy pronunciation (since he didn't learn how to make the "gh" and "kh" sounds), has been doing surprisingly well with this method. I still have to help him out, but overall, it is as good as can be expected without an actual person telling you what you are doing wrong, although the lessons do usually address common mistakes.

Pimsleur also sneaks in grammar lessons, so you gradually figure out some of the grammar constructs. Some people catch on to this more easily than others, but the course does make an effort to teach you.

Now the bad: The Pimsleur course doesn't come with any written materials, so if you are confused about a particular sound ("Is that a "t" sound, or a "ts" sound?"), there is nothing to check to make sure.

Also, the Pimsleur courses (in general, not just the Armenian one) seem to be geared towards people travelling, rather than learning a heritage language to converse with relatives. The actual words and phrases that it teaches may not be helpful to you if you are learning it to converse with family. When will you really need to ask them if they understand English, or tell them that you are American?

Overall, though, this is the most user-friendly Western Armenian audio language tool that I have found, and I would still highly recommend it to anyone trying to learn the language.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Way to Brush Up on (or start learning) Armenian, February 11, 2007

By 

Early Music Fan (U.S.A.) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Armenian (Western), Compact: Learn to Speak and Understand Western Armenian with Pimsleur Language Programs (Simon & Schuster's Pimsleur) (Audio CD)

My Armenian was very poor, but I found these CDs easy to follow. You start with phrases that are repeated by two speakers, helping you figure out the correct pronunciation and also variations. The conversations progress as new words and phrases are introduced, but the speakers always remind you of words and phrases you've already used, so that you can remember them and learn how to work them into coversation.

Since I knew a bit to begin with, I can say that the pronunciation is good and the phrases are helpful. They tend to use the formal voice (rather than more informal terms that you might encounter everyday), but they are very useful CDs.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's a great start, January 30, 2007

By 

Thomas W. Riley Jr. (Chelsea Ma.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Armenian (Eastern), Compact: Learn to Speak and Understand Eastern Armenian with Pimsleur Language Programs (Simon & Schuster's Pimsleur) (Audio CD)

After just a few hours of listening to the CDs I was speaking Armenian and and I was being understood clearly as well. It's a great first step to learning Armenian