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foreign language cassettes as you go about your daily deeds is a high form of doing two
things at once。
The Walkman （or any such tape player） is an electronic can opener for whatever
language you’re learning。 Formerly we had to chew through the tin。
CASSETTE COURSES
There are many cassette courses in many foreign languages。 They range from “travel”
cassettes； really simple tourist phrase books set to sound and costing between ten and
twenty dollars； clear up to multicassette study courses that carry the student into
advanced levels and cost between one and two hundred dollars； or more。
Don’t dismiss the least expensive ones as “superficial little travel cassettes。” If you
master every word； every phrase； every pronunciation； and every grammatical point
contained in even the simplest of those cassettes； you can consider yourself advanced。
There are basically four kinds of cassettes for the study of foreign languages。 We’ll
call them flat single rep； flat double rep； formatted； and cultural。
The flat single rep cassettes； usually the least expensive； give you the English word
or phrase followed by the foreign equivalent uttered only one time。
The flat double rep cassettes are the same； except the foreign phrase is repeated
twice。 （When you begin making your own study cassettes； you’ll repeat the foreign piece
three times。）
The formatted cassette puts theories of instruction into practice and follows systems
that some highly successful language teachers have found effective。 For example the
Pimsleur method； named after the late Dr。 Paul Pimsleur； takes the student by the ear and
guides him through the language as though it were a Disneyland exhibit。 Unfortunately
Dr。 Pimsleur died before he could personally develop courses in a large variety of
languages to advanced levels。 His techniques； however； are being applied to more
courses in more languages by Dr。 Charles A。 S。 Heinle of the Cassette Learning Centre in
Concord； Massachusetts。
The Pimsleur method provides the best minute by minute “learning through
listening；” thanks to several strokes of Dr。 Pimsleur’s innovative genius。
First of all； you become a participant。 Pimsleur doesn’t let you merely listen in
hopes your lazy mind will help itself to some of the new words being offered on the
smorgasbord。 After five minutes with any Pimsleur course you will always harbour a
certain disdain for all cassette courses that merely give you a voice saying something in
English followed by the equivalent in the target language。 Pimsleur pricks your
wandering mind to attention by asking； for example； “Do you remember the Greek word
for ‘wine’？”
Theoretically； that little trick shouldn’t make a spectacular difference。 After all； you
bought the course。 You want to learn the language。 Why should the teacher on cassette
have to find ways to constantly recover your attention？ The unfortunate truth is that the
average mind plays hooky whenever possible。 The difference between Pimsleur asking；
“Do you remember the Greek word for ‘wine’？” and a voice simply saying “wine” is； as
Mark Twain once put it； “the difference between lightning and the lightning bug！”
Nor does Pimsleur always settle for the simple verbal prompt。 A typical Pimsleur
tactic is to demand； “You accidentally bump into a man getting on the bus。 What do you
say？” That ingrains the foreign phrases for “excuse me” far more than a rote recitation of
the words themselves。
Pimsleur’s “graduated interval recall” achieves what I call the “pinball effect。”
When the steel ball in the pinball machine nears the bottom； you can manipulate the
flippers to catch the ball and send it all the way back to the top again。 Likewise； at the
very instant when your mind is about to let a new word or phrase “fall to the bottom”；
Pimsleur zings it in again； sending it back to the top of your awareness。 This time it
doesn’t sink so fast。 When it does； Pimsleur hits it again。
Pimsleur gives you a pause on the cassette after each question he asks you。 In the
early going there’s a temptation to stop the machine while you flounder for the answer。
Don’t！ Learn to try to come up with the answer during the pause provided。 That will
more than teach you the word。 It will train you to have that word ready for action at all
times。 It’s marvellous to feel your growth as you relisten to your Pimsleur lessons；
succeeding more and more each time at delivering the required word before the teacher’s
voice rolls over you with the next question。
Berlitz is the most famous name in language instruction； and except for the Berlitz
Travel Cassettes； which are flat single rep； all their cassette courses are formatted。 The
Berlitz Basic Courses； available in French； Spanish； German； and Italian； feature
ingenious conversations between teacher and students； and their top of the line Berlitz
Comprehensive Courses are really dazzling soap opera…like sagas filled with romance；
treachery； suspense； and drama。 Both the basic and the comprehensive courses sneak
massive payloads of grammar and vocabulary into the student’s repertoire。
Cultural cassettes aren’t really language learning cassettes at all； but many people
suppose they are and buy and sell them as such。 Songs； plays； readings； stories； and
poems in foreign languages are indeed helpful； but shouldn’t be mistaken for the “high
protein” intake needed to build command of a foreign language。 They’re great relaxers；
tests of how far you’ve come； adjunctive exercises； and ways of letting the foreigner
know that you view his language as more than just a briar patch of irregular verbs。
The cultural cassettes are the condiments。 The others are the entrées。
BLANK CASSETTES
We have do it yourself gasoline pumps。 We do not have do it yourself eye surgery。 It may
seem strange to some （and wildly objectionable to others） to recommend do it yourself
language cassettes starring you in the language you are trying to learn。 Orthodox
language teachers are likely to consider that something akin to doing your own eye
surgery。
I’ve found it extremely helpful。 At some point you will have gotten the hang of
pronunciation sufficiently to push the record button of your cassette player and recite
your own words and phrases onto a blank cassette。 Your pronunciation will not be good。
It may be bad。 But the value of being able to listen to a cassette with the words you need
and want at the moment – rather than a cassette prepared by somebody with no
knowledge of you； your desires； or your needs – much more than outweighs the
disadvantage of your imperfections。
So； get blank cassettes – the shortest possible – so you can start building a cassette
library of the words and phrases you want to know to supplement those the educators
who produced all the standard cassettes decided to teach you first。
It’s better to know the word – its meaning； its spelling； its use in