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About The English LanguageEnglish is arguably the most important language of the modern world. The official language of Great Britain, Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United States, English has easily 400 million native speakers, and hundreds of millions more who speak English as a second language. Furthermore, the technological and economic hegemony of the United States makes American English a necessity for a majority of the world's international businessmen; hundreds of millions more learn English for a variety of practical reasons. English is primarily a Germanic language, being closely related to German, Dutch, and, less closely, to the Scandinavian languages. After the Battle of Hastings in 1066, English received a heavy Latin influence by means of Norman French. In its present state, English is one of the most mongrel languages in the world, with lexical influences from Spanish, French, Chinese, Japanese, and a multitude of other languages. There are many regional dialects of English, although only British, English, Irish, and Australian forms of English are usually recognized as such. Within the United States, the many various forms of colloquial English are referred to as "accents", although their differences extend beyond pronunciation to the actual vocabulary. In general, the American English featured in the mass media of television and radio is considered accent-free and is generally understood by English speakers everywhere. The native American English speakers on the Pimsleur tapes were recruited from American radio stations; you can be assured that by imitating their pronunciation you will make yourself easily understood throughout the English-speaking world. Why The Pimsleur System WorksThe late Dr. Paul Pimsleur was much more than a language teacher. He did research on how both children and multi-lingual adults learn languages and discovered key principles that unlocked the mystery of how we learn languages. The Pimsleur programs provide a method of self-practice with an expert teacher and native speakers in lessons specially designed to work with the way the mind naturally acquires language information. The various components of language -- vocabulary, pronunciation and grammar -- are all learned together without rote memorization and drills. Using a unique method of memory recall developed by renowned linguist, Dr. Paul Pimsleur, the programs teach listeners to combine words and phrases to express themselves the way native speakers do. By listening and responding to thirty minute recorded lessons, students easily and effectively achieve spoken proficiency. » The Pimsleur Method « |
