PIMSLEUR

indonesian
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 SIMON & SCHUSTER’S

PIMSLEUR
®

Indonesian

reading booklet
 Travelers should always check with their
nation's State Department for current
advisories on local conditions before
traveling abroad.

Graphic Design: Maia Kennedy

© and ‰ Recorded Program 2010 Simon & Schuster, Inc.

© Reading Booklet 2010 Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Pimsleur® is an imprint of Simon & Schuster Audio,
a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. Mfg. in USA.

All rights reserved.

 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Indonesian
Voices
English-Speaking Instructor . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ray Brown
Indonesian-Speaking Instructor . . Muhammad T. Hidayat
Female Indonesian Speaker . . . . . . . . . . Endrya Beavis
Male Indonesian Speaker . . . . . . . . . . . . . Zulvy S. Leon

Course Writers
Ketty Rosenfeld ◆ Mary E. Green

Reviewer
Nona Kurniani

Editor & Executive Producer

Beverly D. Heinle

Producer & Director

Sarah H. McInnis

Recording Engineers
Peter S. Turpin ◆ Kelly Saux

Simon & Schuster Studios, Concord, MA

iii
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Reading Lessons

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Some Features of the Indonesian Language . . . . . . . 3
The Indonesian Alphabet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Reading Lessons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Unit Eleven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Unit Twelve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Unit Thirteen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Unit Fourteen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Unit Fifteen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Unit Sixteen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Unit Seventeen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Unit Eighteen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Unit Nineteen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Unit Twenty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Unit Twenty-One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Unit Twenty-Two . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Unit Twenty-Three . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Unit Twenty-Four . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Unit Twenty-Five . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Unit Twenty-Six . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Unit Twenty-Seven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Unit Twenty-Eight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Unit Twenty-Nine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Unit Thirty. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

v
 indonesian
Introduction

Indonesian, or Bahasa Indonesia, is the offi-

cial language of the Republic of Indonesia. It is
mutually intelligible with Malay, the language
of Malaysia, although minor dialectical differ-
ences exist. There are now approximately two-
hundred-twenty-seven million speakers of Indo-
nesian. Besides Indonesia, it is spoken as well
in the Netherlands, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia,
Singapore, and the United States.

While only a small percentage of Indonesia’s

population speaks Indonesian as its first, or native,
language, almost 100 percent of the population
speaks it as a second or third language. Although
estimates vary, Indonesian ranks as between the
41st and 56th most widely-spoken native language
in the world. However, when all fluent speakers
are counted (including second- and third-language
speakers), Indonesian ranks ninth in the world.
Since Indonesia is currently the fourth most popu-
lous nation in the world, Indonesian’s importance
as a world language is bound to grow.

Indonesia is comprised of over seventeen

thousand islands and there are hundreds of lan-
guages spoken there. However, Indonesian is
the lingua franca and the common language in
education, government, business, and commu-
nication. Every Indonesian learns Bahasa Indo-
 indonesian
Introduction (continued)

nesia, and recent studies show a greater number

of people being raised with Indonesian as their
mother tongue. There are numerous Indonesian
dialects, all of which are mutually intelligible.
This course teaches standard Indonesian as spo-
ken in and around Jakarta.

Indonesian originally evolved from Bazaar

Malay, a dialect spoken in Riau, Sumatra. It was
the lingua franca of the traders along the coastal
region of the East Indies (the Dutch designation
for Indonesia during their 300-year occupation).
In 1928 the nationalist Second Youth Indone-
sian Congress declared Indonesian as the offi-
cial language of Indonesia in order to unite the
archipelago. Quickly the Indonesian language
gained prestige and began to be heard across the
land. Ironically, the Japanese occupation of 1942
cemented the bonds between the Indonesian peo-
ple and the new official language. The Japanese
occupiers banned the use of Dutch, so Indone-
sian had no comptition for the role of official lan-
guage. In addition, because Indonesians had had
no real exposure to Japanese, and there was no
practical method for the occupiers to quickly insti-
tute their native tongue as the official language,
the Japanese enforced the official use of Indone-
sian out of necessity. Not only was Indonesian
required in government and law, but all academic
2
 indonesian
Introduction (continued)

study and publication were required to take place

solely in Indonesian as well. In 1945, following
Indonesian independence, Bahasa Indonesia was
enshrined in the new constitution as Indonesia’s
national language.

Some Features of the Indonesian Language

Indonesian is both an unusually simple and a

very complex language. While the verbs of Indo-
nesian are generally easy for Americans to master
(there are no tenses and no declensions), the use
of personal pronouns can be complicated.

Indonesian pronouns reflect the age and educa-

tion of the person speaking and the person being
spoken to. They also reflect varying degrees of for-
mality and status. Second-person pronouns (those
meaning “you”) are especially complex, with at
least fifteen different forms currently in use.

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 indonesian
Features of the Indonesian Language (cont.)

We teach only a handful of pronouns in this

program:

• I, s/he, and they − one pronoun each,

• we − two pronouns,
• you − three pronouns.

We have chosen pronouns that can be used by

an American traveling in Indonesia for the first
time. These are forms that the beginning speaker
is most likely to hear and to need to understand,
especially when visiting urban areas. The per-
son choosing to live in Indonesia will establish
more personal contacts and will, of course, want
to master additional personal pronouns appropri-
ate to these relationships.

Indonesian is classified as a “penultimate lan-

guage,” i.e., stress is habitually placed on the next-
to-last syllable of a word. Indonesian intona-
tion at phrase and sentence level is very similar
to English.

Most Indonesian words are constructed by tak-

ing the root and attaching a word element, such
as a prefix or suffix. For example:

4
 indonesian
Features of the Indonesian Language (cont.)

beli (buy or to buy)

• membeli (verb) = to buy
• pembeli (noun) = buyer
• membelikan (verb) = to buy something for
someone else
• pembelian (noun) = purchase
• belian (noun) = things bought
• terbeli (verb) = buyable

Indonesian does not use tenses. Tense is

implied by modifiers such as time or frequency.
For example:

Saya makan pagi jam 07.00. − I eat breakfast at 7AM.

Saya selalu makan pagi. − I always eat breakfast.
Saya sudah makan pagi. − I already ate breakfast.
Saya akan makan pagi. − I will eat breakfast.
Saya sedang makan pagi. − I am eating breakfast.

In a lot of settings, the speaker and listener rely

heavily on the context of a conversation to inter-
pret the tense of the verb.

5
 indonesian
Features of the Indonesian Language (cont.)

Generally, Indonesian does not indicate gen-

der. There are a few exceptions, like the words
putri (daughter) and putra (son).

The Indonesian Alphabet

Indonesian is written in the Roman or Latin

alphabet which was introduced by the Dutch dur-
ing their colonial rule. During this time written
Indonesian was strongly influenced by the Dutch
language. After Indonesian Independence in 1947,
several changes were made to move away from the
Dutch spellings of Indonesian sounds. In 1972, a
phonetically simpler spelling system was instituted
which uses representations more akin to Malay-
sian. It is still in use today.

The Indonesian alphabet consists of 26 let-

ters. The letter “e” has several sounds: the schwa
sound, an “ay” sound, and a short “e” as in the
word “hen.” In dictionaries and some beginning
reading material, the short “e” is represented as
é. In this booklet we have chosen to follow this
convention.

6
 indonesian
Reading Lessons

After an initial introduction to the spoken lan-

guage, reading is integrated into the program start-
ing with Unit Eleven. In these Reading Lessons
you will learn to sound out the Indonesian alpha-
bet, starting with short words or combinations of
letters, then progressing to words, word combi-
nations, short phrases, increasingly building in
length until you will be reading complete sen-
tences in context. The Indonesian alphabet is
systematically introduced and you will learn to
associate each letter with the sounds of the Indo-
nesian language. You will not, at first, be reading
for meaning, but rather for sound/symbol correla-
tion. Eventually, when the sound system is mas-
tered, you will be able to look at known vocab-
ulary and “read for meaning.” By the end of the
Comprehensive Level I course, you will be read-
ing at the same level as you are speaking.

The reading items in the lessons have been

selected especially to give you practice in the
Indonesian sounds and sound combinations. Your
vocabulary acquisition will begin after you’ve
learned the new, different sound system. You
should read aloud, as directed. The process of say-
ing the words out loud will reinforce and enhance
your Indonesian language acquisition and will
help lodge the sounds of the Indonesian language
in your memory. Since English and Indonesian
7
 indonesian
Reading Lessons (continued)

are both represented phonetically with the Latin

alphabet, you need to learn a new, Indonesian
sound system. In these Reading Lessons, you
will learn to look at the Indonesian alphabet with
Indonesian eyes.

There are twenty Indonesian Reading Lessons

which start at the end of Unit Eleven. These les-
sons are also combined and provided at the end
of the course. You may choose to do the Read-
ings along with the units, or you may wait until
you have completed the course and do them all
together. Repeat the Reading Lessons as often as
you wish. Instructions on how to proceed with
the Readings are contained in the audio.

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 indonesian
Unit Eleven

1. apa
2. aspal
3. atap
4. kapan
5. asap
6. alam
7. malam
8. akan
9. ya
10. ayam
11. agama
12. atas
13. bahasa
14. tahan
15. salah
16. pak
17. bapak
18. anak
19. tas
20. galak
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 indonesian
Unit Twelve

1. bisa
2. babi
3. di
4. isi
5. Asia
6. tidak
7. adik
8. baik
9. kain
10. pantai
11. sampai
12. naik
13. laki-laki
14. gigi
15. anak-anak
16. kabar
17. dari
18. akar
19. pagar
20. Apa kabar?
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 indonesian
Unit Thirteen

1. empat
2. permisi
3. sedikit
4. selamat
5. Kenapa?
6. mengerti
7. ringan
8. pisang
9. dengan
10. langit
11. angin
12. Saya mengerti.
13. Inggris
14. tinggi
15. penggaris
16. tetangga
17. bangga
18. panggang
19. Di sana.
20. Selamat pagi!
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 indonesian
Unit Fourteen

1. péna
2. désa
3. méja
4. saté
5. jalan
6. jadi
7. jangan
8. jaga
9. jahil
10. jari
11. jalanan
12. majalah
13. jendéla
14. bendéra
15. keréta
16. seléra
17. meréka
18. geréja
19. pendékar
20. Jalan Merdéka
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 indonesian
Unit Fifteen

1. és
2. péndék
3. meréka
4. geleng-geleng kepala
5. jelék
6. keréték
7. kecil
8. cara
9. bicara
10. cinta
11. cerita
12. yang
13. sayang
14. nya
15. ceritanya
16. bicaranya
17. harganya
18. kebanyakan
19. membanyak
20. Saya bisa bicara bahasa Inggris.
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 indonesian
Unit Sixteen

1. toko
2. Joko
3. Yono
4. orang
5. gado-gado
6. tolong
7. nona
8. terima kasih
9. mobil
10. coba
11. obat
12. kantor
13. paspor
14. motor
15. bésok
16. rokok
17. dokter
18. télpon
19. bélok
20. pisang goréng dan lontong
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 indonesian
Unit Seventeen

1. itu
2. buku
3. bukan
4. sepatu
5. tujuh
6. kucing
7. gemuk
8. dapur
9. tahu
10. bunga
11. dua
12. buah
13. tua
14. surat
15. kalau
16. pulau
17. mau
18. atau
19. harimau atau kerbau
20. suara orang tua merdu
15
 indonesian
Unit Eighteen

1. fungsi
2. film
3. formulir
4. fakta
5. fakultas
6. fanatik
7. falsafah
8. Fébruari
9. villa
10. variasi
11. waktu
12. walaupun
13. wayang-kulit
14. Maaf.
15. wahyu
16. wajib
17. wafat
18. warganegara
19. zat warna
20. ziarah
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 indonesian
Unit Nineteen

1. di Jawa
2. ke Sumatra
3. ke Kalimantan
4. di Sulawesi
5. ke Bali
6. di Maluku
7. ke Timor
8. di Irian Jaya
9. ke Laut Cina
10. di Lautan Indonésia
11. ke Lautan Pasifik
12. Budiman
13. Gunawan
14. Puspita
15. Hardiman
16. Kartono
17. Mustafa
18. Harjono
19. Kartini tinggal di Bandung.
20. Aminah pergi ke Jakarta.
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 indonesian
Unit Twenty

1. Januari bulan pertama.

2. Fébruari bulan kedua.
3. Maret bulan ketiga.
4. April bulan keempat.
5. May bulan kelima.
6. Juni bulan keenam.
7. Juli bulan ketujuh.
8. Agustus bulan kedelapan.
9. Séptémber bulan kesembilan.
10. Oktober bulan kesepuluh.
11. Nopémber bulan kesebelas.
12. Désémber bulan keduabelas.
13. sesudah
14. sebelum
15. Sesudah bulan Januari bulan Fébruari.
16. Sebelum bulan Désémber bulan Nopémber.
17. Sebelum bulan Maret bulan apa?
18. Sesudah bulan Agustus bulan Séptémber.
19. Sebelum tinggal di Amérika, kami tinggal di
Jakarta.
20. Hari ulang tahun saya bulan kesepuluh.
18
 indonesian
Unit Twenty-One

1. lihat / melihat
2. Abas melihat kapal terbang ...
3. di lapangan terbang.
4. masak / memasak
5. Ibu sedang memasak masakan Indonésia.
6. nari / menari
7. Anak-anak kecil suka menari bébas.
8. rawat / merawat
9. Dokter merawat orang sakit.
10. rebus / merebus
11. Hati-hati kalau merebus air panas.
12. larang / melarang
13. Polisi melarang anda belok kiri.
14. minta / meminta
15. Pengemis meminta uang.
16. nilai / menilai
17. Guru menilai hasil ulangan.
18. nyala / menyala
19. Lampu menyala cemerlang.
20. Yang kamar kecil disana.
19
 indonesian
Unit Twenty-Two

1. ajak / mengajak
2. Tono mengajak Ali ke pésta.
3. éja / mengéja
4. Siapa yang bisa mengéja kata-kata baru?
5. isi / mengisi
6. Jangan lupa mengisi formulir.
7. obrol / mengobrol
8. Ibu Susi suka mengobrol sampai malam.
9. uji / menguji
10. Menguji terus sampai bisa.
11. hitung / menghitung
12. Meréka menghitung uang dengan teliti.
13. gambar / menggambar
14. Jono menggambar sebuah rumah.
15. kirim / mengirim
16. Kami mengirim surat kepada bapak dari
Jepang.
17. menggoréng pisang
18. mengarang buku
19. mengantar tamu
20. menghadap ke depan
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 indonesian
Unit Twenty-Three

1. bawa / membawa
2. Tini membawa buku ke perpustakaan.
3. beli / membeli
4. Saya mau beli batik di pasar Raya.
5. potong / memotong
6. Jangan memotong kertas itu.
7. dengar / mendengar
8. Saya suka mendengar lagu merdu.
9. jual / menjual
10. Bapak mau menjual mobilnya?
11. jaga / menjaga
12. Tugas dia menjaga pintu gerbang.
13. cari / mencari
14. Orang itu mencari istri di Indonésia.
15. tulis / menulis
16. Dosén bahasa Inggris harus menulis skripsi.
17. simpan / menyimpan
18. Dia pandai menyimpan uang.
19. sapa / menyapa
20. Dia menyapa dengan senyum yang ramah.
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 indonesian
Unit Twenty-Four

1. séwa / menyéwa
2. menyéwakan
3. Pak Harto menyéwakan rumah ini kepada
kami.
4. Kami menyéwa rumah dari pak Harto.
5. bangun / membangun
6. Pekerja ini sedang membangun hotél.
7. membangunkan
8. Pekerja ini sedang membangunkan
temannya.
9. tinggal / meninggal
10. meninggalkan
11. Di mana anda tinggal?
12. kenal / mengenal
13. mengenalkan
14. Abas sudah mengenal murid baru itu.
15. beri / memberi
16. memberikan
17. Ibu memberi saya uang.
18. kunjungan / mengunjungi
19. Saya akan mengunjungi ...
20. teman-teman saya nanti.
22
 indonesian
Unit Twenty-Five

1. Saya mau membelikan teman saya sesuatu

nanti.
2. Bapak membukakan Ibu Halimah pintu
mobil belakang.
3. ambil / mengambil / mengambilkan
4. Dia mengambilkan saya sepatu.
5. Ibu tahu jam berapa sekarang?
6. Kalau begitu bésok malam jam enam?
7. masak / memasak / memasakkan
8. Bibi memasakkan meréka pisang goréng.
9. Bapak mau ikut minum di rumah kami?
10. Ya, saya mau minum teh sekarang.
11. Ali membuatkan adiknya layang-layang.
12. Kakak menjualkan meréka batik bagus.
13. nyanyi / menyanyi / menyanyikan
14. Linda menyanyikan lagu gembira di depan
kelas.
15. Bapak Guru membacakan Tuti cerita lucu.
16. Apakah rute ini ke Puncak?
17. Tidak, bu, rute ini tidak cukup cepat.
18. Pergi lurus ke depan di jalan raya.
19. Kami perlu sopir untuk pergi ke Puncak.
20. Bisa anda tunjukkan di peta?
23
 indonesian
Unit Twenty-Six

1. Saya mau beli sesuatu di tokonya di pagi

hari.
2. Tokonya tidak buka di pagi hari.
3. Saya mau makanan yang mengandung
sayuran.
4. Perjalanan itu lamanya dua jam.
5. Pertandingan sépak bola seru sekali.
6. Saya akan mungunjungi beberapa teman.
7. Bagaimana perdagangan ...
8. antara Amérika dengan Cina?
9. Saya tidak tahu, tapi saya rasa itu benar.
10. banyak perusahaan asing
11. Saya rasa saya akan liburan beberapa hari
dengan teman saya.
12. bawa pertanyaan apa saja
13. Satu bahasa tidak pernah cukup.
14. Seratus dan tujuh puluh dua kilometer ke
Jakarta.
15. tali persahabatan yang erat
16. Saya bisa pakai télepon anda?
17. Dengarkan dan ulangi.
18. Maaf, tapi kami tidak bisa tunggu.
19. Bésok saya akan beli sesuatu untuk anda.
20. Mungkin, tapi mungkin tidak.
24
 indonesian
Unit Twenty-Seven

1. Indonésia merdéka sejak ...

2. tahun seribu sembilan ratus empat puluh
lima.
3. Pahlawan meraih kemerdekaan dari ...
4. penjajah Belanda dan Jepang.
5. Kapal terbang jét cepat sekali.
6. Kecepatannya seribu kilometer sejam.
7. Sawah-sawah yang hijau ...
8. kelihatan dari gunung yang tinggi.
9. Tolong piringnya diambil.
10. Suara anak-anak menyanyi kedengaran dari
jauh.
11. Bank itu kemasukan pencuri tadi malam.
12. Kami akan bekerja bersama-sama.
13. Dan kemudian saya akan bertemu teman
saya.
14. Karena saya tidak mau apa-apa.
15. Jono ketinggalan bis karena dia datang
terlambat.
16. Dia kehilangan uang di pasar.
17. Tokonya tutup karena sudah kemalaman.
25
 indonesian
Unit Twenty-Seven (continued)

18. Semoga selamat sampai tujuan.

19. Bisa lihat kamarnya dulu?
20. Ada makanan istimewa?

26
 indonesian
Unit Twenty-Eight

1. tutup / tertutup
2. Pintu tertutup karena angin kencang.
3. Kantor itu buka sesudah jam tujuh pagi.
4. air putih tidak pakai es
5. jus alpokat ditambah coklat
6. Sri terbangun karena bunyi petir keras sekali.
7. tersenyum
8. Dia tersenyum melihat bunga-bunga indah.
9. tertawa
10. Anak-anak semua tertawa mendengar cerita
yang lucu.
11. terkejut
12. Meréka terkejut melihat orang Amérika bisa
bicara bahasa Indonésia.
13. terpukul
14. Kepala Hamid berdarah karena terpukul Ali.
15. tergigit
16. Waktu makan, lidah saya tergigit.
17. terpotong
18. Pembicaraan kami terpotong karena listrik
mati.
19. terinjak
20. Kakinya sakit karena terinjak orang itu.

27
 indonesian
Unit Twenty-Nine

1. becakap-cakap
2. Anak remaja tidak suka belajar ...
3. tapi meréka lebih suka bercakap-cakap saja.
4. berjalan-jalan
5. Rahmat tidak pergi ke kantor ...
6. dan dia hanya berjalan-jalan di Senayan.
7. melompat-lompat
8. Katak itu melompat-lompat di pinggir kolam.
9. Pada waktu berbelanja ...
10. kami suka melihat-lihat toko yang bagus.
11. secepat-cepatnya
12. Kami harus berangkat secepat-cepatnya.
13. sekeras-kerasnya
14. Dia harus berbicara sekeras-kerasnya.
15. sebaik-baiknya
16. Bapak mencoba berbicara bahasa Indonésia
sebaik-baiknya.
17. sejauh-jauhnya
18. Orang itu mau tinggal sejauh-jauhnya.
19. sebanyak-banyaknya
20. Ibu mau mendapat uang sebanyak-banyaknya.

28
 indonesian
Unit Thirty

1. Anda mau rencana apa sekarang?

2. Saya tidak tahu.
3. Kalau anda?
4. Mungkin saya mau minum sesuatu dengan
anda.
5. Mau minum jus? Kalau jus mangga?
6. Saya sudah minum jus mangga ...
7. di rumah saya pagi ini.
8. Kalau begitu, mungkin jus semangka?
9. Saya sudah minum itu juga.
10. Kalau begitu, mau minum téh atau kopi?
11. Saya minum kopi pagi ini juga.
12. Ya, tapi saya mau pergi ke kafé dan minum
sesuatu.
13. Anda mau rencana apa kalau begitu?
14. Oh, saya tahu saya mau rencana apa
sekarang.
15. Anda mau rencana apa?
16. Saya mau pergi ke kamar kecil.

29
For more information, call
1-800-831-5497 or visit us
at www.Pimsleur.com
 SIMON & SCHUSTER’S

PIMSLEUR
®

THE PIMSLEUR GUIDE

how the program works

Travel the world with Pimsleur!

 PIMSLEUR® LANGUAGE PROGRAMS

You have just purchased the most effective language program

ever developed. As you probably know, learning a new language
can be frustrating. Your first experience with a foreign language
may have been in school. If the classes seemed difficult, or if your
grades were poor, you probably believed you had no aptitude for
languages. Even if you did well, you may have been surprised
later to discover that what you learned was of little or no use
when you tried to converse with native speakers.

Perhaps you waited until later in life and tried adult education
classes, language schools, or home training programs. There too
you may have found the information hard to retain, the lessons
tedious, and your progress slow. Many language students give up
early in these programs, convinced they lack the natural ability
to understand and use what they read and hear.

The truth is that anyone can acquire a foreign language—

with the right teaching system. With the Pimsleur® Method,
you will benefit from the years of research and development
that have helped create the world’s most effective method for
teaching foreign languages. The Pimsleur® Language Programs,
developed by Dr. Paul Pimsleur, fill an urgent need for self-
instructional materials in many languages.
 HOW TO USE THE PROGRAM

To get the full benefit of each lesson, choose a quiet place

where you can practice without interruption and a time of day
when your mind is most alert and your body least fatigued.

The length of each lesson, just under 30 minutes, is that

recommended by teaching specialists for a concentrated learning
task. Once you’ve started the program, simply follow the tutor’s
instructions. The most important instruction is to respond aloud
when the tutor tells you to do so. There will be a pause after
this instruction, giving you time to reply. It is essential to your
progress that you speak out in a normal conversational voice
when asked to respond. Your active participation in thinking and
speaking is required for your success in mastering this course.

The simple test for mastery is whether you are able to respond
quickly and accurately when your tutor asks a question. If you
are responding correctly about eighty percent of the time, then
you’re ready to proceed to the next lesson. It is important to keep
moving forward, and also not to set unreasonable standards of
perfection that will keep you from progressing, which is why we
recommend using the eighty percent figure as a guide.

You will notice that each lesson contains both new and
familiar material, and just when you may be worrying about
forgetting something, you will conveniently be reminded of it.
Another helpful feature of the Pimsleur® Language Program is
its rate of “saturation.” You will be responding many times in
the half-hour. This saturation enables you to make substantial
progress within a short period of time.

2
 GUIDELINES FOR SUCCESS

Complete the lesson units in strict consecutive order (don’t

skip around), doing no more than one lesson per day, although
the lesson unit for the day may be repeated more than once. Daily
contact with the language is critical to successful learning.

Listen carefully to each lesson unit. Always follow the

directions of the instructor.

Speak out loud when directed by the tutor and answer

questions within the pauses provided. It is not enough to just
silently “think” of the answer to the question asked. You need to
speak the answer out loud to set up a “circuit” of the language
you are learning to speak so that it is heard and identified through
your ears, to help to establish the “sounds” of the target language.
Do this prior to hearing the confirmation, which is provided as
reinforcement, as well as additional speech training.

Do all required activities according to the instructions,

without reference to any outside persons, book, or course.

Do not have a paper and pen nearby during the lessons,

and do not refer to dictionaries or other books. The Pimsleur®
Method works with the language-learning portion of your brain,
requiring language to be processed in its spoken form. Not only
will you interrupt the learning process if you attempt to write the
words that you hear, but you will also begin to speak the target
language with an American accent. This is because the “sounds”
represented by the American letters are different from the same-
looking letters from the foreign language.

3
 DR. PAUL PIMSLEUR AND HIS UNIQUE METHOD

Dr. Paul Pimsleur 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.

4
 GRADUATED INTERVAL RECALL

The term, “Graduated Interval Recall” is a complex name

for a very simple theory about memory. No aspect of learning a
foreign language is more important than memory, yet before Dr.
Pimsleur, no one had explored more effective ways for building
language memory.

In his research, Dr. Pimsleur discovered how long students

remembered new information and at what intervals they needed
to be reminded of it. If reminded too soon or too late, they failed
to retain the information. This discovery enabled him to create
a schedule of exactly when and how the information should be
reintroduced.

Suppose you have learned a new word. You tell yourself to

remember it. However, after five minutes you’re unable to recall
it. If you’d been reminded of it after five seconds, you probably
would have remembered it for maybe a minute, at which time
you would have needed another reminder. Each time you are
reminded, you remember the word longer than you did the time
before. The intervals between reminders become longer and
longer, until you eventually remember the word without being
reminded at all.

This program is carefully designed to remind you of new

information at the exact intervals where maximum retention
takes place. Each time your memory begins to fade, you will be
asked to recall the word.

5
 PRINCIPLE OF ANTICIPATION

The “Principle of Anticipation” requires you to anticipate

a correct answer. Practically, what this means is that you must
retrieve the answer from what you have learned earlier in the
course. It works by posing a question, asking you to provide a new
sentence, using information you’ve learned previously and putting
it into a new combination. This provides novelty and excitement
which accelerates learning.

A possible scenario:

Speaker’s cue: “Are you going to the movies today?”

(PAUSE)
Drawing on information given previously, you respond
(in the target language):
“No, I’m going tomorrow.”
The instructor will then confirm your answer:
“No, I’m going tomorrow.”
The Narrator then may cue:
“Is your sister going to Europe this year?” (PAUSE)
Response: “No, she went last year.”

Before Dr. Pimsleur created his teaching method, language

courses were based on the principle of “mindless-repetition.”
Teachers drummed words into the students’ minds over and over,
as if there were grooves in the mind that could be worn deeper
with repetition.

Neurophysiologists tell us however, that on the contrary, simple

and unchallenging repetition has a hypnotic, even dulling effect
on the learning process. Eventually, the words being repeated
will lose their meaning. Dr. Pimsleur discovered that learning
accelerates when there is an “input/output” system of interaction,
in which students receive information and then are asked to
retrieve and use it.

6
 CORE VOCABULARY

While “Graduated Interval Recall” and the “Principle of

Anticipation” are the foundation of the Pimsleur® Method, there
are other aspects that contribute to its uniqueness and effectiveness.
One involves vocabulary. We have all been intimidated, when
approaching a new language, by the sheer immensity of the
number of new words we must learn. But extensive research has
shown that we actually need a comparatively limited number of
words to be able to communicate effectively in any language.

Language can be divided into two distinct categories:

grammatical structures (function words) and concrete vocabulary
(content words). By focusing on the former category and enabling
the student to comprehend and employ the structure of the new
language, Dr. Pimsleur found that language learners were able to
more readily put new knowledge to use. There are few content
words that must be known and used every day. The essential
“core” of a language involves function words, which tend to
relate to human activities.

This course is designed to teach you to understand and to

speak the essential elements of your new language in a relatively
short time. During each half-hour lesson, you will actually
converse with two native speakers, using the level of language
spoken by educated citizens in their everyday business and social
life. The program’s unique method of presenting dialogue in-
situation relieves you of the most common learning problem, the
problem of meaning.

7
 ORGANIC LEARNING

The Pimsleur® Method centers on teaching functional

mastery in understanding and speaking a language, in the most
effective and efficient way possible. You will be working on
your vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation in an integrated
manner, as you are learning specific phrases that have practical
use in everyday activities.

There are several thousand languages in the world. Because

fewer than five hundred of these languages have developed formal
systems of writing, linguistic specialists accept that language
is primarily speech. For this reason, it is also accepted that the
human brain acquires language as speech. Therefore, when Dr.
Pimsleur created his language programs, he began teaching with
recorded materials, which enabled the learners to acquire the
sounds, the rhythm, and the intonation of the target language.
The learners did this more rapidly, more accurately, and with
great enthusiasm because they found themselves capable of
almost instant beginning communication skills.

Dr. Pimsleur called this “organic learning” because it involves

learning on several fronts at the same time. His system enables
the learner to acquire grammatical usage, vocabulary, and the
“sounds” of the language in an integrated, exciting way. In short,
the learner gains the language as a living, expressive form of
human culture.

8
 COURSE CONTENT

When you have mastered a Pimsleur® Language Program,

you will have a highly-practical, every-day vocabulary at your
command. These basic words, phrases, and sentences have been
carefully selected to be the most useful in everyday situations
when you visit a foreign country. You will be able to handle
social encounters graciously, converse with native speakers in
travel situations, and use transportation systems with confidence.
You’ll be able to ask directions and to navigate your own way
around the cities and countryside.

The language skills you learn will enable you to participate

in casual conversations, express facts, give instructions, and
describe current, past, and future activities. You will be able to
deal with everyday survival topics and courtesy requirements.
You will be intelligible to native speakers of the language—even
to those who are not used to dealing with foreigners. What is
equally important, you will know how to ask the kinds of
questions that will further expand your knowledge of and facility
with the language, because you will have been trained by the
Pimsleur® open-ended questioning technique.

The Pimsleur® Method becomes a springboard for further

learning and growth to take place—the ultimate purpose of any
real educational system. This desire to learn will be apparent to
the people with whom you speak. It will indicate sincere interest
in and respect for their culture.

9
 A NOTE ON REGIONAL LANGUAGE DIFFERENCES

In any large country, and even in many smaller countries,

regional differences in language are common. In the United States,
for example, a person from Maine can sound very different than
someone from Texas. Pronunciations (“accents”) vary, and there
are also minor differences in vocabulary. For example, what is
called a “drinking fountain” in New York or Arizona is known
as a “bubbler” in Wisconsin, and a “soft drink” in one part of
America will be called a “soda” elsewhere. The differences in
English are even more distinct between North Americans and
Britons, or between Britons and Australians. But all are native
speakers of English; all can communicate with spoken English,
read the same newspapers, and watch the same television
programs, essentially without difficulty.

Native speakers of a language can often tell where someone

is from by listening to him or her speak. In addition to regional
differences, there are social differences. Pimsleur® Language
Programs use a standard “educated” speech, which will generally
carry you throughout the country without difficulty.

10
 Reading in a Pimsleur Program

A phonetic alphabet, such as the Latin alphabet and the Greek

alphabet, is a list of symbols (letters) that are used to represent the
sounds of the language in writing. And given that language is
primarily speech, the spoken sounds of the language necessarily
precede learning how to decode the written form, i.e., learning
how to “read” – just as a child first learns to speak and then
eventually to read. This is the natural progression Dr. Pimsleur
followed in his courses.

After an initial introduction to the spoken language, reading

is then integrated into the program and the new alphabet is
systematically introduced, associating each letter with the
sounds of the new language. Initially, you are sounding out
words, mastering the different sounds associated with the new
alphabet. You are not, at first, reading for meaning, but rather for
sound/symbol correlation. Eventually, when the sound system
is mastered, you will be able to look at known vocabulary and
“read for meaning.” By the end of the first 30 lessons, you will
be reading at the same level as you are speaking.

11
Pimsleur covers the world of languages. You can choose from
over 60 language programs, many with multiple levels, ranging
from the most popular to the exotic. Become a Pimsleur
learner and travel the world!

Programs available for these languages:

• Albanian • Japanese
• Arabic (Eastern) • Korean
• Arabic (Egyptian) • Lithuanian
• Arabic (Modern Standard) • Norwegian
• Armenian (Eastern) • Ojibwe
• Armenian (Western) • Pashto
• Chinese (Cantonese) • Polish
• Chinese (Mandarin) • Portuguese (Brazilian)
• Croatian • Portuguese (European)
• Czech • Punjabi
• Danish • Romanian
• Dari (Persian) • Russian
• Dutch • Spanish
• Farsi (Persian) • Swahili
• French • Swedish
• German • Swiss German
• Greek (Modern) • Tagalog
• Haitian Creole • Thai
• Hebrew (Modern) • Turkish
• Hindi • Twi
• Hungarian • Ukrainian
• Indonesian • Urdu
• Irish • Vietnamese
• Italian

ESL (English as a Second Language):

• Arabic • Italian
• Chinese (Cantonese) • Korean
• Chinese (Mandarin) • Persian
• French • Portuguese
• German • Russian
• Haitian • Spanish
• Hindi • Vietnamese
 SIMON & SCHUSTER’S

PIMSLEUR
®

Pimsleur® Language Programs are available

in all of the commonly spoken languages.

Many other languages are also available.

For more information, call 1-800-831-5497
or visit us at www.Pimsleur.com

© 1997 Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Pimsleur® is an imprint of Simon & Schuster Audio,
a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. Mfg. in USA. All rights reserved.
Pimsleur® is a registered trademark of Beverly Pimsleur,
used by Simon & Schuster under exclusive license.