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| Julia Pimsleur |
I
was no different than any other eager six-year old girl when I
walked into class on my first day of first grade. Except that in my classroom,
the teacher spoke only French, the kids were all French, and I was the only
American.
Over the summer, my father, Dr. Paul Pimsleur, who created the
groundbreaking Pimsleur Method language learning system, had moved our family
to Paris to teach at the Sorbonne. My brother and I were enrolled in a local
public school though we spoke only a few words of French. Within three months
we became perfectly bilingual – it was a matter of survival!
This early immersion experience, and the two years we lived in Paris,
changed my life forever. Speaking French fluently was the greatest gift my
parents ever gave me; it provided me with an advantage in school and paved the
way for scholarships and jobs.
Years later, it was this ease of learning that I wanted to
recreate when I came up with Little Pim. Our in-home immersion language
teaching method is designed to introduce young kids to a second, or even third
language, before the age of six. Both of my children have used it (and star in
the videos!) and so have millions of kids around the world.
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| Little Pim Spanish flash cards, books, and plush |
Our
goal at Little Pim was, and is, ambitious: to change the way young children
learn languages. As a mother, filmmaker, and daughter of a language teaching
pioneer, I wanted to create the first program that was effective and fun, specifically
designed for young children. I spent more than two years perfecting our
Entertainment Immersion Method®, working with a leading neuroscientist, educators,
and language experts. The method teaches children their first 500 words in a
second language, and makes learning a new language easy. Children watch the
core video series and the vocabulary they learn is reinforced through
toe-tapping CDs, beautifully illustrated flash cards, easy to follow books, and
interactive apps. Every aspect of the method is designed for use by parents who
don’t already speak a second language, with phonetics and tips throughout.
The
uber goal of Little Pim is to democratize language learning, thereby making
learning another language accessible to all children. I realized that not all
parents can afford expensive language classes or foreign-born nannies; but if
millions of families can, and do, buy DVDs, why can’t they use that same screen
time to teach their kids a second language? Little Pim was intentionally
created as affordable and scalable digital content, costing about the same as
any entertainment DVD. All the content is available online at iTunes, Amazon,
and the LeapFrog app store, and is free at the public library.
Foreign
language instruction isn’t mandatory in U.S. public schools, which puts our
kids at a disadvantage on the global stage. At Little Pim we are getting kids
started on their language learning journey as early as possible, since research
shows that’s when kids learn best. And, as I experienced way back in Paris, it’s
when they learn most effortlessly, too.
Julia Pimsleur is the CEO of Little Pim, the leading
language teaching method for children. Little Pim has won over 25 awards, has
sold more than 1.5 million products, and is now in 11 languages, including
Chinese, Arabic and Russian, with Hindi slated for release in 2013. The series
is the most comprehensive and fun way for young children to start learning a
second or third language. LittlePim.com
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