Guys,
Since first downloading files with Bit Torrent I've no need to go back to the always annoying (and inferior) alternatives - Kazaa, Bear Share, et al. Bit Torrent clients, at least the ones I've tried, are free, have no spyware, and some offer powerful features. Here's how to get hold of Pimsleur Spanish...
1) The Bit Torrent client I've settled on is simple in its appearance but still has some powerful features. It's called uTorrent and I use the "standalone," version that doesn't require installation. Download it from this link and Save to somewhere safe...
http://download.utorrent.com/1.6/utorrent.exe
It's a small file and will download in seconds. (If it doesn't do a Google for "download uTorrent" and you'll find it). Once it has downloaded find where you saved it and double click it. Let it set itself as your default .torrent client.
2) Now you need to find a .torrent for Pimsleur Spanish. uTorrent has a built in Search field in its upper right corner. Click the magnifying glass next to it and select IsoHunt as the default engine. Now type "Pimsleur" (without quotes) into the field and hit enter.
3) Your web browser will open to a page returning a list of various torrents that in some way mention Pimsleur. On that page will be a section with six columns:
Category, Age, Torrent Tags & Name, Size, S, L
Click Size to sort the list by, uh, Size.
4) Now it's time to choose which torrent to download with. As I write this, "/ Pimsleur / 12.93 GB / S: 23 / L: 131 / tops the list. Don't let the 12.93 GB size scare you. Inside that torrent are many Pimsleur language courses but you don't have to download all of them. You select only the ones you want. I recently grabbed all four Spanish and all three Portuguese (Brazilian).
This is a good torrent. Why do I say that? Because, at the moment, it's well Seeded (S:23) and well Leeched (L:131). Seeds are clients (people's computers running a Bit Torrent Client) that have the complete file. Leeches are clients that have some of the file. Even with no Seeders it's often possible to get a complete file if, added together, all Leechers can make up a complete file. That's the beauty of the way Bit Torrent works - and why media companies no doubt hate it more than the other, more famous methods. It's quicker and more reliable than any other download method I've tried - IF what you want is still well Seeded and/or Leeched.
5) Click on the word Pimsleur under the "Torrent Tags, Name" column. That should expand the entry to reveal the contents of the torrent. Scroll the list and you'll see there are zip files for many Pimsleur courses - just as I said. Now it's time to download...
6) If you've scrolled the list to the bottom, scroll back up to the top and click the "Download .torrent" link at the upper left. A dialog will pop up asking whether you wish to Save or Open the file. I usually just click Open. Torrents are very small so it'll Open very quickly. If you've followed through each of these steps in order then you've already set uTorrent as your .torrent client so now that program will run and another dialog will open up called "Add new torrent".
7) You could click OK at this point but you'd wind up downloading every single Pimsleur course. I don't think you want that. So click Select None and then go through the list and check those zips that you do want and then click OK.
That's it! You should, within minutes, see the downloading begin. Unlike other file sharing programs there's no waiting endlessly in line with Bit Torrent downloads. Due to the unique way BT clients share files it's actually better the more users there are.
Download rates vary. Even if you have a very fast connection if the file(s) you're after are poorly Seeded and/or Leeched it could take a long time to get them. Also - and this mainly applied to such poorly Seeded/Leeched files - if there isn't at least one Seed it's possible that, taken together, all Leeches do not make up a complete file. You can check that in uTorrent by paying attention to the Avail.(ability) column on its right hand side. If it's less that 1.0 then, at that moment, there isn't a complete file to be had. This hardly ever happens to highly desired files that are well Seeded/Leeched - sometimes for months and months. For such files you'll usually find download rates of 25 to as high as 500+ kbps.
TIP! While you're looking at the uTorrent window have a look at the Ratio column. Ratio is the amount of the file you've downloaded (from other users) compared with the amount you've uploaded (TO other users). It's a good idea, even when you've got what you want, to make sure you let the ratio climb to at least 1.0 so that you've uploaded as much as you've downloaded. This keeps the Bit Torrent file sharing community alive. Ignore this tip at your own risk! Some sites note your IP and, if you aren't a good Leecher that does wait for that 1.0 or better Ratio they'll ban you from downloading any more torrents. Not a disaster cause there are lots of torrent hosting sites - but it's best to share all the same.
TIP2!
www.torrentz.com is a search engine that'll point you to other torrent sharing sites that have possible hits to whatever it is you're searching for - be they movies or programs or music.
TIP3! For movies don't download an entire DVD just to watch a movie. DVD Rips are CD sized (at about 700 MBs) and often near HD quality. They just don't have all the extras that come on some DVDs. And rarely can you skip forward by Chapter. Big deal!
Well I hope this has been of help to some of you. As for the Pimsleur courses? I have come to them late. I picked up my spanish using a Berlitz Phrase book and Collins English/Spanish dictionary while travelling Mexico for over a year fifteen years back. Had I known about Pimsleur (assuming it existed then) man it would have really helped me learn more quickly I'm sure. As it is I'm working my way through the Lesson 1 set and finding it mostly re-inforcing what I already know. Now and then I learn a fine point I'd missed learning the way I did but so far nothing very challenging. I'm hoping that either Lesson II or III will introduce past and future tense as that's where I'm really lost - especially past tense as future can be indicated with the "to go," verb: ir.
It's great the way the courses are designed to just be listened to - without the need for books and writing and homework. In fact the narrator specifically tells you NOT to try to take notes while listening as it'll disturb the natural learning method. That method consists of a Narrator/Instructor speaking in English and a dialog between a man and a woman - that becomes more and more complex as you get deeper into the lessons. I cannot imagine that there's anyone that wouldn't be able to learn a new language this way so long as they follow the instruction.
If anyone has any doubts send me a PM with your e-mail and I'll send you the first 30 minute lesson (Lesson 01) of the Spanish I course. (There are thirty 30 minute Spanish I lessons in all. It's about 6 MBs so it's no biggie to e-mail.
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Of course if Bookie looks back a few posts another member already offered to help him out.
