@StéphaneGimenez Translating is in no way a means to learn a language. It was the sole method used up to the beginning of the 20th century, inherited from the learning of greek and latin. But fortunately progress in learning languages has been made since.

The first innovation that broke away from the read & translate method was the so-called direct method in the early 20th century. It proved a good step but lots of progress has been made since, and various ways of learning a language can work according to one's own learning methods and ability. The learn and repeat method (on which the Pimsler method is based) was tried in French language teaching for a while and it proved disastrous on a whole generation of French students.

Anyone interested in methods in language learning in a historical perspective can read * Histoire des Méthodologies de l’enseignement des langues* by Christian Puren.