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Assimil method | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| Gamma Octoglot Groupie Brazil Joined 6942 days ago 82 posts - 85 votes  Speaks: Portuguese*, French, English, GermanC2, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Finnish Studies: Icelandic, Dutch | Message 17 of 57 18 June 2006 at 6:18pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Felixelus, I have "O novo francês sem esforço" ("New French with ease" for Brazilian Portuguese speakers). The book refers to the first and second waves in its introduction and gives the reader a detailed explanation about them in the 49th lesson, which is the last passive lesson. Have you already checked it? Edited by Gamma on 18 June 2006 at 6:22pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Felixelus Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6837 days ago 237 posts - 244 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 18 of 57 19 June 2006 at 5:58am | IP Logged | |||||
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ah-ha!! Just read that! thanks for telling me about it Gamma. :)
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| CaitO'Ceallaigh Triglot Senior Member United States katiekelly.wordpress Joined 6856 days ago 795 posts - 829 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Russian Studies: Czech, German | Message 19 of 57 22 August 2006 at 12:05pm | IP Logged | |||||
I'm re-opening this thread again because I'm about to enter the "active wave" of Assimil's Using Spanish and I was wondering how many others have used this product specifically, and then, what exactly did/do you do? As for shadowing goes, I do this daily with each lesson. With some practice, I can read along at a machine gun pace, but I'm not finding I'm retaining words in this way. In fact, when I read out loud (shadowing or not), my mind goes blank. I concentrate more on creating the sounds and how the movements feel, but I don't think about what it means. When I think about what it means, I stop reading out loud. Is this at all common? This happens to me reading in English as well. Perhaps after I go through the active phase, it will all fall into place? Has this been others' experience? Do you find yourself using these words in your own active vocabulary? 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| fanatic Octoglot Senior Member Australia speedmathematics.com Joined 7145 days ago 1152 posts - 1818 votes Speaks: English*, German, French, Afrikaans, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Dutch Studies: Swedish, Norwegian, Polish, Modern Hebrew, Malay, Mandarin, Esperanto | Message 20 of 57 22 August 2006 at 7:06pm | IP Logged | |||||
This is not at all the way I use Assimil. In the passive phase (first wave) I simply go through the lessons, doing at least one new lesson a day, trying only to understand what I read and hear. I am not worried about memorising vocabulary. I don't shadow the lessons. If I forget a word today I know I will be reviewing the word each day for the next week or more so I know it won't get lost. I am not worried about being able to use the vocabulary I have learnt. That will come with the active wave. I have worked through a number of Assimil programs this way, including the old Spanish Without Toil course. I would review the past six or seven lessons each day with the new lesson and I found that I understood them very well. I noted the grammar explanations and read summaries of Spanish grammar but didn't memorise anything. I just took note of it. I found my comprehension level was very high and I was able to read Spanish pages on the Internet I used for practice. I read and downloaded jokes in Spanish. To aid with the active wave I used Synergy Spanish which is a great program to get you talking and using the basic vocabulary that you already know. Actually I began Synergy Spanish while I was still on the passive wave. I don't stick to any strict rules. I hope this helps. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| frenkeld Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6942 days ago 2042 posts - 2719 votes Speaks: Russian*, English Studies: German | Message 21 of 57 22 August 2006 at 9:11pm | IP Logged | |||||
Do you try to repeat the sentences in the lessons during this phase or do you leave this for later as well? 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| fanatic Octoglot Senior Member Australia speedmathematics.com Joined 7145 days ago 1152 posts - 1818 votes Speaks: English*, German, French, Afrikaans, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Dutch Studies: Swedish, Norwegian, Polish, Modern Hebrew, Malay, Mandarin, Esperanto | Message 22 of 57 22 August 2006 at 9:58pm | IP Logged | |||||
I break up my practice with Assimil into several chunks of five, ten or fifteen minutes segments. I use my mp3 player, which means I can do my audio/listening revision anywhere. Often I am having a cup of coffee in a shopping mall or I am walking in the street. Then I don't open my mouth for fear someone might notice and get me locked away. When I am at home I will read the text out loud, but not following the recordings. I just read out of the book. I do carry the book with me if I can and read the lesson passively if I am travelling or I get the chance. I just expect that reading the text and listening to the lesson will make me familiar with the language and my first stage is recognizing and understanding the text and the spoken language. I have read criticism on some threads of the exercises. I find them helpful. The basic lesson is in the form of a story, dialogue or jokes. It makes sense and it is easy to work out what the odd word means from the context. The exercises are generally sentences in isolation that use the text you have learnt in the lesson proper. They are revision and give you a chance to determine how much you have learned and really understand. They introduce the vocabulary or principle in a different setting. The new With Ease series is a little different, giving you actual exercises to do. I usually just do them mentally in the passive stage. So, most of my learning is silent in the passive stage, with some speaking aloud. In the active stage I try to say the text in the target language from the English translation on the side. With the constant revision and reviewing of lessons I just about know the text by heart by this stage anyway. I can still repeat a lot of the text from my Assimil German book. When I arrived in Germany I could understand well, say what I wanted to say, but my speech was a bit mangled. Then I would hit a sentence straight from Assimil and I would say it in elegant, correct German. People must have wondered. Thinking about it, I must have done most of my active phase while I was living in Germany. And I was writing reports and doing technical translations from English to German, so I improved fast. I remember feeling a bit annoyed when people would use words and expressions that weren't in my Assimil course. I don't think any course will prepare you for every situation in a foreign lang and culture, but it does help if you can ask, what do you mean, in the language. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| kronos77 Groupie United States Joined 6738 days ago 78 posts - 81 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English* Studies: Russian, Dutch, Mandarin | Message 23 of 57 22 August 2006 at 11:28pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Fanatic,
What would you estimate the total time you spend per day with an Assimil course? I am into the active phase but I really feel like almost all my knowledge is passive knowledge. I can read surprisingly well in the target language, but when I try to translate in the active phase, I have a lot of trouble. Since this is my first try with Assimil, I was interested in doing some experimenting by following the instructions in the book exactly, spending 30-40 minutes each day, per lesson and seeing where that got me. I am sure if I spent another hour or two per day shadowing or reading out loud, I would have progressed further, but I wanted to put Assimil's claims to the test. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Katie Diglot Senior Member Australia Joined 6717 days ago 495 posts - 599 votes Speaks: English*, Hungarian Studies: French, German | Message 24 of 57 23 August 2006 at 12:27am | IP Logged | |||||
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Thanks for the info Fanatic.
I am only just starting Assimil. I have only done the first two lessons, and I didn't do it as well as you and others have suggested here... so I will probably quickly run over them again tonight and then I'll keep going. I do think that Assimil will be my answer to doing at least SOMETHING in Hungarian each day - the lessons are so quick that I'm sure I can do 1 or 2 a day easily. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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