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Assimil versus US language programs | ||
Tags: Learner type | Platiquemos | Pimsleur | Reading | Language Program | FSI | Assimil | Accent | Book | Grammar | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| 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 57 of 184 28 June 2005 at 6:59pm | IP Logged | |||||
I don't memorize the dialogues, although, with so much repetition I find I do remember many parts of the course. I have always tried to make the learning process as simple and easy as possible. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Farley Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 7091 days ago 681 posts - 739 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English*, GermanB1, French Studies: Spanish | Message 58 of 184 29 June 2005 at 9:31pm | IP Logged | |||||
I had a very similar experience at the Goethe Institute leaning German about 8 years ago. German was my first foreign language and at the time I had not even heard of shadowing or Assimil, but starting using it by in part by accident and part by design. I took two – two-month intensive courses between Nov 1996 and March 1997. The first course was my “passive phase” where I soaked up everything in German during classes where the instructors had a way of introducing words and structure in a way that you absorbed it. In the afternoons I went to the language lab where I first tried the written grammar drills, but the audio lab looked more fun; so I listened and to the full “Alles Gute” series (an all German video course) and “shadowed” for the fun of it -- to my surprise I started learning grammar. Next I started watching “The Name of the Rose”, in German, over and over again. At that time, I had seen it in English so many times that I had parts of the English memorized. I listened to those parts until slowly the German sounds and vocabulary started sinking in. In that way I used the Assimil method by accident. My class also had a big party group and they saved me from more bad study habits by talking me into just having one beer every night (which of course turned into a lot more), so rather than learning German by the phonebook I learn by speaking. My second course was my “active phase”. During the Christmas holidays I spent it with some German friends and it was if something clicked and suddenly I could think in German. In that two-week period I went from a beginner-speaker to a proficient speaker. During the second course my instructor had me shadow German in class whenever he heard me make a pronunciation error. Classmates joined in and did the same thing. This part was by design because they got tried of hearing me speak German with something that sounded like a Texas accent. The results were amazing, somewhere around month 3 another wave of German intonation hit me and I started losing my “Texas” accent. (I actuality from South Carolina) I could measure my progress with the remarks I got from native German speakers when I spoke to them in German. I first I got (in English) you really have a typical American accent, you sound JR on Dallas; I knew I was getting better when people started asking (in English), "Are you from the US or the UK?" And finally my moment of pride when Germans started asking, in German, “Are you Dutch?”. When I told them no I’m American I would get a responses such as, “But that is incredible most American just don’t German that well [if at all]”. If they tried speaking English to me before they stopped. It really was an incredible moment for me, but not to brag too much, the fact that I’m 6’5’’ with blue eyes probably helped in their misconception. At the end of the course I passed my ZDF (Cert of German as a Foreign Language) with ease, and all without one single note card. Thanks everyone for all the information on FSI versus Assimil. I just bought “French with Ease” and checked out Barron’s French FSI from the library to compare. I was impressed with FSI course, but Assimil reminds me of the way I learned German but without all the hit-n-miss efforts I had while learning German. I am planning on staying with Assimil for French. Edited by Farley on 01 January 2006 at 8:37am 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| ducr Newbie Canada Joined 7093 days ago 16 posts - 16 votes Speaks: French | Message 59 of 184 30 June 2005 at 12:16am | IP Logged | |||||
Oh my god! I just woke up! What year is this? ;-) 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Farley Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 7091 days ago 681 posts - 739 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English*, GermanB1, French Studies: Spanish | Message 60 of 184 30 June 2005 at 8:16am | IP Logged | |||||
Sorry 1996-1997 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| braveb Senior Member United States languageprograms.blo Joined 7196 days ago 264 posts - 263 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, French | Message 61 of 184 05 July 2005 at 8:22pm | IP Logged | |||||
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How many lessons would one need to use the French Based Assimil programs? Would completing the 110 lesson in "New French With Ease" be enough to learn Latin or Greek Assimil? Or would something around 50 lessons be enough?
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| braveb Senior Member United States languageprograms.blo Joined 7196 days ago 264 posts - 263 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, French | Message 62 of 184 05 July 2005 at 8:23pm | IP Logged | |||||
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And were any of you successful in doing more than one lesson a day?
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| omicron Senior Member United States Joined 7120 days ago 125 posts - 132 votes Speaks: English* | Message 63 of 184 06 July 2005 at 1:44am | IP Logged | |||||
50 lessons would not be enough. I think you could give it a try after completing the first book, but I think you'd really want to get through the second book as well. You need both books to cover all the tenses, not to mention all the extra idioms and vocabulary. Even with both books done, you'd still need a French dictionary since the vocabulary is different. I went through about half of Russe Sans Peine several years ago and had to look things up several times. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| 1204grandine Triglot Groupie Italy Joined 7186 days ago 88 posts - 78 votes Speaks: Italian*, English, Catalan Studies: Spanish, Portuguese, Greek | Message 64 of 184 17 July 2005 at 3:56pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Now i've ordered Assimil course of Greek(in Italian).
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