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Assimil Learning methods | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| Vinnie Groupie England Joined 6528 days ago 65 posts - 66 votes  Speaks: English* | Message 33 of 96 05 February 2007 at 9:42am | IP Logged | ||
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Im just gonna re write the whole book, and use a dictionary. I think this will help alot. It will take a long time but im sure i will reap the benefits. I spose about assimil being "one of the best" tools if the translations were spot on has some merit, but still doesnt compare to the likes of michel thomas courses.
I think its sad that someone goes out of their way to buy an assimil course, only to find it has rubbish translations, which in turn ruins the course. What is "without toil" courses like for translations? Edited by Vinnie on 05 February 2007 at 9:45am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| slucido Bilingual Diglot Senior Member Spain https://goo.gl/126Yv Joined 6679 days ago 1296 posts - 1781 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Spanish*, Catalan* Studies: English | Message 34 of 96 05 February 2007 at 11:13am | IP Logged | ||
I have Assimil english (1 and 2), french and Italian and the translations are good. However I use the Spanish versions. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Kugel Senior Member United States Joined 6542 days ago 497 posts - 555 votes Speaks: English* | Message 35 of 96 05 February 2007 at 2:56pm | IP Logged | ||
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I think that the concept of Assimil is great, and if the translations were word per word, just like the Chinese version, then it would make life much easier. I wonder how much Assimil owns in terms of intellectual rights over the concept of Assimil? After doing the active phase, which is translating every word back and forth between your mother tongue and the target language, you have a solid understanding of the structure of Assimil. Simply by changing the stories in the lessons, you could create your own "Assimil" and make it more user friendly. Assimil can't have a copyright on its words and frequency it puts them in practice. With all these language professors and teachers, why can't they produce something like this? It's understandable that they have a full time job teaching the school's material, but I would've thought they would have some interesting side projects for tinkering around with.
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| frenkeld Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6947 days ago 2042 posts - 2719 votes Speaks: Russian*, English Studies: German | Message 36 of 96 05 February 2007 at 6:44pm | IP Logged | ||
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Another notable feature of Assimil is the introduction of colloquial elements into speech right from the start. I wonder if it may not be easier for some learners to acquire the basic structures and vocabulary on more stilted content, which more easily translates word for word, before tackling Assimil.
Edited by frenkeld on 05 February 2007 at 6:47pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Andy E Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 7107 days ago 1651 posts - 1939 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French | Message 37 of 96 06 February 2007 at 1:41am | IP Logged | ||
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Let's be careful about generalising here. Not all courses suffer from these problems. I've not had particular problems with Spanish With Ease, Le Nouvel Español sans Peine, French with Ease, El Francés sin Esfuerzo, Using French, Francés Perfeccionamiento, El Nuevo Alemán sin Esfuerzo, El Catalán Sin Esfuerzo and Perfectionnement Espagnol.
Using Spanish, on the other hand, as documented in the thread linked to above does have some "features" that are not present in the French version. Andy. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| InsanePenguin Senior Member Wales Joined 6875 days ago 248 posts - 248 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 38 of 96 10 February 2007 at 2:41am | IP Logged | ||
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I'm about to start Assimil for the 3rd time, I got to lesson 47 last attempt I'm going to do the active wave from the start this time as I didn't feel confident enough starting the active wave half way.
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| Kugel Senior Member United States Joined 6542 days ago 497 posts - 555 votes Speaks: English* | Message 39 of 96 10 February 2007 at 11:20am | IP Logged | ||
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What I would like to do is post transcripts of the lessons, every word, and have native speakers explain them. That way, any error or misconception or confusing area, can be explained fully on this board. I'm just worried about copyright issues. The only way around this I think would be to create entirely different lessons(I think one could still use the same words and grammar that the Assimil book has), but then one would have to produce audio to go along with it, which would need the help of several native speakers, something I think would be too much trouble.
This transcript posting would be great for the languages not available for English speakers, particularly Russian, Japanese, Latin, Ancient Greek, all of which have plenty of demand of this board. I don't think Assimil would get upset, because the learner would still need to buy the program for the audio. I can't imagine doing the program properly without the audio. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Andy E Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 7107 days ago 1651 posts - 1939 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French | Message 40 of 96 10 February 2007 at 2:21pm | IP Logged | ||
Interesting that you should mention this. I did wonder about setting up a collaborative website for the Using Spanish course in exactly the same manner where its "features" could be ironed out. Unforunately, concerns about copyright issues meant in the end I did nothing about it. I have more recently - as I am about to revisit the course - considered a sort of "half-way house" where improved translations and notes could be submitted but none of the target language text. I can't see how that would be cause any legal issues since such a site would be useless without a copy of the book* Andy * and of course the translations and notes would not be plagiarised from Assimil since it's their versions that we've got the problem with in the first place. Edited by Andy E on 10 February 2007 at 2:31pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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