newyorkeric Diglot Moderator Singapore Joined 6377 days ago 1598 posts - 2174 votes Speaks: English*, Italian Studies: Mandarin, Malay Personal Language Map
| Message 9 of 18 04 January 2013 at 6:46am | IP Logged |
I didn't explain myself well or at all really. My experience with Assimil is that to use it successfuly and learn
the contents to a reasonable level actually takes more time than proscribed by the one lesson a day
approach. Even doubling lessons really degrades your ability to retain new vocabulary and sentence
structures. So I just don't believe that such an accelerated schedule like AML's would provide anywhere
near the gains compared to doing the couse at a more moderated pace.
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AML Senior Member United States Joined 6823 days ago 323 posts - 426 votes 2 sounds Speaks: English* Studies: Modern Hebrew, German, Spanish
| Message 10 of 18 04 January 2013 at 7:16am | IP Logged |
newyorkeric wrote:
I didn't explain myself well or at all really. My experience with Assimil is that to use it successfuly and learn the contents to a reasonable level actually takes more time than proscribed by the one lesson a day approach. Even doubling lessons really degrades your ability to retain new vocabulary and sentence structures. So I just don't believe that such an accelerated schedule like AML's would provide anywhere near the gains compared to doing the course at a more moderated pace. |
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Here's another way to look at it, as I definitely understand your doubt:
Instead of spending 12 weeks on Assimil, I plan to spend 12 weeks going through several books. At the moment, I have the time to spend ~2 active hours per day on Hebrew. So now I'm hoping to go through a book that is about 1800 sentences (with nikkud). Maybe it will take 3 weeks(?). Then another similar book - and another ~3 weeks. Glossika-esque, I a large amount of exposure to many many sentences. But from now on, I aim to add in a vocabulary retention technique (SRS, Iversen, or Goldlist...or some sort of combination). If I'm able to keep this up for 6 months, I'm curious to see what my level will be at.
I also plan to continue to read everything aloud, to get lots of speaking practice.
Again I emphasize that this is an experiment. Plus, I am enjoying it, thus I am able to continue with it.
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AML Senior Member United States Joined 6823 days ago 323 posts - 426 votes 2 sounds Speaks: English* Studies: Modern Hebrew, German, Spanish
| Message 11 of 18 04 January 2013 at 7:26am | IP Logged |
mahasiswa wrote:
I think you're on the right track with this, but I feel adverse to or reluctant about your tone. Assimil is one of the best language resources I've found yet after 6 years of foreign language study. |
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You are right to feel reluctant - this type of experiment may not be for you. I am trying to discover a method or set-of-techniques that works for me, because I sadly have not found it yet.
I guess what I meant regarding Assimil being but a small piece of a large language-learning pie is that...my goal is fluency. And by fluency I mean at least C2/expert/near-native, etc. By having this viewpoint, I can't help but view almost any specific Hebrew-learning book as just a one small step on a very long path. Kind of like if NASA was trying to put a man on the surface of Pluto, the pit-stop on Mars would be quite a nice accomplishment but also a disappointment if the mission stopped there. And also, because they have such lofty goals (Pluto is really far!), they may want to use the fastest rocket possible to get to Mars and beyond. Otherwise the trip will take forever.
So why not read through Assimil and four other books at the same time over a period of 3 months, thus taking my time in all of then simultaneously? Because I know that won't work for my simple brain. I need to focus on one story at a time.
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luke Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 7203 days ago 3133 posts - 4351 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Esperanto, French
| Message 12 of 18 04 January 2013 at 10:36am | IP Logged |
I raced through several Assimil French courses at an even greater pace, although not dipping in as deeply to each lesson as AML did. Basically I was listen/reading the courses. I found it a good way to get familiar with the courses. I listen/read each course 2-3 times and had other supplementry material over the course of about 10 weeks. I think my level got to A1/A2. I wrote out several lessons as well.
Now I'm going through the same courses at the normal 1 lesson per day pace and review several previous lessons each day. I believe there is enough in each Assimil course to go through it at the slower 1 lesson/day pace several times. The less attention one gives to each lesson, the more repeats remain in the lesson value bank.
I can definitely understand AML's experiment. I certainly get pulled in that direction at times. The last day or so, I've been feeling pulled in the other direction, towards more intensive study, such as a grammar workbook, or FSI, but I'm sticking with the current course of action as finishing what one has set out to do is one of the most important aspects of long term success. In that area too, I see the wisdom of AML's approach.
I think the broad, wide, rapid approach has the student in the fog for a little longer, but there is the promise of the fog clearing quickly if one keeps to the course of action.
Edited by luke on 04 January 2013 at 10:55am
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AML Senior Member United States Joined 6823 days ago 323 posts - 426 votes 2 sounds Speaks: English* Studies: Modern Hebrew, German, Spanish
| Message 13 of 18 04 January 2013 at 1:14pm | IP Logged |
jeff_lindqvist wrote:
AML wrote:
My steps were as follows:[...] |
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Did you do this in large chunks or each lesson at a time (lesson 1 steps 1-9, lesson 2 steps 1-9)? This looks so interesting that I'm ready to try it - not sure which language though... |
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The latter. Each lesson at a time (steps 1-9, then move on to the next lesson).
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arturs Triglot Senior Member Latvia Joined 5269 days ago 278 posts - 408 votes Speaks: Latvian*, Russian, English
| Message 14 of 18 04 January 2013 at 5:40pm | IP Logged |
renaissancemedi wrote:
This is very helpful, thanks for sharing. I also like the assimil courses, and want to slowly learn hebrew. I have started whith Michel Thomas which works fine, but now I'll check out assimil as well. |
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Since when does Michel Thomas has a Hebrew course?
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versuss Pentaglot Newbie United Kingdom Joined 5372 days ago 20 posts - 25 votes Speaks: Taiwanese, Cantonese, Mandarin*, English, Malay Studies: French, Japanese, Esperanto
| Message 15 of 18 04 January 2013 at 11:12pm | IP Logged |
I have done this with Assimil French(not very successful)and I am planning to do this
again with my Assimil Spanish. But how did you do the review of the previous lessons?
Did you just read through/listen to the previous lessons or cover up the sentences and
reproduce them as suggested in the active wave?
Last time when I did 10 French lessons a day, I found out that I could understand the
previous sentences the following day, but reproducing them took much more time.
Edited by versuss on 04 January 2013 at 11:13pm
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AML Senior Member United States Joined 6823 days ago 323 posts - 426 votes 2 sounds Speaks: English* Studies: Modern Hebrew, German, Spanish
| Message 16 of 18 04 January 2013 at 11:45pm | IP Logged |
versuss wrote:
I have done this with Assimil French(not very successful)and I am planning to do this again with my Assimil Spanish. But how did you do the review of the previous lessons?
Did you just read through/listen to the previous lessons or cover up the sentences and reproduce them as suggested in the active wave?
Last time when I did 10 French lessons a day, I found out that I could understand the previous sentences the following day, but reproducing them took much more time.
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In Step 10, the review step the following day, I re-read all the lessons out loud. I read for understanding. That is, I required myself to read it and understand the conversation and well as the functions of each word, which is what I spent time figuring out the previous day. If I forgot a word or two I looked them up real quick and read again. But usually I remembered everything. On Day 14, I didn't remember every single word for all 85 lessons, but the context really helped. I had to look up a few words. A few of the later lessons were quite challenging though.
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