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Assimil - Advanced/Unique Methods | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| soclydeza85 Senior Member United States Joined 3911 days ago 357 posts - 502 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: German, French | Message 1 of 13 26 September 2014 at 3:18am | IP Logged |
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I know a lot of similar threads exist, but for this one I want to focus on more advanced and unique methods (particularly for the active phase, but I'm interested in hearing any in general; maybe even turning the 2nd wave into an intense active/passive wave, who knows). What I mean is something more than just listen X times, read X times, write down the lesson, shadow. I was thinking about something like popping the audio files into Cubase (or Audacity) and repeating certain lines with gaps to repeat and practice, kind of like Pimsleur style. Or maybe putting whole sentences into an SRS and practicing them, not to memorize lines, but to internalize some of the features like rhythm, word order, etc. Maybe even memorizing the more story-like lessons (I know German has them, I'm not sure about Assimil for other languages) just like the old folklore that your parents would tell you has a kid off of the top of their head; whatever tickles your fancy.
I see Assimil as a gold mind that could probably actually take a learner to a solid B2 (like it claims) but simply doing just the standard passive/active wave will only take you 50% of the way there. To get the rest of the way you have to be creative and use unorthodox methods, something which I'm sure we all do for language learning in general. So, do any of you have some cool, unusual methods that you use for this? Edited by soclydeza85 on 26 September 2014 at 3:22am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Cabaire Senior Member Germany Joined 5603 days ago 725 posts - 1352 votes | Message 2 of 13 26 September 2014 at 9:11am | IP Logged |
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Assmil is gold, but not the philosophers stone. After all is contains only about 10.000 words and two hours of dialogues (without the pauses). One (!) average novel is 50.000 words long and during one (!) TV-evening you may hear more words spoken than all the course dialogues. There is simply not enough diverse input und variation to reach "solid B2". Some time you have to move on. You need massive input, more styles, different speakers / writers and then a lot of interaction and output.
But I too always like to hear about creative methods to work with corses. I myself like best the old hat "hear and write down", ie. dictations. 10 persons have voted this message useful | |
| garyb Triglot Senior Member ScotlandRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5211 days ago 1468 posts - 2413 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, French Studies: Spanish | Message 3 of 13 26 September 2014 at 10:41am | IP Logged |
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I found Luca's "full circle" method (described there for Thai using Teach Yourself but the same idea applies to Assimil for any language) to be more helpful for active skills than the prescribed active wave. Although it does get a bit heavy-going towards the end of the book, as literal translations become less feasible. Basically, a week after you do a passive lesson, you translate that lesson to your native language (in writing, not just in your head), and then a week later you translate back to the L2.
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| Ari Heptaglot Senior Member Norway Joined 6586 days ago 2314 posts - 5695 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese Studies: Czech, Latin, German | Message 4 of 13 26 September 2014 at 1:29pm | IP Logged |
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So here's what I do:
Do once: 0: Run all audio through Audacity and remove the pauses. Also, remove the slow version of all the lessons of the first week. Do once for every lesson: 1: Listen through the dialog a few times and follow along in the book. 2: Go through the text slowly. Add all new words into Anki (single word, passive direction). 3: Shadow the dialog and exercises a few times. 4: Add the dialog to a "Studied" playlist. Do every day: 5: Listen to the "Studied" playlist when you can find the time. I listen to it whenever I'm on the tram, and while walking, and waiting and whatnot. Listen to it in "shuffle" mode. 6: Work through your Anki deck. Do when you have the time: 7: Listen to the "Studied" playlist and shadow it. --- I'm planning on writing a more exhaustive guide to this method at some point, but that's the gist of it. I find it works really well. It's basically my old ChinesePod method adapten to Assimil, and it did wonders for my Mandarin, so I expect it'll get my Portuguese up to speed in no time. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| soclydeza85 Senior Member United States Joined 3911 days ago 357 posts - 502 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, French | Message 5 of 13 27 September 2014 at 3:43am | IP Logged |
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Thanks for the replies, guys!
@Cabaire - I definitely spend time with other forms of input; I listen to news probably everyday, watch media quite often and (try my best to) read articles. The way I see it is that I could either spend the next 2+ months finishing Assimil's active wave the standard way, mastering only X% of the material, or I could master a much higher percentage by practicing much better methods in the same amount of time. In other words: it's there, it will get finished, I might as well finish as strong as possible, absorbing as much of the material as I can. The "hear and write down" sounds like a good method I could use in general (it seems obvious but I've never thought of it), not just with Assimil, but in many cases. @garyb - I will check out that link after this post, it looks interesting @Ari - It looks like you have your method down to a science! I already have some ideas from looking at it Edited by soclydeza85 on 27 September 2014 at 3:44am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| luke Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 7209 days ago 3133 posts - 4351 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Esperanto, French | Message 6 of 13 27 September 2014 at 9:15am | IP Logged |
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One technique I use with Assimil is to have the lessons available in three different locations so the "current" lesson is slightly staggered from the rest.
E.G. In my main spot for studying with the book say I'm on lesson 30. In my car on a memory stick I may be on lesson 27. On my smartphone's mp3 player I may be on lesson 25. I find this helpful for review and refresh. Another technique which I haven't used much is just reading the text. I often read along with the audio and since my ears already know the lesson, I may not focus as much on some words. When I just read, I allow myself to slow down a bit and notice closely any words that don't look familiar. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Gemuse Senior Member Germany Joined 4086 days ago 818 posts - 1189 votes Speaks: English Studies: German | Message 7 of 13 27 September 2014 at 10:08pm | IP Logged |
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How about moving on to the other Assimil book: German without Toil, and then when you are done with that, the next Assimil book to come out, which is expected around early next year? Edited by Gemuse on 27 September 2014 at 10:09pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| soclydeza85 Senior Member United States Joined 3911 days ago 357 posts - 502 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, French | Message 8 of 13 27 September 2014 at 10:39pm | IP Logged |
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Thanks luke and Gemuse. It's not so much that I need something to move on to; when my schedule frees up a bit I will start finishing DW Warum Nicht and start Wieso Nicht (and the other B2 stuff when I get to it). Also, the Slow German has a good format so that I can run Assimil-style. I also have Hugo Advanced and some grammar workbooks, so I have plenty to work with. It's more that I still have a bit of Assimil with Ease (active wave) left and I feel like I can get so much more out of it than just running it the standard way. Plus, I'm starting to get hung up on the translations at the point I am at and am interested in what others did when this happened to them.
Also, Gemuse, when you say "next Assimil book" pleeeease tell me it's an extension (Using German) that picks up where With Ease leaves off and not just a revision of the current version. I'll probably still buy it anyway, but it would be amazing if we had more to go on to. Edited by soclydeza85 on 27 September 2014 at 10:43pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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