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Are older Assimil courses outdated? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| Bart Triglot Senior Member Belgium Joined 7192 days ago 155 posts - 159 votes  Speaks: Dutch*, French, English Studies: German, Spanish, Japanese, Swedish | Message 1 of 72 11 August 2013 at 2:47pm | IP Logged | ||
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I have recently obtained the 1971 'Le Russe sans peine', which is universally acclaimed to be one of the best language courses ever, and the old 'Duits zonder moeite' from the 60s.
As they are filled to the brim with content and are probably worth ten of the newer assimil courses, I would really like to use them, but I was wondering whether the fact that they were published several decades ago will teach me outdated Russian and German. (Also, if anyone knows where to find the audio for le russe sans peine I'd appreciate a nudge in the right direction, as I can't for the life of me locate it, all I encounter is the older 1951 course's audio) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Cabaire Senior Member Germany Joined 5631 days ago 725 posts - 1352 votes | Message 2 of 72 11 August 2013 at 3:19pm | IP Logged | ||
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I do not think that basic language courses get outdated that soon. The foundations of the language are stable, a tree is still called a tree. You have only be wary of some socialist expression which may not be used nowadays, like adressing someone товарищ or гражданин.
I had a grammar exercise book where the were sentences like: "Our combine overfulfilled the five year plan by twenty percent", but the Assimil course would have more mundane conversations (and even some literature). 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Snowflake Senior Member United States Joined 5991 days ago 1032 posts - 1233 votes Studies: Mandarin | Message 3 of 72 11 August 2013 at 6:39pm | IP Logged | ||
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Updating older language is relatively easy in the scheme of things. The other thing is we language learners sometimes forget that there are native speakers around who lived in those time periods. So the idea of needing to only learn "the most contemporary language" can be a bit misplaced. Edited by Snowflake on 11 August 2013 at 7:03pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Bart Triglot Senior Member Belgium Joined 7192 days ago 155 posts - 159 votes Speaks: Dutch*, French, English Studies: German, Spanish, Japanese, Swedish | Message 4 of 72 11 August 2013 at 8:03pm | IP Logged | ||
I couldn't disagree more. As I see it, once you have learned to speak in a certain way it is very difficult to change this afterwards. And, this being a foreign language I'm learning, I'm still years away from even being able to recognise when words or turns of phrase are archaic or outdated. Actually I'm pretty sure I'll never be capable of this in anything other than Dutch. (My mother tongue) But yeah I'm going to continue using these courses, as my intended goal with Russian is to be able to read classic literature and I should be able to find someone who speaks German to go over the German course. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Snowflake Senior Member United States Joined 5991 days ago 1032 posts - 1233 votes Studies: Mandarin | Message 5 of 72 12 August 2013 at 12:15am | IP Logged | ||
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I suspect the difficulties in altering ones' speaking has more to do with the length of time that the language has been worked with and depth to which it's been delved into. Habits are habits, though they can also be changed.
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 jeff_lindqvist Diglot Moderator SwedenRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6941 days ago 4250 posts - 5711 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: German, Spanish, Russian, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Irish, French Personal Language Map | Message 6 of 72 12 August 2013 at 12:21am | IP Logged | ||
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See also this thread - On Linguaphone
Unfortunately, I can't say if German or Russian have changed during the last decades, besides the German orthography reform of 1996. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| LanguagePhysics Newbie United States Joined 4178 days ago 34 posts - 43 votes Speaks: English* | Message 7 of 72 12 August 2013 at 12:21pm | IP Logged | ||
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No, I don't think so. If anything, I have read that many of the newer Assimil courses are essentially the same as the old ones, the difference being that the newer ones have been "simplified" and are considerably less substantial than the older ones.
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| Bart Triglot Senior Member Belgium Joined 7192 days ago 155 posts - 159 votes Speaks: Dutch*, French, English Studies: German, Spanish, Japanese, Swedish | Message 8 of 72 12 August 2013 at 6:47pm | IP Logged | ||
So you would agree that it's easier to get into the right habit to begin with, rather than change an existing one? 1 person has voted this message useful |
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