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Methode 90 materials | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| daristani Senior Member United States Joined 7144 days ago 752 posts - 1661 votes  Studies: Uzbek | Message 1 of 26 24 May 2012 at 11:10pm | IP Logged | ||
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One set of French-based language books that doesn’t seem to have attracted any attention in the forum is the “Methode 90” series.
Commenters at “a certain site in ‘Uzbekistan’” generally have good things to say about most of the books in this series (which are now reprinted in a series seemingly entitled “Pratique de Base”.) The books, which come with or without audio, are based on a “90 lessons in 90 days” concept, with each lesson being about four pages long. They differ from Assimil in that there’s much more explicit grammar, and more exercises, but similar to Assimil, the grammar is presented in relatively small doses. I hadn’t paid much attention to them previously, given my very shaky French and the fact that I already had plenty of materials for the languages I was most interested in. Recently, however, I saw this comment on that nameless site’s forum, written by a very experienced language learner, regarding the Arabic version of the series: “ the only book I have ever seen for Arabic which makes it non-intimidating, excellent variety of texts, good vocabulary, examples of handwriting, examples of dialect; - after finishing it, you wish they had composed 3 more volumes like that and you keep going back to it instead of advancing with something else, perhaps need a more systematic grammar to supplement it, better with audio but I never had it.” So I ordered the book, which came two days ago, and I have to say I’m impressed so far. (The front cover and the spine of the book both say “Arabe Debutant”, but the first page behind the cover says “Methode 90 – Arabe Pratique de Base”, so what the actual title is seems a bit unclear to me. The covers of the series have changed over time, as well as the titles, but I’m not sure about the contents.) In the Arabic course, each four-page lesson consists of: Page one: Text in Arabic (non-vocalized), Lexical or grammatical notes Page two: Phonetic transcription of text, Word-by-word translation of text, Remainder of notes from first page, Vocabulary Page three: Grammar Page four: Exercises (The Arabic course teaches standard Arabic, but there are several lessons in Maghrebi, Egyptian, and Syro-Lebanese dialect scattered through the course as well, with the dialect versus standard aspects being clearly marked.) Physically, my Arabic book is a paperback of 479 pages and is a bit larger than an Assimil book in format. I don’t know how many other people in the forum have used the books, but as people always seem to be interested in comments on language-learning materials, I thought that it might be useful to open up a thread to see if anyone else had any comments on the series. Edited by daristani on 24 May 2012 at 11:14pm 13 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Chung Diglot Senior Member Joined 7156 days ago 4228 posts - 8259 votes 20 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Polish, Slovak, Uzbek, Turkish, Korean, Finnish | Message 2 of 26 25 May 2012 at 12:22am | IP Logged | ||
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It doesn't seem that you're alone. Arekkusu liked using the volume for German. It's a shame though that there's no volume in the series that covers a language that interests me.
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| Arekkusu Hexaglot Senior Member Canada bit.ly/qc_10_lec Joined 5381 days ago 3971 posts - 7747 votes Speaks: English, French*, GermanC1, Spanish, Japanese, Esperanto Studies: Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Estonian | Message 3 of 26 25 May 2012 at 5:32am | IP Logged | ||
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Yes! I started learning German with it! I no longer have the book because someone
borrowed it and never returned it, but I really enjoyed it. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| akkadboy Triglot Senior Member France Joined 5408 days ago 264 posts - 497 votes Speaks: French*, English, Yiddish Studies: Latin, Ancient Egyptian, Welsh | Message 4 of 26 25 May 2012 at 9:59am | IP Logged | ||
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I used the (old) German and Italian books, they were really fine.
The only drawbacks were the lack of vocabulary list at the end of the book and the fact that the (new) German edition doesn't have a grammatical sketch at the end (at least I didn't find it while flipping through the book in a bookstore). What you say about the Arabic version really makes me want to give it a try ! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Splog Diglot Senior Member Czech Republic anthonylauder.c Joined 5669 days ago 1062 posts - 3263 votes Speaks: English*, Czech Studies: Mandarin | Message 5 of 26 25 May 2012 at 5:57pm | IP Logged | ||
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In the mid 1990s, my French girlfriend bought me the Methode 90 book "The French Language of Today". I thought it was a fantastic book, and that (along with having a French girlfriend to talk with) got me to basic fluency in French.
My next book was Assmil, which I did not enjoy as much to be honest. I agree with daristani, then, then that it is surprising Assimil is talked about so widely, but Methode 90 is not. Out of curiosity, I looked on Amazon for the Methode 90 French book, and was alarmed to see that it appears to be out of print, and two used copy are for sale: one at an eye-watering US$507 and the second for $999 (plus shipping!). 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Arekkusu Hexaglot Senior Member Canada bit.ly/qc_10_lec Joined 5381 days ago 3971 posts - 7747 votes Speaks: English, French*, GermanC1, Spanish, Japanese, Esperanto Studies: Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Estonian | Message 6 of 26 25 May 2012 at 6:02pm | IP Logged | ||
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They are now called M90, but I can't see the French one here.
Renaud-Bray 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Chung Diglot Senior Member Joined 7156 days ago 4228 posts - 8259 votes 20 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Polish, Slovak, Uzbek, Turkish, Korean, Finnish | Message 7 of 26 25 May 2012 at 6:12pm | IP Logged | ||
...and there's a copy of it going for a mouth-watering $4.95 US before shipping on Abebooks.com. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Arekkusu Hexaglot Senior Member Canada bit.ly/qc_10_lec Joined 5381 days ago 3971 posts - 7747 votes Speaks: English, French*, GermanC1, Spanish, Japanese, Esperanto Studies: Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Estonian | Message 8 of 26 25 May 2012 at 6:14pm | IP Logged | ||
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HA! It's costs $1, but $18 for shipping to Canada!!!
1 person has voted this message useful |
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