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Assimil versus US language programs

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Farley
Triglot
Senior Member
United States
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681 posts - 739 votes 
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Speaks: English*, GermanB1, French
Studies: Spanish

 
 Message 169 of 184
23 February 2006 at 12:30pm | IP Logged 
frenkeld wrote:

Wow, even if 4000-5000 words are from both parts, and not in addition to the first one, this is still very impressive.

... Were they just books then, or did they come with records from the very beginning?


I have not done a word for word count, but I feel safe in saying there are easily 4000+ words covered in both the basic and advanced volumes combined. The advanced French volume Using French is a good bit more idiomatic so an exact word count is difficult to estimate. Just to give you an idea of the scope of the advanced volume, Using French includes some excerpts from Les Misérables (the authors of Assimil considered Victor Hugo’s French prose easy reading).

I have a copy of the 1940 French with Ease that has instructions on how to use the LP records with the book (I don’t have a copy of the records). The whole method was the same then as it is now, Listen – Repeat – Recreate. I would assume it has been the same since 1929.

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tuffy
Triglot
Senior Member
Netherlands
Joined 7033 days ago
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Speaks: Dutch*, English, German
Studies: Spanish

 
 Message 170 of 184
23 February 2006 at 2:09pm | IP Logged 
Andy E wrote:
(Assimil) ...Grammatical points are touched on as notes in the lessons and sometimes the lessons contain more detailed explanations. ...

Platiquemos, on the other hand, presents a pattern, drills a pattern and then discusses and explains a pattern - I've got no problem with either method, I simply mention this to contrast the approach.

Does this mean that Platiquemos uses less difficult grammar words and more samples?

I myself prefer samples above grammar words (and explanations with as few as possible grammar words). A samples sentence tells me much more, then I can see the logic and the results myself.

I already saw a few grammar words in Assimil I don't understand. So do I understand that Platiquemos may be easier for me then, in that case?


Edited by tuffy on 23 February 2006 at 2:11pm
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Andy E
Triglot
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United Kingdom
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Speaks: English*, Spanish, French

 
 Message 171 of 184
23 February 2006 at 2:10pm | IP Logged 
Andy E wrote:
In addition, not all areas of tense agreement between clauses are discussed. For example, both forms of the imperfect subjunctive are presented but I cannot recall a discussion on when the tense should be used.


Actually on checking now I'm at home, I find that I was being slightly unfair and that there is some discussion of the use of the Imperfect Subjunctive when the forms are presented although it is not exhaustive.

Regarding the Using Spanish course, all Subjunctive tenses including the compounds ones are reviewed in Lesson 14.

Andy.



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Andy E
Triglot
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United Kingdom
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Speaks: English*, Spanish, French

 
 Message 172 of 184
23 February 2006 at 2:17pm | IP Logged 
tuffy wrote:
Does this mean that Platiquemos uses less difficult grammar words but more samples? I myself prefer samples above grammar words (and explanations with as few as possible grammar words). A samples sentence tells me much more, then I can see the logic and the results myself. I also saw a few grammar words in Assimil I don't understand. So do I understand that Platiquemos may be easier for me then, in that case?


Both courses make use of a lot of grammatical terminology, so I couldn't say that one would be easier than the other.

There are more audio-based samples in Platiquemos but the explanations attached to a lesson are no less complex than Assimil.

Andy.

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tuffy
Triglot
Senior Member
Netherlands
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Speaks: Dutch*, English, German
Studies: Spanish

 
 Message 173 of 184
23 February 2006 at 2:37pm | IP Logged 
Too bad ;-(
But Platiquemos at least drills before explaining it?

Drills are also a good method of getting used to new structures. In Pimsleur I also slowly got used to certain word orders for instance by hearing it often.

But I gues I'll just have to try them and see what happens (or not :)

Edited by tuffy on 23 February 2006 at 2:41pm
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mark1437
Newbie
United States
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Speaks: English*
Studies: Spanish

 
 Message 174 of 184
16 February 2010 at 2:59pm | IP Logged 
I have purchased Platiquemos and am working my way through it. My twelve year old daughter also wants to learn Spanish, so I was about to start her out on my Platiquemos series. However, after reading all these posts about Assimil versus Platiquemos, I am wondering if Assimil would be more effective for a person of her age. I personally like the drills of Platiquemos, but am not sure if my daughter will be able to stick through it to the end. Do any of you have experience with your children learning languages with either or both of these programs?
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zorglub
Pentaglot
Senior Member
France
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Speaks: French*, English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese
Studies: German, Arabic (Written), Turkish, Mandarin

 
 Message 175 of 184
17 February 2010 at 3:10pm | IP Logged 
I tried Platiquemos, it is soooo boring.

My son tried Pimsleur I did 25 or 30 lessons, went on a cycling tour to Spain were he did better than his fellows who had years od school Spanish behind.
He retruned for an internship of 1 month, and used Michel Thomas Spanish for Frecnh Speakers (at Harrap's) did the first level and went back to Spain , he could handle the situation and give a talk... Spanish may be easier for french speakers.

Both Pimsleur and Michel Thomas are very rewarding, and if there is some contest like "I'm going to speak Spanish better than ..." kids may like it.

And the after either one Assimil Spanish is very good, but it looks more lik working, for a kid. It is European Spanish, but very smooth.

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polyglot440
Bilingual Tetraglot
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United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name
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Speaks: English*, Spanish*, French, Italian
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 Message 176 of 184
25 February 2011 at 5:49am | IP Logged 
administrator wrote:
I would like to discuss the quality, efficiency and underlying
philosophy of Assimil versus American language programs such as those of FSI,
the Defence language institute or Pimsleur.

For several years, I was very critical of Assimil although it's the most available
language programs in bookshops where I live (Switzerland). My page attest that - quite
caustic indeed.

Following the suggestion of people on this forum, namely Ardaschir, I have taken a
fresh look at Assimil and wonder whether some of their programs could not be usable and
worth the money after all.


Let's start by saying that there is Assimil and Assimil. Some programs are very well
made, other seem to have been written and edited hastily.

Assimil has a gradual approach, with no emphasis on learning the grammar but rather
listening and understanding dialogs. The text would then give you some explanation as
to why words are written in such a way (declension, plurals, conjugation, etc...).

The big difference with FSI is that there are no drills. Generally, Assimil is more
book-intensive and FSI more audio intensive. You could not use Assimil without the
book, but this would be partly possible with FSI and of course Pimsleur.

If given a choice I'd rather have FSI but now I think you could actually learn a
language with Assimil, especially if you have already learned a few.



Hello Hexaglot, for clarification purposes "FSI" has the following drills:

Lexical drills- manipulation of already acquired vocabulary and improve fluency.
Learning drills- Introduction of new grammar points.
Practice drills- "as stated".
Question, answer and review drills- preparation for normal conversation.

"FSI'French Basic Course'" is definitely my first choice considering its infrastructure
and Assimil ranks second as a supplement--provided that the language student is a
beginner.

cheers :)


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