|
 |
French, Round 2: Pimsleur, FSI, Assimil? | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| kanewai Triglot Senior Member United States justpaste.it/kanewai Joined 4888 days ago 1386 posts - 3054 votes  Speaks: English*, French, Marshallese Studies: Italian, Spanish | Message 1 of 5 09 December 2011 at 2:50am | IP Logged |
|
By the end of this year I'll have finished Pimsleur Comprehensive French 1 & 2, FSI
French Volume 1 (Lessons 1-12), and most of Assimil French with Ease. It's time for the next step, and I still feel that I need a structured program for a few more months. I'm wondering what people's experiences are with ... Assimil Using French - I'm looking forward to this; it is definitely part of my next round. FSI French Volume 2 (Lessons 13-24) - While the language is somewhat formal, the drills so far have really helped. I'm assuming that Volume 2 is more of the same. Pimsleur 3 - Pimsleur to me is the best program for becoming comfortable speaking. While I learn far, far more with the Assimil/FSI combination, my mind goes blank when I actually have to talk. Pimsleur is great for working through that block. However, I felt that the learning curve for Pimsleur French 2 flattened out at the end, and am concerned that Pimsleur 3 might do the same. It's $100 used, so I'd really like to hear some first hand experiences before I shell out the bucks. If I had the time and money I'd do all three! But realistically, I'll have between 30" to an hour each day to study for the next four months. French will be my main focus, though I'll be taking short breaks to explore Catalan, Italian, and Arabic. Edited by kanewai on 09 December 2011 at 2:51am 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Scorpicus Triglot Newbie United Kingdom Joined 5334 days ago 27 posts - 46 votes Speaks: English*, ItalianB2, FrenchB2 Studies: Russian | Message 2 of 5 09 December 2011 at 12:45pm | IP Logged |
|
So, it's not on your list, but after Assimil French with Ease I would suggest going through a grammar book to really solidify your grammatical base before moving onto Assimil Using French (a very excellent course). Written drills will speed up your reflexes with forming the many tenses, and overall improve your ability to come out easily with correctly formed sentences. I would recommend 'Schaum's Outline of French Grammar,' which is great for this kind of drilling. Afterwards, go on to Using French to bolster your vocab and idioms.
As for Pimsleur and FSI? Well, I never used them for French, so I guess that makes my response completely biased! 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Caminhante Newbie Brazil Joined 4396 days ago 7 posts - 7 votes Speaks: Portuguese* Studies: French | Message 3 of 5 25 November 2012 at 1:57am | IP Logged |
|
I've been digging the forum since I joined and I found some good jewels herein. I read many of the contributions made by mr. kanewai and he seems to have a style of learning that is quite similar to my own. The way he organized his study on French was basically the thing I was planning by myself here.
This was a fast topic, and almost unseen; nevertheless, it was indeed one of the most fortunate findings here. Simple things can have great impacts on someone's life. =) I wish the best to you. Edited by Caminhante on 25 November 2012 at 2:47am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| kanewai Triglot Senior Member United States justpaste.it/kanewai Joined 4888 days ago 1386 posts - 3054 votes Speaks: English*, French, Marshallese Studies: Italian, Spanish | Message 4 of 5 25 November 2012 at 8:58am | IP Logged |
|
I'm glad you found it useful! For what it's worth, I continued on with:
Pimsleur 3 - The read a review that said that Pimsleur 3 really felt like "Pimsleur 2b." This is how it felt for me too. It was definitely useful, but it didn't introduce as much new information as it could have. I still might do Pimsleur 4 one day, if I ever find a used / affordable copy. Assimil Using French - More than anything, I think this is the course that enabled me to read French literature. It's still a struggle sometimes, but it got me to the starting gate! FSI Vol 2, Lessons 12-17 - Again, very useful. I intend to finish all 24 lessons at some point. French Grammar in Context - Scorpicus gave some good advice; a grammar book really helped at this point. I finished about a third, and also intend to finish the book later. Michel Thomas Language Builder - not really necessary for regular studies, but excellent prep for traveling to a Francophone country. It's only two hours, and would listen to it a few more times if I were traveling again. All that, plus a few weeks immersion, took me through the end of July. After that I switched to 'maintenance' mode. I'm doing a lot of reading, and I hope that this is keeping my language skills alive. I can read more modern novelists (Gide, de Maupassant, graphic novelists, the Harry Potter books) with only a dictionary, but still rely on parallel texts for the heavier 19th Century stuff. My focus now is on getting my Spanish to the same level, and then moving back to more active study. Round 3, I guess. Good luck with your progress! Edited by kanewai on 25 November 2012 at 5:35pm 4 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Caminhante Newbie Brazil Joined 4396 days ago 7 posts - 7 votes Speaks: Portuguese* Studies: French | Message 5 of 5 25 November 2012 at 4:39pm | IP Logged |
|
Thank you, kanewai! If you want a tip, there's this book: Le Nœud de Vipères, by François Mauriac — he was a very important writer in France. My philosophy teacher learnt a swell French mostly by translating it. According to him, "you should read it throughly until the end, and understand every single word that you find on a page before proceeding to next; you can't imagine how much you'll have improved on your skills by the time you finish". Now, this would be far more useful to you since I'm still on Le Petit Prince. Good luck to you too.
1 person has voted this message useful |
If you wish to post a reply to this topic you must first login. If you are not already registered you must first register
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
