ashshea Newbie United States Joined 5378 days ago 19 posts - 19 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German
| Message 1 of 48 03 March 2010 at 2:29pm | IP Logged |
I've decided to begin studying French seriously. As an undergraduate (I'm a graduate student now), I took 3 semesters of French. So I have a good foundation but am no where near proficient. I am interested in the French in Action series. I bought the textbook and I have looked at the videos online. Can anyone tell me about their experiences with this program? Did you use it? Did you enjoy it? Especially, I would like to know what level of French it would take me to. Additionally, I am trying to decide between starting out with French Pimsleur (I have courses 1, 2, and 3) or starting out with the French in Action. Any advice as to which to do first? Thanks!
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commo Newbie United States Joined 5509 days ago 13 posts - 20 votes Speaks: French
| Message 2 of 48 04 March 2010 at 12:03am | IP Logged |
"Did you use it?"
Yes
"Did you enjoy it?"
Immensely.
"Especially, I would like to know what level of French it would take me to."
After finishing FIA, I was well into the intermediate level, somewhere between B1 and B2.
"Additionally, I am trying to decide between starting out with French Pimsleur (I have courses 1, 2, and 3) or starting out with the French in Action."
You should definitely start with French in Action. After really mastering the material and vocabulary in FIA (and for that the video is not enough; the audiofiles are absolutely indespensible)you will have no need of Pimsleur. You will ready to engage French on a much higher level.
In my opinion, French in Action is a work of pure genius. If you have any additional questions, please do not hesitate to ask!
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ashshea Newbie United States Joined 5378 days ago 19 posts - 19 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German
| Message 3 of 48 04 March 2010 at 4:00am | IP Logged |
Thanks for the reply. I think I agree with you. I plan on starting French in Action soon (I'm still gathering the materials) and not worrying about Pimsleur. I did three lessons of the Pimsleur but they were SO boring! And after watching one lesson of the French in Action, I can tell that it will be much more enjoyable. Since I didn't buy the Pimsleur lessons (a friend let me borrow them) I'm not worried about whether or not I actually use them.
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robsolete Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5383 days ago 191 posts - 428 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French, Russian, Arabic (Written), Mandarin
| Message 4 of 48 13 March 2010 at 6:47pm | IP Logged |
A note on Pimsleur: they're boring and you shouldn't spend money on them.
But if you got them for free, they're good for "extra help" when you're doing other things. I put Pimsleur French 1 on my mp3 player and go through a 30 minute lesson every day while I'm doing chores around the house.
I don't use it as a replacement for my Assimil course that I use as my "real" study time. But cleaning your apartment is boring. And so is Pimsleur. But doing both at the same time is actually kind of engaging, and it ensures that I spend 30 minutes doing chores every day.
So if you have them sitting around it's no harm to use them as a supplement, just don't let them take time away from your real studies.
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The Blaz Senior Member Canada theblazblog.blogspotRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5598 days ago 120 posts - 176 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Swahili, French, Sign Language, Esperanto
| Message 5 of 48 13 March 2010 at 7:38pm | IP Logged |
I've been watching FIA without using the materials, so for me its a way to reinforce what
I know and to practice comprehension. I find it sooo charming. It's absolutely grown on
me. I hope it lives on through the ages...
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Jadoo1989 Diglot Groupie Joined 5631 days ago 51 posts - 60 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Irish, French
| Message 6 of 48 16 March 2010 at 2:01am | IP Logged |
FIA was my main course which I complimented with Assimil. One couldn't find a better course for French, in my
opinion. It's just a joy to work with.
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delectric Diglot Senior Member China Joined 7179 days ago 608 posts - 733 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin Studies: German
| Message 7 of 48 17 March 2010 at 3:00am | IP Logged |
I'm currently working through Assimil French. I'd really like to do FIA as well. I see it's easy to get hold of the videos. However, I'd really like to get a digital version of the text books and audio. I think I already have the audio up to lesson 26. Is it possible to but the FIA textbook in digital format? I am constantly on the move and so big heavy books are not convenient. Also it's much easier to put stuff into supermemo from an ebook.
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Jadoo1989 Diglot Groupie Joined 5631 days ago 51 posts - 60 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Irish, French
| Message 8 of 48 17 March 2010 at 7:19am | IP Logged |
You can find the complete audio (over one gig) plus the complete textbook and workbook lessons 1-26 online, if
you know where to look.
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