rmel Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4239 days ago 20 posts - 24 votes Studies: French, Russian
| Message 1 of 14 07 October 2015 at 3:02pm | IP Logged |
Does anyone know what level the Paul Noble course prepares one for in terms of the Common European language framework?
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daegga Tetraglot Senior Member Austria lang-8.com/553301 Joined 4519 days ago 1076 posts - 1792 votes Speaks: German*, EnglishC2, Swedish, Norwegian Studies: Danish, French, Finnish, Icelandic
| Message 2 of 14 07 October 2015 at 3:54pm | IP Logged |
Based on the course for French, I'm inclined to say: none.
I don't mean to say that it is a worthless course, it just doesn't fully prepare you for any
specific CEFR level by itself. If you care about balanced CEFR rated skills (eg. for test
preparation), you would need to combine it with other resources (or follow up with them).
The skills you acquire by doing this course will reside somewhere in the A levels.
Edited by daegga on 07 October 2015 at 4:01pm
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James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5373 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French
| Message 3 of 14 07 October 2015 at 5:29pm | IP Logged |
I agree. It is a great course for an absolute beginner. It teaches the grammar and structure of the language quite well, but that's about it.
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Speakeasy Senior Member Canada Joined 4050 days ago 507 posts - 1098 votes Studies: German
| Message 4 of 14 07 October 2015 at 11:38pm | IP Logged |
Surprisingly, a number of European Publishing Houses rate their language-learning materials from A0 through C2. Based on my experience with the Paul Noble French and German courses, and in support of the comments above, I estimate that they would fall within the A0 CEFR Level. Again, this is not to say that the materials are devoid of value; rather, they are simply rather elementary. Without wishing to spark a heated debate, I believe that there is an argument to be made for the Pimsleur Phase I courses as falling within the A0 CEFR Level, as well. The Pimsleur Phase I courses are also (very) far from being devoid of value; nonetheless, they do not take the student to the A1 level. In my view, both courses present some very basic information for which the chief benefits are (a) the construction of a small base of knowledge on which one can build, and (b) a large contribution to the student’s confidence that he can, indeed, learn a foreign language.
Edited by Speakeasy on 07 October 2015 at 11:40pm
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Elexi Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5563 days ago 938 posts - 1840 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, German, Latin
| Message 5 of 14 08 October 2015 at 2:00pm | IP Logged |
I agree 100% with Speakeasy - still, if one has no knowledge of the language, I think
Paul Noble is a good and useful start.
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rmel Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4239 days ago 20 posts - 24 votes Studies: French, Russian
| Message 6 of 14 08 October 2015 at 2:14pm | IP Logged |
thanks. I am at the moment combining Paul Noble with madrigals magic key which is a bit like Michel Thomas
and Paul Noble in that it uses cognates. Was wondering where to go with study afterwards I suppose if have
the basic structure and a fair deal of vocab I could go down the parallel text route which would improve vocab
and help with grammar. Has anyone used Paul Noble before and if so what did you do study wise
afterwards?
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Elexi Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5563 days ago 938 posts - 1840 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, German, Latin
| Message 7 of 14 08 October 2015 at 3:27pm | IP Logged |
What language?
After Paul Noble and Madrigal, I would have a go at the Michel Thomas Advanced course.
That would take you to 'false beginner' level. After than I would move on to an Assimil
course and really 'do' it to the end.
I would also start making a vocabulary program in whatever flash card system you prefer.
Edited by Elexi on 08 October 2015 at 3:28pm
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rmel Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4239 days ago 20 posts - 24 votes Studies: French, Russian
| Message 8 of 14 13 October 2015 at 11:37am | IP Logged |
I am doing German with Paul Noble. I have already started on the flashcards using Madrigals magic key.
I suppose I could always go through Paul Noble and Madrigals magic key then find an online test, see what level I am then do a Michel Thomas course at that level. However I am unsure why you recommend Assimil as well as Michel Thomas. Would be very interested to know the advantage that I'd get from using both.
I think testing my level then choosing a course based on the result will be the best strategy. When I did French a lot of it was self taught I used a language learning package but not to an advanced level then I read parallel texts which improved my vocabulary but my grammar still needed a lot of work which meant that my comprehension was a lot better than my speaking (my spoken French is approaching the level of my comprehension but its taken a long time and I needed to go back study some of the grammar which I'd missed). This time round I don't want to make the same mistake.
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