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The Michel Thomas Method? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
 emk Diglot Moderator United States Joined 5531 days ago 2615 posts - 8806 votes  Speaks: English*, FrenchB2 Studies: Spanish, Ancient Egyptian Personal Language Map | Message 17 of 30 28 July 2012 at 8:15pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
I started French years ago using Assimil New French with Ease, and I recently passed the DELF B2 exam. My personal opinion: Assimil is excellent, but not enough to reach B2. I think Assimil got me to A2. If you had the right kind of brain, and you devoted enough time to the course, you could probably pass the DELF B1. But let's put this in more concrete terms. Here are summaries of three sample DELF questions which I posted to sfuqua's log recently:
For the B1 and B2 exams, the exact subject will vary. And of course, you'll also need to read, write and listen. I just don't see how anybody can pass the DELF B2 immediately after doing Assimil New French with Ease. There's certainly not enough vocabulary in NFWE, even if you memorize the entire course. And wouldn't most people need some speaking practice somewhere? None of this is to knock Assimil. I love their stuff. But the DELF B2 is basically a university entrance examination for non-native speakers. You can easily get there by doing Assimil, talking a lot with native speakers, messing around with native materials, writing on lang-8 and occasionally flipping through a grammar book. But not just by using Assimil alone. Besides, native materials are fun. Once you can actually read books and talk to people, why not start using your new language? Edited by emk on 28 July 2012 at 8:19pm 7 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6596 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 18 of 30 28 July 2012 at 8:35pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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There's a difference between being at a level and passing a test.
And I don't see why they had to make the test ridiculously difficult instead of just requiring a C1 for university. Agreed about native materials! In the long run any language course is just a supplement to them... 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Julie Heptaglot Senior Member PolandRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6902 days ago 1251 posts - 1733 votes 5 sounds Speaks: Polish*, EnglishB2, GermanC2, SpanishB2, Dutch, Swedish, French | Message 19 of 30 28 July 2012 at 9:17pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
If I had repeated the course several times, I would have literally gone crazy. I can speak only for myself, though, and MT wasn't the first course I used for French so I might have needed less time and effort to learn the material. However, the good thing about MT courses is that there are review CDs (for French at least) so you don't have to go through the whole course repeatedly: you can use review CDs only and go back only to the specific parts of the original course if need be. 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| emk Diglot Moderator United States Joined 5531 days ago 2615 posts - 8806 votes Speaks: English*, FrenchB2 Studies: Spanish, Ancient Egyptian Personal Language Map | Message 20 of 30 28 July 2012 at 9:29pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
Well, as I understand it, a B2 is often enough to get admitted to a European university. It's not enough to thrive, exactly, but it's enough that they'll let you in and give you a while to get your act together. Presumably, if you're immersed and doing university-level coursework, you'll reach C1 soon enough. I certainly don't think that the DELF B2 is ridiculously difficult. I mean, you've got to write a letter defending a viewpoint, talk coherently about a basic newspaper story for 20 minutes, answer some moderately vile reading comprehension questions, and answer questions about a France Info radio broadcast. That's all pretty reasonable B2 stuff, as far as I can tell. It's not like anybody is asking you to sound like an intelligent, well-read teenager or anything. :-) Edited by emk on 28 July 2012 at 9:30pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| montmorency Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4827 days ago 2371 posts - 3676 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Danish, Welsh | Message 21 of 30 28 July 2012 at 9:29pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
If that is a valid criticism, then people should not attempt to read the "classics" in their target languages either. (I'm obviously not talking about beginners here). 6 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6596 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 22 of 30 28 July 2012 at 10:55pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
It's much better to just talk on an advanced topic the way you would with a friend/acquaintance. In real life, we're unlikely to have monologues that last longer than 2-3 minutes. Unless you're a politician, hehe. But yeah, I'm just strongly opposed to being unable to say "idgaf" just because you're a learner. Also, have you seen those example videos with people taking an English exam? Their C2 seemed easier than the DELF B2. eeek....
Edited by Serpent on 28 July 2012 at 10:58pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| jsg Diglot Newbie Canada Joined 4506 days ago 30 posts - 59 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin Studies: French | Message 23 of 30 28 July 2012 at 11:17pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
I repeated MT Mandarin (Dr. Harold Goodman was the leading instructor not Michel Thomas) and I'd like to say that one repeat is all I will ever be able to do. For two reasons: 1) The material is presented in such a way that you really do remember it quite thouroughly. 2) While it was a good introduction to Mandarin, too many little things about it bothered me. The Michel Thomas Method is an execllent primary introduction despite it's flaws, in that is gives you a good cross-section of a language putting you in good stead for follow up material in a more comprehensive series. Edited by jsg on 29 July 2012 at 8:19pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| atama warui Triglot Senior Member Japan Joined 4700 days ago 594 posts - 985 votes Speaks: German*, English, Japanese | Message 24 of 30 29 July 2012 at 7:10pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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A 20 minute talk arguing against or for single-sex highschools would even be difficult for native speakers. Not because of lack of words or low speaking skill - but because there's just not enough to say about it. I'd have a hard time to prepare such a speech in my mother tongue.
5 persons have voted this message useful |
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