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Old Assimil - is it obsolete? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| daristani Senior Member United States Joined 7142 days ago 752 posts - 1661 votes  Studies: Uzbek | Message 33 of 66 18 May 2010 at 7:21pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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I'm American, and I noticed (after having seen this thread) that my wife (also American) used "toil" the night before last, saying she was tired from toiling all day in the yard. I think it's in fact used quite frequently by native English speakers, but not quite in the way that "to work" is. It's either used in speech, almost tongue-in-cheek, as a synonym for "to slave" or very exhausting work, or is used in writing, particularly more formal writing, for the same thing, e.g., "a life of unremitting toil" or "toiling away at" something, etc.
Certainly googling the word and related expressions should turn up plenty of examples of its use in the current day, but, as I suggested, less in the sense of "work" in general than in that of work that exhausts one. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| tractor Tetraglot Senior Member Norway Joined 5451 days ago 1349 posts - 2292 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English, Spanish, Catalan Studies: French, German, Latin | Message 34 of 66 18 May 2010 at 8:49pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
Isn't that exactly how the word was used by Assimil? Without Toil = Sans peine. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| daristani Senior Member United States Joined 7142 days ago 752 posts - 1661 votes Studies: Uzbek | Message 35 of 66 18 May 2010 at 9:06pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Tractor, I think you're right. "Italian Without Work" would have been really promising too much, like some of the facetious titles suggested earlier in the thread, but "Without Toil" implies "without drudgery", or "without struggle", which is what the "natural assimilation" approach of Assimil is supposed to be about.
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 newyorkeric Diglot Moderator Singapore Joined 6377 days ago 1598 posts - 2174 votes Speaks: English*, Italian Studies: Mandarin, Malay Personal Language Map | Message 36 of 66 19 May 2010 at 1:59am | IP Logged | ||||||||
The old audio used to be available online before Assimil claimed it was still under copyright. I don't know where you can get it now. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| datsunking1 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5583 days ago 1014 posts - 1533 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: German, Russian, Dutch, French | Message 37 of 66 19 May 2010 at 2:37am | IP Logged | ||||||||
I've hunted down several programs using torrents (not recommended.) Russian Without Toil German Without Toil French Without Toil Using Spanish (I haven't found Italian, but I'm sure it's around somewhere) Edited by datsunking1 on 19 May 2010 at 2:37am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| JS-1 Diglot Senior Member Ireland Joined 5981 days ago 144 posts - 166 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Arabic (Egyptian), German, Japanese, Ancient Egyptian, Arabic (Written) | Message 38 of 66 20 May 2010 at 5:07am | IP Logged | ||||||||
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Maybe the European languages are Assimil's strong point, but I think the Japanese course
is excellent. It's the one that really sold me on the Assimil method. I would place it above the German course, but probably below French. Edited by JS-1 on 20 May 2010 at 11:50pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| datsunking1 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5583 days ago 1014 posts - 1533 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: German, Russian, Dutch, French | Message 39 of 66 23 May 2010 at 5:32am | IP Logged | ||||||||
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I thought the German Without Toil Method was excellent :D
They are all really good in my opinion, I've never been disappointed.... Now if only there was a "Brazilian Portuguese Without Toil" :D 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| vikramkr Diglot Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6067 days ago 248 posts - 326 votes Speaks: English*, Portuguese | Message 40 of 66 23 May 2010 at 6:57am | IP Logged | ||||||||
Have you considered learning French with the Assimil method so you can access their French-base programs? I am keen to use Le Portugais du Brésil soon! 1 person has voted this message useful |
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