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Old Assimil - is it obsolete? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| datsunking1 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5586 days ago 1014 posts - 1533 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: German, Russian, Dutch, French | Message 41 of 66 23 May 2010 at 5:33pm | IP Logged | ||
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I have "French Without Toil" If I go through it I should be able to understand the french based programs really well, right? I mean they are all translations (I think?)
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| vikramkr Diglot Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6070 days ago 248 posts - 326 votes Speaks: English*, Portuguese | Message 42 of 66 23 May 2010 at 7:19pm | IP Logged | ||
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I would complete both French Without Toil and Using French before delving into French-base Assmil courses.
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| M@T Newbie United Kingdom Joined 5645 days ago 2 posts - 6 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish, Dutch, French, Turkish, Polish, Modern Hebrew | Message 43 of 66 26 May 2010 at 6:46am | IP Logged | ||
They're not all the same translations at all unfortunately. I don't think you'll understand the programs "well", but good enough. I 'learned' French with Ease and went straight to Hebrew sans peine (and others) ... It is quite possible, occasionally using a small dictionary, but not as "with ease" for grammar notes or listening to target language while reading translations. It might even be efficient to write out your own English translations (I was too lazy and passively-remember target vocab quickly anyway). Particularly starting-off, eg the first 20 or 30 lessons, Assimil's free translation + brackets + commas can slow you down but easier where they also provide word-for-word. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Andy E Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 7104 days ago 1651 posts - 1939 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French | Message 44 of 66 26 May 2010 at 10:21am | IP Logged | ||
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Remember also that you need to understand the subtleties of the grammar notes in French. They are written for a francophone audience and will highlight both the similarities and the differences between French and the target language. You will need to appreciate how that affects you as a native English speaker - and of course the same applies if your native language is anything else other than French as well.
As vikramkr says, I think the bare minimum should be to include Using French as well - or at least have supplemented the beginner's Assimil course with other materials. I found that a good grammar book - descriptive rather than prescriptive also helped. Edited by Andy E on 26 May 2010 at 10:22am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| RedBeard Senior Member United States atariage.com Joined 6103 days ago 126 posts - 182 votes Speaks: Ancient Greek* Studies: French, German | Message 45 of 66 31 May 2010 at 12:17am | IP Logged | ||
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I have thought about this a lot lately. Perhaps this is the right place to put it.
Can we get posted (and "pinned"?) a list comparing the versions (with copyright dates, number of chapters, number of colors printed, picture on the cover, white space on pages, etc.) of Without Toil versus With Ease versus Day By Day versions etc? I remember Prof. Arguelles making these points on his videos, but without a chart or list I cannot figure out which are which. Especially when trying to shop for a used version of the book, I just cannot remember which version is which. (I think that I am personally interested the 80s versions.) I would very much like to see a chart or list of the various FSI and DLI and DLIFLC Headstart and DLIFLC Fast courses as well. (copyright dates, short descriptions, etc.) I have a couple of these DLI items and would contribute my knowledge to such a list. Alas, I have none of the Assimils, so cannot add to that list. My point is that it would be great to have all of that information in one spot. I have searched to forums at times, if such a page exists, I didn't find it. 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| shmjay Newbie United States Joined 5363 days ago 12 posts - 19 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Russian, German, Spanish | Message 46 of 66 31 May 2010 at 4:20am | IP Logged | ||
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I wish Assimil would re-publish the Without Toil books with audio CDs. They could call them "Classic Assimil", and I think many would buy them just for that reason.
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| josht Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6447 days ago 635 posts - 857 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: French, Spanish, Russian, Dutch | Message 47 of 66 31 May 2010 at 3:54pm | IP Logged | ||
I think that their cost for production would most likely far outweigh their sales, simply because most people aren't going to buy a course that is so outdated. I've used them, and while I've found them to be good courses, some of the included vocabulary has really bugged me (both on the target language side and the English side). 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| cordelia0507 Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5839 days ago 1473 posts - 2176 votes Speaks: Swedish* Studies: German, Russian | Message 48 of 66 31 May 2010 at 6:10pm | IP Logged | ||
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Thanks to muppets on this site posting links, a certain site which references language materials on file depositories online was forced to take down all their links to Assimil material!!I just had to spend over an hour looking for that old Russian course.
If you find a good site for language material do not go posting links to it in forums!!, particularly not in English speaking forums. Don't you think the copyright enforcing staff come and look in places like this? The poor lady running that site got tons of trouble as a result of those links and others may follow Assimil's example. She is just trying to make a living and help language learners. 5 persons have voted this message useful |
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