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Does Assimil work? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| Antisrcen Newbie Canada Joined 4606 days ago 10 posts - 13 votes Speaks: English* | Message 1 of 21 19 April 2012 at 4:37pm | IP Logged | ||
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I'm thinking of purchasing the "Wish Ease" Assimil program for Italian. I'm just
wondering how well it has worked for people in teaching the languages they chose to learn. Did it bring you up to B2 as the website says it will? Thanks. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Cabaire Senior Member Germany Joined 5597 days ago 725 posts - 1352 votes  | Message 2 of 21 19 April 2012 at 5:20pm | IP Logged | ||
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Assimil is my favourite publisher.
Their old Italian edition by Giovanna Galdo was not one of their best, but okay. Too much turist things, no jokes (which are typical for Assimil) Lessons like Lezione 27 were a bit tedious: Fate attenzione a questi modi di dire: In Italiano si dice, per esempio: Faccio colazione presto la mattina... In Italiano si dà del tu ad un amico ... Ad un amico si può dire: Che facciamo stasera. That`s crap, but most lessons were better; real texts and dialogues. Now there as been published a new version. It may be better. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| arturs Triglot Senior Member Latvia Joined 5269 days ago 278 posts - 408 votes Speaks: Latvian*, Russian, English | Message 3 of 21 19 April 2012 at 6:15pm | IP Logged | ||
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I tried it for Finnish - it helped me to learn some stuff, but since I have given Finnish a long vacation, then I can't truly say that Assimil helped me learn a language. If you learn regularly, the results will come.
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 emk Diglot Moderator United States Joined 5530 days ago 2615 posts - 8806 votes Speaks: English*, FrenchB2 Studies: Spanish, Ancient Egyptian Personal Language Map | Message 4 of 21 19 April 2012 at 6:54pm | IP Logged | ||
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Assimil's New French With Ease worked wonderfully for me. But I think most people make
it to either a strong A2 or an iffy B1, based on earlier discussions here. Basically, Assimil will get most people conversational, at least in an easy language. You'll certainly be able to deal with day-to-day necessities, and you might be able to travel using your TL. You'll generally be able to read actual books or newspapers with a dictionary, and you'll internalize a surprising amount of grammar and vocabulary. Some people need to shadow Assimil to activate their speaking skills. And I think some people do a bit better than this. This review by McWhorter is pretty realistic, I think. I don't know of any packaged courses that will reliably get people to B2, although the advanced Assimil courses can certainly help. At some point you need to dive in and use the language: speak, read, write, listen and watch. But keep in mind, a strong B2 is a very formidable level. It's enough to get you admitted to some French universities, to follow a lecture on a familiar subject, and to express yourself with respectable ease and at least some nuance. I'm certainly not at B2 yet, but I can spend two hours chatting away happily at the Alliance Française, laugh at political cartoons, and watch cable TV documentaries. So, in short: The B2 claim is highly dubious, but Assimil really does work amazingly well for the price. Just be sure to double-check the reviews of a particular course; a few have problems. 19 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Quinn Senior Member United States Joined 6321 days ago 134 posts - 186 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, Italian, Spanish | Message 5 of 21 19 April 2012 at 7:47pm | IP Logged | ||
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I'm currently working through Spanish With Ease. I just finished the "passive phase" (first half of the course) and already I can tell my knowledge of Spanish has grown quite a bit. Most importantly, it's fun! No dry grammar exercises and the text is filled with cartoons and jokes and the speakers are entertaining. I look forward to each lesson, which is really important for my long-term motivation.
By the time I finish this course, I will have been exposed to approximately 2,000 words, which should be more than enough to understand most news articles and other basic communications. The Assimil website states that, "It is commonly agreed that an adult speaker uses about 1,500 words." I don't know if that's correct or not, but it seems more than sufficient for a beginner's course. I like the method so much that I went ahead and bought the next course "Using Spanish" as well as both courses for my next target language, which is French. Your experience may be different from mine, but it's definitely working for me, so I recommend it highly. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Rowerzysta Newbie Poland Joined 4610 days ago 12 posts - 20 votes | Message 6 of 21 19 April 2012 at 8:12pm | IP Logged | ||
The B2 claim is completely unrealistic. Even if you learned to actively and with ease use every single word in the Assimil course, you won't get higher than near B1. On the other hand most other courses at the beginner's level take you to A1 or A2. This said, Assimil is generally speaking a wonderful course, or better, a wonderful material to use with the method you like best. While the Assimil book alone is usually cheap, you absolutely need the audio and book + audio (mp3s, or 4 audio CDs) can be quite costly. Check your public library or friends, they might lend the audio. I don't have experience of many Assimil courses, but of the two series, the older "... with ease" series and the newer one, I'd say the older are more challenging and rewarding. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| dbag Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5020 days ago 605 posts - 1046 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 7 of 21 19 April 2012 at 9:21pm | IP Logged | ||
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Buy it! It won't take you to B2, but then I don't think anything will. As far as I
know, there are no advanced Italian courses out there, certainly no FSI basic course, so it's probably the best thing on the market. Assimill call themselves beginners courses, which I think is ridiculous. They are far more than that. Some people here compare them to traditional coursebooks like Teach Yourself, which I think is unfair, as the two use a completely different methodology. Seriously, Assimll is awesome, you couldn't possible make a better decision than to buy it. Edited by dbag on 19 April 2012 at 9:22pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| sillygoose1 Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 4634 days ago 566 posts - 814 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, Spanish, French Studies: German, Latin | Message 8 of 21 20 April 2012 at 1:22am | IP Logged | ||
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I would say it's quite awesome. I know of two well known polyglots that actively promote it being Luca and Professor Arguelles. Plus I use it myself and it is quite fun even though I'm only on Lesson 50.
If you want the best of the best results, I assume using "With Ease", "Without Toil", then "Using" would be quite good. Don't take my word for it though. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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