Merv Bilingual Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5196 days ago 414 posts - 749 votes ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) Speaks: English*, Serbo-Croatian* Studies: Spanish, French
| Message 1 of 40 18 January 2011 at 3:33pm | IP Logged |
Assuming you complete the With Ease book pretty thoroughly, what level are we working with? Is this intermediate?
Basic fluency?
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hrhenry Octoglot Senior Member United States languagehopper.blogs Joined 5053 days ago 1871 posts - 3642 votes ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) Speaks: English*, SpanishC2, ItalianC2, Norwegian, Catalan, Galician, Turkish, Portuguese Studies: Polish, Indonesian, Ojibwe
| Message 2 of 40 18 January 2011 at 4:17pm | IP Logged |
Merv wrote:
Assuming you complete the With Ease book pretty thoroughly, what level are we working with? Is this intermediate?
Basic fluency? |
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What do you mean by "Intermediate" or "Basic fluency"?
Sorry. I had to.
R.
==
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magictom123 Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5516 days ago 272 posts - 365 votes ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, French
| Message 3 of 40 18 January 2011 at 10:03pm | IP Logged |
The Assimil website says that 'with ease' will take you to B2, which a lot of people here
seem to correlate as being around basic fluency. Whether or not you reach this level
probably depends on yourself as much as the course.
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James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5298 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French
| Message 4 of 40 19 January 2011 at 2:08am | IP Logged |
I did Pimsleur 1-3 and MT 1 and then Assimil Spanish with Ease exactly as directed and spending 30-60 minutes per day every day with it. When I was done with Assimil I took a number of online CEFR tests and consistently tested at A2. I could not reach B1. I do not know how "accurate" the online tests were, but I feel like they over-tested grammar and undertested vocabulary and overall comprehension/communication. I also feel I am probably not the greatest language learner. I am confident that if/when I do a third wave through Assimil I could pass the B1 test.
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James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5298 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French
| Message 5 of 40 19 January 2011 at 2:13am | IP Logged |
Merv, I did not actually address your question. If someone completed Assimil "pretty thoroughly" I think their level would be the following (the definition of B1 on wikipedia):
Can understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar matters regularly encountered in work, school, leisure, etc. Can deal with most situations likely to arise whilst travelling in an area where the language is spoken. Can produce simple connected text on topics which are familiar or of personal interest. Can describe experiences and events, dreams, hopes & ambitions and briefly give reasons and explanations for opinions and plans.
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HenryMW Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 5097 days ago 125 posts - 179 votes ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, French Studies: Modern Hebrew
| Message 6 of 40 19 January 2011 at 4:36am | IP Logged |
What language did you use Assimil for, James29? I'm using Assimil for Italian right now. So far, I think it's ok, but I'm not sure how well this method works with more "foreign" languages.
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James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5298 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French
| Message 7 of 40 20 January 2011 at 2:34am | IP Logged |
I have only used Assimil for Spanish. I did not really realize how much I was learning with it. I can see how some people might not like it, however. I don't know how it would work for something like Chinese or Korean.
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Sh'Naya Diglot Groupie Germany Joined 6681 days ago 48 posts - 65 votes ![](/images/pokal.2.jpg) Speaks: German*, English Studies: Spanish, Japanese, French
| Message 8 of 40 26 January 2011 at 10:08am | IP Logged |
James29 wrote:
I did Pimsleur 1-3 and MT 1 and then Assimil Spanish with Ease exactly as directed and spending 30-60 minutes per day every day with it. When I was done with Assimil I took a number of online CEFR tests and consistently tested at A2. I could not reach B1. I do not know how "accurate" the online tests were, but I feel like they over-tested grammar and undertested vocabulary and overall comprehension/communication. I also feel I am probably not the greatest language learner. I am confident that if/when I do a third wave through Assimil I could pass the B1 test. |
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Well, I also took a number of online CEFR tests and the result was always the same for English: B1. Interestingly, my TOEFL score (I took the test one week after the CEFR online tests) was 116 (max. 120). Moreover, at the same time I had to take an entrance exam for postgraduate studies and they required at least C1. I passed this without trouble.
These online tests are crap.
I haven't completed my Assimil Spanish with ease course yet, but I think it's possible to reach B1 with this course. In my opinion, you won't pass an B2 exam. Afterwards you still won't have enough speaking or writing practice. During the course you only have to "create" sentences you have heard before in the passive wave.I highly doubt that will be sufficient.
By the way, I tested at B1 for Spanish with CEFR as well. I was even better in Spanish than in English. How absurd! That really got me laughing. I have watched some hundred episodes, read a dozen magazines and completed another course book which covered all the grammar but I'm nowhere near my level of English.
I wouldn't be too surprised if it isn't possible to score high at CEFR online tests. Afterall, they want to sell you stuff, hence it's convenient to state lower skill levels.
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