|
 |
The Order of Things (Pims, FSI, Assimil) | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| kanewai Triglot Senior Member United States justpaste.it/kanewai Joined 4892 days ago 1386 posts - 3054 votes  Speaks: English*, French, Marshallese Studies: Italian, Spanish | Message 1 of 9 08 July 2011 at 3:11am | IP Logged | |||||
|
Pimsleur / FSI seems to be a 'classic' combination. How about Pimsleur / Assimil, or Assimil/FSI?
Like a lot of you all, I have an A1 / A2 ability in a lot of languages. I think it's finally time to push a few of them, starting with French, up to the next level! I love using Pimsleur to develop a solid base (and feel that you need two courses to achieve any meaningful results), but have never tried any Pimsleur 3 courses. My question is, what would you all recommend after Pimsleur 1 and 2? Push on through Pimsleur 3, or jump over to either Assimil or FSI to round out what I've learned? (to be honest, I'd never heard of Assimil until I joined this forum yesterday, but I'm already sold after reading so many discussions on it). Edited by kanewai on 08 July 2011 at 4:29am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| pineappleboom Groupie United States languageloft-ashley. Joined 5256 days ago 66 posts - 76 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, French, Russian | Message 2 of 9 08 July 2011 at 4:36am | IP Logged | |||||
|
I hope this video will answer your question. I found it to be very useful. video
2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| kanewai Triglot Senior Member United States justpaste.it/kanewai Joined 4892 days ago 1386 posts - 3054 votes Speaks: English*, French, Marshallese Studies: Italian, Spanish | Message 3 of 9 08 July 2011 at 6:36am | IP Logged | |||||
|
Wow, that was some good information ... at least after the 11-minute mark! Thanks.
For those who don't watch the whole video, Professor Alexander Arguelles recommends using a combination of material to get to B-level proficiency, but the combination depends on your preferred learning style. To wit: ANALYTIC MINDS 1. Start with a short overview that gives a bird's eye view of grammar and structure 2. Do one or two thorough and comprehensive grammar/translation courses. 3. Do a deductive / observational course such as Assimil or Linguaphone 4. Finish with a pattern / drill course LEARNS BY DOING 1. Start with a "full scale" Pimsleur course 2. Do a full pattern / drill course, such as FSI 3. Do a short course with a bird's eye view of grammar and structure to tie things together 4. Follow with a self-paced short pattern / drill course 5. Finish with a deductive / observational course such as Assimil or Linguaphone OBSERVATIONAL LEARNERS 1. Start with one or, if available, two Assimil courses, plus Linguaphone 2. Do a comprehensive grammar / translation manual 3. Finish with a full pattern / drill course, such as FSI The professor recommends a Michael Thomas-type audio course as a precursor for anyone with an anxiety about the target language. Given that I previously studied French, I'll try a Pimsleur-FSI-Assimil route and let you all know how it goes! I'm still not sure about Pimsleur 3, though ... i.e., whether it's worthwhile to do the whole series, or time to move on to FSI. 11 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Fenn Groupie United Kingdom Joined 4894 days ago 51 posts - 119 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian | Message 4 of 9 08 July 2011 at 2:12pm | IP Logged | |||||
|
What does he mean by this
"3. Do a short course with a bird's eye view of grammar and structure to tie things together " 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| TerryW Senior Member United States Joined 6360 days ago 370 posts - 783 votes Speaks: English* | Message 5 of 9 08 July 2011 at 3:15pm | IP Logged | |||||
After Pimsleur 2, the 15+ hours that would have to be spent on Pimsleur 3 would be more efficiently spent on starting FSI and/or Assimil. Both FSI and Assimil start at levels for complete beginners, but both move at a steeper pace, hence, you'd progress faster than with Pims3. Plus you'll be learning the written language and get good grammar definitions with either of these two, which Pimsleur does not have, since it's (by design) audio only and the grammar is instilled by conversation examples instead of literally explained. You may want to consider FSI and Assimil simultaneously, since FSI is very dry, tedious and drill oriented, so you may like complementing it with the bitesize and somewhat humorous lessons of Assimil. You might also find out that you'd rather do Assimil followed by FSI serially (instead of the other way around) when you see how they both "work." And of course, if you really like Pimsleur and have enough time, do Pims3 simultaneously with FSI or Assimil or both. Edited by TerryW on 08 July 2011 at 3:20pm 6 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| liddytime Pentaglot Senior Member United States mainlymagyar.wordpre Joined 6232 days ago 693 posts - 1328 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Galician Studies: Hungarian, Vietnamese, Modern Hebrew, Norwegian, Persian, Arabic (Written) | Message 6 of 9 08 July 2011 at 8:26pm | IP Logged | |||||
|
I tend to be one of the "learns by doing" sort. Not surprisingly the progression that works best for me is
1. Pimsleur to familiarize myself with the sounds of the language. 2. FSI or DLI next to drill my brain into submission. This works well for me but I understand this wouldn't do the trick for everyone. ( I also agree that 2 levels of Pimsleur are adequate before heading into FSI) 3. Assimil to supplement vocabulary and listening skills next. 4. Listen to as many songs, TV shows and movies as possible! 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| kanewai Triglot Senior Member United States justpaste.it/kanewai Joined 4892 days ago 1386 posts - 3054 votes Speaks: English*, French, Marshallese Studies: Italian, Spanish | Message 7 of 9 08 July 2011 at 10:24pm | IP Logged | |||||
He didn't spell it out in this video, but from skimming his other videos I think he means courses like "Made Simple," "Passport," or "Berlitz."
Great minds, etc. After finishing two tapes of FSI French I had the same thought! I'm motivated now, but three months of FSI could be a challenge. It certainly is dry. Ive been overlapping the end of Pimsleur with the beginning of FSI, so I think I'll take your advice and try to overlap FSI with Assimil. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| kanewai Triglot Senior Member United States justpaste.it/kanewai Joined 4892 days ago 1386 posts - 3054 votes Speaks: English*, French, Marshallese Studies: Italian, Spanish | Message 8 of 9 19 September 2011 at 9:57pm | IP Logged | |||||
|
Two month update: I've been steadily doing Assimil and FSI in conjunction, and the combination really works well for me. I can do the FSI drills in the car if I drive to work, while it's easy enough to do an Assimil lesson over lunch or on a coffee break. I do whichever one fits best into my schedule for that day.
I can't recommend the dual-book approach enough! Aside from the flexibility, there's a nice synergy that occurs. Though I think it would work best for two dissimilar courses rather than two similar ones. 6 persons have voted this message useful |
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
