French Assimil Disappointment (Language Programs, Books & Tapes) Language Learning Forum

French Assimil Disappointment
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Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes

34 messages over 5 pages: 1 2 3 4 5

pineappleboom
Groupie
United States
languageloft-ashley.
Joined 5281 days ago
66 posts - 76 votes

Speaks: English*
Studies: Japanese, French, Russian

Message 33 of 34

02 August 2010 at 5:05pm | IP Logged

fanatic wrote:

No Assimil is not a bunch of disconnected, meaningless dribble.

I learnt German from the beginning with Assimil German Without Toil. I had never learnt any German elsewhere. I spent between half an hour a day to up to 45 minutes, always broken up into several sessions. I was conversing in German in less than a month. I was fluent enough after six months to work in Germany and make technical translations.

I have around 14 Assimil language courses and like them all except two.

.

Which two did you not like?
1 person has voted this message useful

koba
Heptaglot
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AustriaRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5896 days ago
118 posts - 201 votes

Speaks: Portuguese*, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Hungarian, French

Message 34 of 34

05 September 2010 at 2:12am | IP Logged

johntm93 wrote:

DaraghM wrote:

There is also a somewhat nasty misogynistic streak to some Assimil lessons.

Is it bad I kind of laughed at this? The thought of someone devising a language course and thinking "How can I make fun of women while teaching a language....hmmm...THAT'S IT! I'll put it into my lessons!"
I'm not saying there isn't anything misogynistic in their lessons, I don't know, but the thought seems weird to me. I haven't noticed any in the old German without Toil.

That reminds me of a sentence in the Assimil Hungarian With Ease: "A nőknek azt szoktam mondani, hogy főzzenek" (I usually tell women to cook) and in the first lessons you see "A férj a konyhában? A feleség a szobában? Nem különös?" (A husband in the kitchen? A wife in the room? Isn't it unusual?)

I don't think it's meant to be misogynistic though, but rather funny and some people do appreciate this kind of humour, even women themselves. Anyway, it's so far my favourite course. The dialogues are vivid, real and they give you enough basis to start speaking the language quickly.

Edited by koba on 05 September 2010 at 2:14am
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