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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| Random review Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5811 days ago 781 posts - 1310 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin, Yiddish, German | Message 9 of 21 19 August 2010 at 5:44am | IP Logged | ||||||||
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I'm with Datsunking1. I find it's a lot less boring to go through the same point in 5 or 6 (or more!) different courses than to go through it 6 times in the same book, quite apart from the fact that different books do different things well. Personally I started off with Michel thomas (all 3 languages), then moved on to using Linguaphone (Spanish) or Assimil (German and Portuguese) and FSI as core programs, with Pimsleur (from Library) Colloquial and Teach Yourself (all 3 languages) as a supplement. This is as what I am using NOW with German and Portuguese. But with Spanish I finished these and I am now (in addition to occasionally reviewing certain FSI drills to go over my weakspots) approaching the end of Assimil's Using Spanish and Teach Yourself Spanish Extra, and I have Colloquial Spanish 2 and Linguaphone's Curso Superior de Espanol lined up and ready to go next. Additionally I have Grammar books for Spanish (Butt and Benjamin, Vallecillos, Alonso et al, Aragones & Palencia, and ANAYA Avanzando en Gramatica B2), a book just on Ser and Estar, a book just on the preterite v imperfect, a large dictionary and two books on common mistakes made by English speakers. I have used some more than others but all have been useful. If we mention NEITHER books in Spanish for reading NOR some very useful articles about aspects of grammar, the DLI text files (no audio sadly,) and a few old bits and bobs I picked up second-hand then just for Spanish that makes 21 (there are 2 FSI courses for Spanish). The Core was definitely FSI, you have to have a core, of course, or else you are just playing, but attacking difficult points from multiple angles is useful, e.g. the best beginners book on the subjunctive is Alonso et al, but it is RUBBISH for ser and estar, and Vallecillos is mostly written drills, yet he teaches something I haven't seen ANYWHERE else (how of degree + adjective- "how tall is it?" etc). And even weaker books such as TY or Colloquial contain lots of useful sentences to put in ANKI.
By the way, from the title of this thread I thought it would be more risque! ;-) Edited by Random review on 19 August 2010 at 5:57am 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| tracker465 Senior Member United States Joined 5380 days ago 355 posts - 496 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish, Dutch | Message 10 of 21 19 August 2010 at 7:09am | IP Logged | ||||||||
This is how I feel about the books, though I try to purchase books that focus on varying aspects of a language. I have studied German the longest, and have quite a collection of books and material, some more useful than others. I have a few books that focus on idioms and colloquialisms, a few picture-based vocabulary guides, a dictionary, a thesarus, a verb conjugation book, some books that focus on advanced grammatical points/vocabulary, and a few "complete" grammar guides. Of course there is a lot of material here, and outside of a few books, I do not plan on reading any of these books cover to cover. If I do not understand a grammar point though, or want to check out a verb's specific usage, or whatever, then it comes in handy to have a nice variety of resources to choose from, especially if one is like me and finds the printing documents off the computer and storing them method to be a bit messy or cumbersome. With books that teach the basics, I also like having two or three different ones, as sometimes one will provide a better explanation or something. Besides, there is always new vocabulary. With that said, I think 10-15 books (or more) can be a legitimate number, though they just need to have different focuses. Although I do believe in gathering materials before starting a new target language, I also find that it can sometimes be so easy to get caught up in purchasing new materials, without actually using them. It doesn't matter how good the materials are that you have, if you just put them on the shelf to look nice. That is why I sat down and started to work through my Dutch materials this summer, as I had wanted to study the language (I was a false beginner) and I felt I had enough materials to get me to where I wanted to be. With those comments said, I do have one question for the OP: I know you are also from PA, you didn't happen to be shopping at Ollies Outlets did you? I grabbed those same items from an Ollies in my area, not so long ago. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
 newyorkeric Diglot Moderator Singapore Joined 6407 days ago 1598 posts - 2174 votes Speaks: English*, Italian Studies: Mandarin, Malay Personal Language Map | Message 11 of 21 19 August 2010 at 8:39am | IP Logged | ||||||||
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I consider books as a pleasure as well as a tool. I like being able to walk to my bookcase and to be reminded of a particular trip (like when I found German Without Toil for a few euros along the Seine) or an unexpected birthday gift (a set of old Linghaphone French and German), or to be able to leaf through my collection of the five original Without Toils that I accumulated book by book, even though I will never learn all those languages. So for me too many books really doesn't have meaning if I enjoy them for their own sake. Edited by newyorkeric on 19 August 2010 at 8:42am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| datsunking1 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5613 days ago 1014 posts - 1533 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: German, Russian, Dutch, French | Message 12 of 21 19 August 2010 at 4:18pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
REALLY? that's really creepy because yes I was there! It's in a plaza with Sam's Club and a Dunham's Sporting goods. They have some language GOLD in there, like Spanish novels and huge dictionaries for a few bucks. I always buy books from there :) Edited by datsunking1 on 19 August 2010 at 4:18pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| datsunking1 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5613 days ago 1014 posts - 1533 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: German, Russian, Dutch, French | Message 13 of 21 19 August 2010 at 4:27pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
They aren't all instructional. I have everything from phrase books and dictionaries, to programs/reviews, novels, and slang dicionaries. I usually buy they when they're on sale. I picked up "Street Spanish" for 7 bucks, marked off of $15 or whatever the original price was. I use all the books I purchase, but I collect them too. If they're THAT cheap why not. I like knowing I have good materials in good hands, I wouldn't want them to be wasted or thrown away, which may be what happens when I go to a second hand book store and see a "discount" rack where books are 60 years old and a dollar a piece. They could be valuable (educational sense) to someone in the future, so when I get through a book maybe a friend might need it or something :P I really buy my items based on the deals/rarity and by what reviews say. I bought some old teach yourself books for a few bucks, and a russian one was pretty hard to find. (I got it shipped from the UK for 4 dollars I think) Am I glad I bought it? Of course. Have I read it yet? Nope. I have to tackle one or two languages at a time. I've put portuguese on the back burner after German, Italian, and Russian. :) I think I'll take a russian course the last year of school, I have one of those "free electives" :P Depending upon my mood I can open my drawer in my room and select what I would like to read. I love it way more than having limited resources. I have Japanese, German, French, Portuguese, Esperanto, Spanish, Russian, Italian. I honestly don't know why I have the french course... It was $20 or something (living language ultimate course) which was originally $85.00 I think I bought it because I figured someone on this board could use it. How often does something like that pop up? Many of my books are from the 1950s -1960s, Prof A. recommended :) Edited by datsunking1 on 19 August 2010 at 4:31pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Elexi Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5593 days ago 938 posts - 1840 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, German, Latin | Message 14 of 21 19 August 2010 at 4:39pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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I don't think 15 instructional books are overkill for self teaching - That's about what I have per language and I find that the endless (but varied) reinforcement of the basics works wonders.
Another way of putting it - how many instructional books did you use at school? To get to the English A level in French (which in language learning is B1/B2 on the CEFR scale) I recall that students had a new textbook for each year of study (so about 6 in all), a book of exercises to accompany each textbook, a simple and then an advanced grammar, a couple of dictionaries dictionary and some reading texts. That's over 15 instructional books and school children have the benefit of a teacher. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
| frenkeld Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6971 days ago 2042 posts - 2719 votes Speaks: Russian*, English Studies: German | Message 15 of 21 19 August 2010 at 4:54pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
I found two problems with frequenting used bookstores, both problems of space. The first one is that the bookshelves are starting to overflow with language materials, and we have a lot of bookshelf space at home. The second problem is too much empty space in the wallet. There is actually a third problem, that of time - I once estimated the amount of time I would need to go through all the non-reference Spanish learning materials I have, and it exceeded the likely amount of free time in my remaining lifespan. To elaborate on the financial aspect of it, I am of working age, so I was never too concerned with what I was spending on language materials. Still, a few years ago I tracked my language acquisitions for a year, which included a purchase of all the materials - including the CD's and the DVD's - for part one of FIA. I decided that the total for that year was a bit extravagant and set two thirds of it as my annual language budget for the future. Now that I have been tracking all my language purchases for several years, and have had budgets to work with, I found that all these deals on used materials, as well as the new materials I wasn't really using, were actually adding up to a substantial amount, so at times I found myself pinched when I then wanted to order novels or DVD's from abroad, or buy a more expensive study aide. I also discovered a tendency to run out of money for authentic materials because of too many learning materials bought. Those are the reasons why I now try to avoid buying a learning aide until I am ready to use it. I also try to make sure I always have enough money left for authentic materials. Edited by frenkeld on 20 August 2010 at 11:34pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||||||||
 budonoseito Pro Member United States budobeyondtechnRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5833 days ago 261 posts - 344 votes Studies: French, Japanese Personal Language Map | Message 16 of 21 19 August 2010 at 7:21pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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A budget is good. Three years ago, I went on a one year book diet. I had so many books in
my to read pile, I didn't need any more. I was just at the library again today. I returned a book on bilingual children and got out How Language Works by David Crystal. So that satisfies my reading habit at no cost. :) 1 person has voted this message useful |
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