Skims Diglot Newbie United Kingdom Joined 5334 days ago 18 posts - 20 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: German
| Message 1 of 6 22 July 2010 at 2:37pm | IP Logged |
I would like to get some opinions on the Linguaphone German course before I buy it. Is it generally regarded as a good course? What level does it take you to? How many words does it teach?
I already have Assimil German with Ease, and am looking to use Linguaphone in parallel with Assimil. Is it a good compliment to Assimil?
I like the Assimil course, but the only problem I have with it is I'm not sure how to learn the vocab with it, since there are no vocabulary lists provided. Any suggestions?
Thanks in anticipation
1 person has voted this message useful
|
Elexi Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5593 days ago 938 posts - 1840 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, German, Latin
| Message 2 of 6 22 July 2010 at 8:13pm | IP Logged |
Are we talking about the 'Black Box' Course from the 1990s (I actually think it is the same course today). If so I personally think it is an excellent course - and works well with Assimil as it is a dialogue course.
In terms of level - it uses roughly about 1500 words in the course and the instructions say it takes you to GCE O level standard - which would be GCSE higher or B1 on the CEFR scale.
It is also relatively easy to get on ebay for about £30 or less.
2 persons have voted this message useful
|
tractor Tetraglot Senior Member Norway Joined 5481 days ago 1349 posts - 2292 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English, Spanish, Catalan Studies: French, German, Latin
| Message 3 of 6 22 July 2010 at 10:47pm | IP Logged |
Yes, the Linguaphone course is excellent and works well as a complement to Assimil.
1 person has voted this message useful
|
Skims Diglot Newbie United Kingdom Joined 5334 days ago 18 posts - 20 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: German
| Message 4 of 6 22 July 2010 at 11:39pm | IP Logged |
Thanks for your replies! Well, I've seen the 1990 course available for a fair price - I wonder if it's better than the new Linguaphone course. In any case, I think I'll get it and use it alongside Assimil. Thanks for the recommendation!
How long does it take to 'fully' complete the Linguaphone course, roughly, assuming around 30-45 minutes study a day? Are there many lessons?
1 person has voted this message useful
|
tractor Tetraglot Senior Member Norway Joined 5481 days ago 1349 posts - 2292 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English, Spanish, Catalan Studies: French, German, Latin
| Message 5 of 6 22 July 2010 at 11:54pm | IP Logged |
Skims wrote:
Thanks for your replies! Well, I've seen the 1990 course available for a fair price - I wonder if it's
better than the new Linguaphone course. In any case, I think I'll get it and use it alongside Assimil. Thanks for the
recommendation! |
|
|
I think the 1990 German course is the same course as the one they sell today.
Skims wrote:
How long does it take to 'fully' complete the Linguaphone course, roughly, assuming around 30-
45 minutes study a
day? Are there many lessons? |
|
|
30 lessons. I usually did 1 or 2 lessons a week, but I've no idea how much time I spent on each lesson.
Edited by tractor on 22 July 2010 at 11:56pm
1 person has voted this message useful
|
Elexi Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5593 days ago 938 posts - 1840 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, German, Latin
| Message 6 of 6 23 July 2010 at 8:25am | IP Logged |
I also think that the 1990s coure is the same one that they sell today - only French and Spanish have been revised to use a more Berlitz style format. The 1990s black box/grey book ones with 4 books and 9 cassettes are the ones to get as they contain slightly more audio that the earlier ones from the 1970s (which are also the same).
The Linguaphone course consists of 30 dialogues divided in 3 parts of roughly Assimil length. The dialogues are printed and recorded in the native language and a separate book contains a vocabulary list and notes on the grammatical and idiomatic meaning of the words. The 1990s courses also contain a grammar exercise book applicable to each dialogue and a book of mainly substitution type oral drills (with accompanying audio) - so if you work on the basis of 1 part = a day's lesson that's at least 90 days of lessons. I would personally take a bit longer than that, but then I am slow.
Edited by Elexi on 23 July 2010 at 8:28am
6 persons have voted this message useful
|