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Assimil without audio | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| s7evyn Diglot Newbie United States Joined 3990 days ago 1 posts - 1 votes Speaks: English*, French | Message 1 of 6 26 December 2014 at 8:28am | IP Logged |
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I accidentally ordered the Assimil Russian book without the accompanying CDs. I was
disappointed at first, but I don't suspect it will be much of a problem since I don't plan to learn how to speak or necessarily understand spoken Russian, only to read and write it. Is Assimil still effective/worthwhile without audio? 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Gunjumero Newbie Canada Joined 3668 days ago 6 posts - 7 votes Speaks: French* | Message 2 of 6 27 December 2014 at 2:29am | IP Logged |
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If you're an auditory learner it might be more difficult if hearing things usually helps
you memorize them better. You know what your goals are, writing and reading, and I don't know if it's your first assimil but they can work without the audio. The audio reads the foreign language you're looking at on the pages and doesn't add anything that is not already printed. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Speakeasy Senior Member Canada Joined 4052 days ago 507 posts - 1098 votes  Studies: German | Message 3 of 6 27 December 2014 at 2:32am | IP Logged |
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Disclaimer
Everything that I have written below is nothing more than personal opinion. I am sure that others have their own opinions that could easily differ from mine. Learning to Read and Write with Assimil Like most language courses for independent users, the Assimil series is designed to assist learners achieve a level of conversational skill in more-or-less predictable, ideal situations. Accordingly, the dialogues and exercise sets tend to emphasize the verb forms in first and second persons, singular and plural. In contrast, much of what one reads or writes takes the form of a narrative that tends to emphasize the verb forms in third person, singular and plural. From this standpoint alone, while any self-study language course would, indeed, support a goal of “only to read and write” a language, most of the effort would be placed elsewhere. Another issue would be one of vocabulary. Assimil, like most courses, tends to emphasize the basic vocabulary that is essential to expressing one’s basic needs in the practical world. While his level of vocabulary may very well appear in texts, its appearance is likely to be somewhat sporadic -- just think of a good newspaper, magazine, novel, or specialized reference text. A final point would be that, in Assimil, the notes that accompany the dialogues are surprisingly obtuse. While I enjoy using the method because of the strength of the dialogues, I have often been left with the impression that my understanding of the Assimil explanations is a result of having learned the corresponding grammatical points previously, using some other method. So, once again, while using Assimil “only to read and write” is possible in my view, you would be setting yourself up for a needlessly arduous journey. Voicing While Reading Many people, consciously or otherwise, silently “voice” the texts that they are reading. If you do not learn to pronounce Russian more-or-less correctly, you are likely to impose your own “voicing” of the texts that you will be reading and writing. While there is no guarantee that this will hinder your learning, I cannot see how it would advance it. Bite The Bullet or Go Elsewhere I suggest that you purchase the CDs that would normally accompany the edition that you have in hand or, if possible, exchange it for a complete package. Alternatively, you could always recycle the book and purchase a method that focuses on reading and writing. Edited by Speakeasy on 27 December 2014 at 2:34am 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| AlexTG Diglot Senior Member Australia Joined 4638 days ago 178 posts - 354 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Latin, German, Spanish, Japanese | Message 4 of 6 27 December 2014 at 2:51pm | IP Logged |
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Assimil without audio is great (it's how I use it). It basically becomes a progressive
reader. Do make sure you learn the correct pronunciation first. It's true that when you finish you will probably have a bit of difficulty with straight prose. But the important thing is you will have learnt how the language functions and gotten lots of reading practice. I suggest picking up another course with prose content once you've finished Assimil. If you want reading knowledge of a language, dialogue is actually pretty important, it makes up a large part of a lot of novels and poetry, and of course drama. (and the usual caveat for Assimil applies: you'll need something else to explain the grammar) Edited by AlexTG on 27 December 2014 at 2:55pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| soclydeza85 Senior Member United States Joined 3907 days ago 357 posts - 502 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, French | Message 5 of 6 27 December 2014 at 3:49pm | IP Logged |
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Did you check youtube? I was able to find the German Assimil lessons on there for the lessons I didn't have.
2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Straya Diglot Groupie Australia Joined 3617 days ago 57 posts - 73 votes Speaks: English*, FrenchA2 Studies: Polish | Message 6 of 6 10 January 2015 at 4:47am | IP Logged |
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I believe the audio is paramount to the success with assimil. So much learning comes from
the use of our ears. Im not suggesting any illegalities however p2p and other methods of obtaining the materials are available I recently obtained a copy of the exact volume in reference from 'there' Edited by Straya on 10 January 2015 at 4:47am 1 person has voted this message useful |
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