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Assimil frustrations

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Johntm
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 Message 17 of 25
04 March 2010 at 5:13am | IP Logged 
Elexi wrote:

As to Michel Thomas German - I had completed CD1 before deciding on my 'do the Assimil passive phase first' experiment (i.e. not speaking, not being obsessed with forming sentences, but taking in the language relatively passively in the fashion of the Methode Assimil). I think if you like the progress made with Pimsleur maybe you could either drop Assimil for now and take up Michel Thomas, or do both - this will provide you with the grammatical explanations that Pimsleur lacks in non technical language, whilst covering the same ground and a similar vocabulary (I am talking about the foundation course, the advanced goes beyond Pimsleur, although I think the advanced courses are the best thing about Michel Thomas).

I like the explanations Michel Thomas gives. I find that Pimsleur and Michel Thomas complement each other well (at least in my opinion). I plan on adding Assimil as soon as I can get myself to a bookstore to buy the book.
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lagwagon555
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 Message 18 of 25
08 March 2010 at 8:23am | IP Logged 
If someone with pro membership can search back through my previous posts and find a link, I made a topic which is exactly the same as this. I was new to the Assimil type learning experience, and was used to instant results of Teach Yourself and Pimsleur. I wasn't used to Assimil, and felt like I was going nowhere. I actually ended up giving up on French.

However, I read more and more about it, and a few years later picked up the Japanese Assimil course. I can tell you it's incredibly effective, you just need patience, and to understand that you really are leaning, even if it doesn't really 'click' like other learning methods. All I can say is just keep hacking at the lessons, repeat the audio tracks in your free time, and don't think about how it's not clicking. If you keep going through the course, you will definitely find yourself assimilating the language.

This is exactly the same advice that people gave me, but I ignored it and dropped French altogether. But now I gave it a second go with Japanese, I completely recommend Assimil. You just need to accept that you're learning, instead of dwelling on wether it feels like you're learning or not :)
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datsunking1
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 Message 19 of 25
09 March 2010 at 2:43am | IP Logged 

Quote:
I like the explanations Michel Thomas gives. I find that Pimsleur and Michel Thomas complement each other well (at least in my opinion). I plan on adding Assimil as soon as I can get myself to a bookstore to buy the book.


Assimil is very difficult to find in bookstores, I've searched high and low. I'd order it off of Amazon.com, the German program is $34 and comes with CDs. The 1951 "German Without Toil" is very good also, I have it on my flash drive.

I print out 5 pages a day (school library limit) and I'm making a makeshift book out of the pages :D I have the audio on CD now too :)

Here is the link to the German program (German With Ease)

http://www.amazon.com/German-Ease-Day-Method/dp/2700501322

THIS IS THE BOOK ONLY VERSION. I believe the CD+ book editions are on back order. I have the Italian one, it's fantastic.

-Jordan

Edited by datsunking1 on 09 March 2010 at 2:49am
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spanishlearner
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France
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 Message 20 of 25
09 March 2010 at 3:24am | IP Logged 
For my taste at least, I've found that Assimil is most useful when you already know the basics of a language. The grammatical presentation is too disperse and you're left wondering for most of the book the reason behind a lot of things. It would be best in my opinion to start with an old Teach Yourself or Colloquial, or a concise grammar, and then master the concepts learnt with Assimil.
2 persons have voted this message useful



Johntm
Senior Member
United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name
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Speaks: English*
Studies: Spanish

 
 Message 21 of 25
09 March 2010 at 4:06am | IP Logged 
datsunking1 wrote:
   
Quote:
I like the explanations Michel Thomas gives. I find that Pimsleur and Michel Thomas complement each other well (at least in my opinion). I plan on adding Assimil as soon as I can get myself to a bookstore to buy the book.


Assimil is very difficult to find in bookstores, I've searched high and low. I'd order it off of Amazon.com, the German program is $34 and comes with CDs. The 1951 "German Without Toil" is very good also, I have it on my flash drive.

I print out 5 pages a day (school library limit) and I'm making a makeshift book out of the pages :D I have the audio on CD now too :)

Here is the link to the German program (German With Ease)

http://www.amazon.com/German-Ease-Day-Method/dp/2700501322

THIS IS THE BOOK ONLY VERSION. I believe the CD+ book editions are on back order. I have the Italian one, it's fantastic.

-Jordan
Haha that's awesome how you print it out at your school library. My school library charges a dime a page so I might as well buy the book. There are some used bookstores by me that might have it...
1 person has voted this message useful



tractor
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Norway
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 Message 22 of 25
09 March 2010 at 9:34am | IP Logged 
spanishlearner wrote:
For my taste at least, I've found that Assimil is most useful when you already know the basics of a language. The grammatical presentation is too disperse and you're left wondering for most of the book the reason behind a lot of things. It would be best in my opinion to start with an old Teach Yourself or Colloquial, or a concise grammar, and then master the concepts learnt with Assimil.

An alternative is to use two (or more) different methods at the same time; e.g. Assimil and an old TY.
1 person has voted this message useful



datsunking1
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 Message 23 of 25
09 March 2010 at 5:11pm | IP Logged 
tractor wrote:
spanishlearner wrote:
For my taste at least, I've found that Assimil is most useful when you already know the basics of a language. The grammatical presentation is too disperse and you're left wondering for most of the book the reason behind a lot of things. It would be best in my opinion to start with an old Teach Yourself or Colloquial, or a concise grammar, and then master the concepts learnt with Assimil.

An alternative is to use two (or more) different methods at the same time; e.g. Assimil and an old TY.


Any ideas where to find old TY courses? I've peaked through a couple at the library and I love the format, I just can't find them for sale :/
1 person has voted this message useful



spanishlearner
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France
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51 posts - 81 votes 
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 Message 24 of 25
09 March 2010 at 5:16pm | IP Logged 
datsunking1 wrote:
Any ideas where to find old TY courses? I've peaked through a couple at the library and I love the format, I just can't find them for sale :/


AbeBooks.com, Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk


1 person has voted this message useful



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