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How good is Assimil Italian? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| Slovak_anglo Diglot Groupie United States facebook.com/deliver Joined 5155 days ago 87 posts - 100 votes  Speaks: English*, German Studies: Italian, Slovak | Message 1 of 11 15 June 2010 at 12:41am | IP Logged | |||||
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I was just wondering the quality of Assimil Italian with ease. I'm buying the one from amazon so I was just curious.
S_A 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
 newyorkeric Diglot Moderator Singapore Joined 6189 days ago 1598 posts - 2174 votes Speaks: English*, Italian Studies: Mandarin, Malay Personal Language Map | Message 2 of 11 15 June 2010 at 2:19am | IP Logged | |||||
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It's very good.
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| datsunking1 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5395 days ago 1014 posts - 1533 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: German, Russian, Dutch, French | Message 3 of 11 15 June 2010 at 2:57am | IP Logged | |||||
What this man said! and from an Amazon.com review, may I quote: "This method does indeed work extremely well, as the other reviewers have indicated. I purchased a copy of it a little over a year ago in anticipation of a trip to Rome. A few months prior to the trip, I began working through the book/CD's more-or-less the way they say to, which typically took about 15-20 minutes sitting at my desk studying the day's lesson. I also would revise old lessons while driving in my car for maybe another 20 minutes a day (hint: put them all on your MP3 player!) I did cheat a little bit: I missed a couple weeks at one point, so I doubled up for a while to finish before my trip (not recommended -- take your time instead). The results: * I found myself on an All'Italia flight, reading an Italian newspaper (with help from my invaluable pocket dictionary) and ordering the in-flight snack in Italian. * Soon after arrival, a member of my traveling party became sick in the middle of the night, and I was able to handle the situation (ask random people on the street where an open pharmacy was, get directions, figure out how the night box worked, and describe symptoms to the pharmacist) completely in Italian. I don't think they speak English past midnight in Italy . . . * I was also able to order a taxi, haggle, and chat up the hotel staff in their own language (my room got MUCH better service than everyone else's -- coincidence?). I could generally start a conversation in good enough Italian that people seemed to assume I was fluent . . . at which point they would start speaking at Mach 6 in full-blown Roman dialect (fairly different sound than this course's standard Italian), and I would have to ask them to slow down a bit. Once they realized that I was still learning, we did just fine. * Best moments: buying a book in an Italian bookstore and the clerk asking if I already had a membership card. Speaking with an Italian nun who had no idea where I was from (she guessed England after I told her I was a tourist -- try Alabama!). Listening to a papal address in St Peter's Square, and translating large portions of it for the people with me. And never hitting a total communication barrier: if I wanted to get something across, I got it across, even if I had to mangle an idiom or three to do it. This program won't make you "totally fluent," not by any means -- nothing short of extremely in-depth study or living in the language for an extended period would do that for you, I expect. However, after finishing this course, you will have a solid grounding in the basics of Italian grammar (gender system, syntax, the major verb tenses, plus lots of idioms), a large and versatile vocabulary, a scary-good accent, and the ability to handle most conceivable situations fairly well. And with its very reasonable price -- well, why pay three times as much for less? If you want to travel in Italy or begin learning its beautiful language, get this program. " This exact review is why I ordered it. I've had wonderful results so far, I love it. After I finish German Without Toil, I'll be chugging through the Italian course with full force. :) 5 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| NorseRonin Pro Member United States youtube.com/user/NorRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5088 days ago 47 posts - 55 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Icelandic Personal Language Map | Message 4 of 11 16 June 2010 at 8:26am | IP Logged | |||||
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wow, after reading that review i must get this! haha, i'm studying German right now as well and i just ordered assimil German with ease, i'm sure it's going to be great since i have it for japanese and the quality was extremely good. so yeah, after i get it for Spanish i will definitely go for Italian right after :-)
btw, i'm sure everyone knows, especially on this site, but i suggest to use assimil along with other resources like teach yourself or the colloquial series. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| datsunking1 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5395 days ago 1014 posts - 1533 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: German, Russian, Dutch, French | Message 5 of 11 16 June 2010 at 3:44pm | IP Logged | |||||
All of Assimil's programs are great in my opinion, I love them. You'll love the German one. I usually stack it with the older teach yourself courses, from 1965, which are more grammar based and have MUCH more content. For German, I'm going to go through "German: How to Speak and Write it" by Joseph Rosenberg, which is absolutely CRAMMED with content and vocabulary. I purchased my copy for 7 dollars I believe, probably the best deal I've ever seen for what it offers:) 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| NorseRonin Pro Member United States youtube.com/user/NorRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5088 days ago 47 posts - 55 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Icelandic Personal Language Map | Message 6 of 11 17 June 2010 at 2:12am | IP Logged | |||||
hmmm, that German book you mentioned looks really good, and i read the reviews on Amazon. thanks for mentioning it, i going to buy it :-) how is your German as of this moment? right now i consider myself a high leveled beginner, but not quite intermediate. also, i ordered TY: German grammar, and TY: improve your German (for when i finish the first TY book). and yes, i heard the early TY books are have much more material, but i couldn't find any for sale, but i think getting the grammar book should balance that out a little. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| datsunking1 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5395 days ago 1014 posts - 1533 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: German, Russian, Dutch, French | Message 7 of 11 17 June 2010 at 3:05am | IP Logged | |||||
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I'm between intermeadiate and basic fluency, I can understand a very great part of the spoken and written language, I don't know how but I am probably understanding close to 70% of things. There are a lot of verbs I don't know and a lot of grammar I need to go over (especially the irregular stuff) but I'm really making headway in the language, especially with Assimil. Forming sentences on my own seems to be the trouble, I'll say things backwards or without the right noun declensions, but I'll fix that over time and a lot of practice :) Hopefully Assimil makes an advanced German program.
After I get through Assimil and that book I mentioned, I should be close to C1 level, Where I hope to be by the middle of next year. I honestly don't know how, but I'm catching on to German MUCH faster than I did with Spanish. Speaking of the TY German Grammar, If it's anything like the book I ordered (I believe I have the 1973 copy) YOU WON'T WANT TO PUT IT DOWN! I absolutely love it. It starts off by relating German, Latin, Greek, and English words, in a very logical fashion, and presents really cool things that I never knew about English (or German for that matter) I'm very happy with the 3 dollars I spent on it. newyorkeric pointed me to this website : http://www.abebooks.com/ from which I've already ordered several books. They have virtually everything on there, (Used or new) Including Assimil and old TY courses. If you find improve your German useful please let me know! :D Best of luck to you! Jordan Edited by datsunking1 on 17 June 2010 at 3:07am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| NorseRonin Pro Member United States youtube.com/user/NorRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5088 days ago 47 posts - 55 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Icelandic Personal Language Map | Message 8 of 11 17 June 2010 at 5:26am | IP Logged | |||||
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Wow, that's really good :-D
and thank you very much for the link to that site man! such good prices, it's amazing. today i had my first embarrassing moment while speaking German to someone (she learned when she lived there when she was 8-12 years old). i totally messed up on my pronunciations, and i told her so in German. of course she was polite and said i spoke well, but i can tell she didn't understand some things i said. to be fair she did speak a different dialect than Hochdeutsch (she rolled her R's) and i'm learning Hochdeutsch. all in all it was a good experience because she helped me realize where i was messing up, for example i mispronounced "sehen" and said it like "zee-in", it should be like "zay-in", the weird thing is i knew this already, but now i'll never forget again :-) sorry for this long post, and the anecdote, i just felt like i had to share it. anyway, thanks again, and i'll definitely let you know how improve your German goes, i should receive it sometime tomorrow :-D Kenny 1 person has voted this message useful |
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