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Assimil

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278 messages over 35 pages: << Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ... 18 ... 34 35 Next >>
luke
Diglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 7015 days ago

3133 posts - 4351 votes 
Speaks: English*, Spanish
Studies: Esperanto, French

 
 Message 137 of 278
19 July 2008 at 11:16am | IP Logged 
TreoPaul wrote:
This has been my dismay with the German language Assimil. Not only are the English translations not literal, I've found errors in English grammar, and more. Once I understand the German, I edit the English to more accurately reflect the German. It helps.

Are the English Translations of the German course as bad as they are for "Using Spanish"? By that I mean, are the translations sometimes so poor that you cannot figure out the meaning of the English because it is so incorrectly expressed?
1 person has voted this message useful



TheElvenLord
Diglot
Senior Member
United Kingdom
Joined 5890 days ago

915 posts - 927 votes 
1 sounds
Speaks: Cornish, English*
Studies: Spanish, French, German
Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin

 
 Message 138 of 278
19 July 2008 at 11:36am | IP Logged 
Can you give us an example please luke.

Thanks

TEL
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Guido
Super Polyglot
Senior Member
ArgentinaRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 6338 days ago

286 posts - 582 votes 
Speaks: Spanish*, French, English, German, Italian, Portuguese, Norwegian, Catalan, Dutch, Swedish, Danish
Studies: Russian, Indonesian, Romanian, Polish, Icelandic

 
 Message 139 of 278
19 July 2008 at 6:12pm | IP Logged 
Look at this... cool, a new "Le russe", 100 lessons (the other have 70) (Click on "What's new": http://wpc3123.amenworld.com/indexuk.jsp?paramIdPartenaire=- 2

[By the way... I still asking myself: When are they going to release "Using russian" or something for English speakers?]

Guido .-

Edited by Guido on 19 July 2008 at 6:16pm

1 person has voted this message useful



luke
Diglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 7015 days ago

3133 posts - 4351 votes 
Speaks: English*, Spanish
Studies: Esperanto, French

 
 Message 140 of 278
19 July 2008 at 6:55pm | IP Logged 
TheElvenLord wrote:
Can you give us an example please luke.


You may start an investigation in the thread Assimil Using Spanish - A Cautionary Note.
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Razekial
Diglot
Newbie
United States
Joined 5830 days ago

13 posts - 15 votes
Speaks: English*, Spanish

 
 Message 141 of 278
19 July 2008 at 7:37pm | IP Logged 
Hey, I had a little question for you guys. I've been using Assimil's German With Ease for a little while now, and it's a little worrying to me that I'd have to learn French to get Using German (I emailed them about it and they told me there were no current plans to create an English Version :( )

Anyway, I enjoy the Assimil program, do you guys think that going to the "Using X" course is necessary or will I be fine with FSI + German with ease?
1 person has voted this message useful



pentatonic
Senior Member
United States
Joined 7057 days ago

221 posts - 245 votes 

 
 Message 142 of 278
20 July 2008 at 2:20pm | IP Logged 
Instructions

Yes, it can be frustrating because they are sometimes woefully unclear. Look at this post by Omnicron which gives the instructions from an old Italian version. They are better than most.

Active Wave

If some people skip the active wave out of frustration then it's a shame because that's one of the most important parts, assuming you want to be able to speak in the language.

You're not expected to get the answer right word for word. If you get the meaning across in a way that you feel is correct then move on. If you botched what you feel is an important structure, or couldn't think of the correct word, then mark the sentence in the book, create a flashcard from whatever you missed, study it over the next few days, and try the sentence again.

Small Post-It notes make great bookmarks that won't fall out. They even make special ones just for that purpose.

One thing that a language learner has to accept is that he is going to make mistakes. Some of them are going to be embarrassing. Just get over it and don't take learning too seriously. Have fun.
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Rollo the Cat
Groupie
United States
Joined 5844 days ago

77 posts - 90 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Italian, Russian, Ancient Greek

 
 Message 143 of 278
20 July 2008 at 4:03pm | IP Logged 
My solution to the active wave is to just use it to write and speak. I go back to the lesson and write a paragraph
describing what happened in the lesson, transforming the phrases, or making up a short story using the words and
phrases from the lesson.
3 persons have voted this message useful



TreoPaul
Senior Member
United States
Joined 6140 days ago

121 posts - 118 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: German

 
 Message 144 of 278
30 July 2008 at 1:47pm | IP Logged 
luke wrote:
TreoPaul wrote:
This has been my dismay with the German language Assimil. Not only are the English translations not literal, I've found errors in English grammar, and more. Once I understand the German, I edit the English to more accurately reflect the German. It helps.

Are the English Translations of the German course as bad as they are for "Using Spanish"? By that I mean, are the translations sometimes so poor that you cannot figure out the meaning of the English because it is so incorrectly expressed?


No, but they are such that I've more than once assumed incorrect meanings of German words. I ended up using a dictionary on my first pass of each lesson to keep from learning incorrect meanings, and then having to re-learn.


1 person has voted this message useful



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