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German without Toil | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| sundog66 Tetraglot Newbie United States Joined 5020 days ago 6 posts - 8 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Mandarin, Esperanto Studies: Russian | Message 1 of 11 17 April 2011 at 1:11am | IP Logged |
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I recently acquired an old "German without toil" Assimil course (author A. Cherel, 126 lessons, 408 pp., p. IV says (c)
1957). I was wondering if anybody could tell me how this course stacks up against other Assimil German courses in newer editions and/or editions with French or something else as the teaching language. I know for example that in Professor Arguelles's opinion, the average quality of Assimil courses peaked in the 70s or so. So, is it worth looking for another version, or can I go ahead and invest time in using this one with the assurance that this is quality material? 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| MichaelM204351 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5454 days ago 151 posts - 173 votes  Speaks: English*, Biblical Hebrew Studies: Modern Hebrew, German, Spanish | Message 2 of 11 17 April 2011 at 1:19am | IP Logged |
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I own both the new "with ease" version and the 50's "without toil" version. I love both,
but in my opinion, the without toil one is better. Honestly, though, virtually all Assimil products are great and worth investing time into. I took 4 semesters of University German and did very well in them. Then I decided to start working through Assimil simply as practice. However, by the 20th lesson I was already learning material that I had never covered in two years of college German! I say go for it! :o) 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Doitsujin Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 5330 days ago 1256 posts - 2363 votes Speaks: German*, English | Message 3 of 11 17 April 2011 at 2:25am | IP Logged |
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Being German, I'm obviously not familiar with either book, but if you decide to use it, you may want to familiarize yourself with the basics of the German orthography reform of 1996, in particular the spelling of ss/ß.
3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| fanatic Octoglot Senior Member Australia speedmathematics.com Joined 7156 days ago 1152 posts - 1818 votes Speaks: English*, German, French, Afrikaans, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Dutch Studies: Swedish, Norwegian, Polish, Modern Hebrew, Malay, Mandarin, Esperanto | Message 4 of 11 17 April 2011 at 4:30am | IP Logged |
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I used Assimil German Without Toil to learn German with absolutely no previous knowledge of the language.
In a couple of months I was holding simple conversations with German friends and in six months I was speaking well. I made mistakes and I had to rephrase things I wanted to say so I could be understood but I was able to ask for explanations for what I didn't understand. I was reading fluently in German and I got a job in Germany translating technical texts from English to German. I was soon doing public speaking and studying digital electronics in German. I enjoyed working with Assimil and appreciated they had each day's lesson worked out for me. Towards the end I took two days to complete a lesson. I wondered since if I had misunderstood the passive lesson principle and that I should have gone on to the next lesson but, on reflection, I think I was right. I have no hesitation in recommending German Without Toil. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| tractor Tetraglot Senior Member Norway Joined 5463 days ago 1349 posts - 2292 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, English, Spanish, Catalan Studies: French, German, Latin | Message 5 of 11 17 April 2011 at 9:38am | IP Logged |
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I have used both. Both are worth getting, but German without Toil is the best: more lessons, more vocabulary,
more grammar, more fun. German with Ease suffers from a sloppy adaptation from the French original. There are translation errors and errors in the exercises. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Elexi Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5575 days ago 938 posts - 1840 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, German, Latin | Message 6 of 11 17 April 2011 at 12:30pm | IP Logged |
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I agree with Tractor exactly. Both are worth doing.
I should add that quite alot of Without Toil uses language which is now very formal or outdated, but it is better when compared to the language in equivalent courses such as the Cortina 20 Lessons or the 50-60s Linguaphone course. BTW when Professor Arguelles says on his video that Assimil courses peaked in the 70s it seems to me that he is referring to French language editions rather than English language ones (he is thumbing through a French langugage edition). As far as I can tell Assimil have produced two 'series' in English - the 50s and 60s Without Toils and the mid 1980s-2000s 'With Ease' revisions of their line. I have 70s (even 1981) editions of French, German, Spanish, Italian and Dutch Assimils 'Without Toil' (in English format) and they are the same as the 50s version except for different cartoons and money value changes. 4 persons have voted this message useful | |
| sundog66 Tetraglot Newbie United States Joined 5020 days ago 6 posts - 8 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Mandarin, Esperanto Studies: Russian | Message 7 of 11 18 April 2011 at 2:48am | IP Logged |
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Thanks everyone for the reassuring replies! I look forward to using German Without Toil.
1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Welltravelled Diglot Groupie United Kingdom Joined 5872 days ago 46 posts - 72 votes Speaks: English*, French | Message 8 of 11 18 April 2011 at 11:57am | IP Logged |
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So given what people have said here, would it make sense to use Assimil German with Ease
and then afterwards go on to Assimil German without Toil? Would that make sense? I mean, the content inside would not be more or less the same would it? The dialogues would be fairly different for each book wouldn't they? Plus, the German without Toil would teach somewhat more advanced / more complex German wouldn't it? Please let me know, cos I'm raring to go! 1 person has voted this message useful |
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