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Teach Yourself Series vs. Colloquials | ||
Tags: Colloquial (program) | Teach Yourself | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| brumblebee Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6588 days ago 206 posts - 212 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Portuguese | Message 1 of 22 04 June 2006 at 10:42pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I'm trying to decide which one I should order and there aren't any ways that I can look at the products before I order them. Can anyone state their opinions on them? (I can only buy one).
-brumblebee Edited by brumblebee on 04 June 2006 at 10:42pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| andee Tetraglot Senior Member Japan Joined 6890 days ago 681 posts - 724 votes 3 sounds Speaks: English*, German, Korean, French | Message 2 of 22 04 June 2006 at 10:52pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I typically prefer the TY series over the Colloquial - I can't say why though. It's something pure personal and nothing objective.
Also, I don't know if this is the case in USA.. but in Australia it's basically the same price to order Assimil as it is to get a TY or Colloquial course. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Frisco Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6669 days ago 380 posts - 398 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Norwegian, Italian, Turkish, Mandarin | Message 3 of 22 04 June 2006 at 11:01pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I haven't tried anything from the Colloquial series yet, but I like Teach Yourself. In your average TY course, there are about 15-25 chapters. Each chapter has a dialogue or two, vocabulary list, grammatical explanations, a blurb about culture, then some exercises. The audio content has been getting better with the latest releases (more audio and clearer sound). Some people (mostly those who have been spoiled by Assimil) still get a little annoyed that there are English voices on the CDs, but you can cut them out with some free software programs if you convert the CDs into MP3s.
Some of the vocabulary items can be a bit questionable at times (as in uncommon and not particularly important), but for the price, TY offers a pretty decent foundation. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Chung Diglot Senior Member Joined 6969 days ago 4228 posts - 8259 votes 20 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Polish, Slovak, Uzbek, Turkish, Korean, Finnish | Message 4 of 22 04 June 2006 at 11:04pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I prefer "Colloquial" series over "Teach Yourself". The "Colloquial" series are usually organized a little better for me than the "Teach Yourself" series. But I agree with andee. They're both similar and sometimes it comes down to a matter of personal preference. There is something intangible that often appeals to me more from the "Colloquial" series than the "Teach Yourself" series.
The only course so far from the "Colloquial" series that I would reject in favour of a course from the "Teach Yourself" series is the pair for Croatian. "Colloquial Croatian" is quite crummy and full of gaps. "Teach Yourself Croatian" is much better in comparison. If it helps, go to Amazon.com or Amazon.ca or Amazon.co.uk and do a search on a particular course from "Teach Yourself" and "Colloquial". You can sometimes get some handy opinions from other buyers/users of the kits. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Frisco Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6669 days ago 380 posts - 398 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Norwegian, Italian, Turkish, Mandarin | Message 5 of 22 04 June 2006 at 11:12pm | IP Logged | |||||
Really? Looking at the Assimil website, the average "With Ease" course is almost US$90. You can get Teach Yourself courses for under US$20 and Colloquial for about US$35. Where do you order your Assimil courses? 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| andee Tetraglot Senior Member Japan Joined 6890 days ago 681 posts - 724 votes 3 sounds Speaks: English*, German, Korean, French | Message 6 of 22 04 June 2006 at 11:39pm | IP Logged | |||||
Hah, that's cheap! We're lucky to find them on eBay for that price. I have ordered Assimil from their website and it worked out at around about the US$90 delivered to my door. The TY and Colloquial series are available at most local bookstores where I live, but we would normally be paying about US$70-80 anyway. Edited by andee on 04 June 2006 at 11:40pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| AML Senior Member United States Joined 6638 days ago 323 posts - 426 votes 2 sounds Speaks: English* Studies: Modern Hebrew, German, Spanish | Message 7 of 22 05 June 2006 at 2:29am | IP Logged | |||||
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I like Colloquial Hebrew a lot. TY are really good, too for most languages. I
think you're safe going with either one. Just read the amazon reviews and check out the free table of contents. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| brumblebee Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6588 days ago 206 posts - 212 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Portuguese | Message 8 of 22 05 June 2006 at 6:34am | IP Logged | |||||
Most of them at Borders are priced at around US $27. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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