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The Assimil Experiment: Registration

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99 messages over 13 pages: << Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ... 12 13 Next >>
AnaBee
Newbie
Australia
Joined 4190 days ago

1 posts - 1 votes
Speaks: English*
Studies: German, Spanish, Modern Hebrew

 
 Message 89 of 99
14 November 2012 at 5:18am | IP Logged 
Sorry for the late registration, I wasn't sure how long it would take to receive my Assimil materials. They arrived today! I am very excited to join this experiment. I am new to Assimil.

Course: Russisch ohne Mühe

Estimated Start Date: November 18

Prior experience with this language: Zero beyond picking up "nyet" from movies/TV.

Any outside resources you might use: Possibly online resources to help me with learning the alphabet. Possibly DVDs with Russian soundtracks to provide more exposure to the spoken language.

Why you chose this language: The alphabet has always fascinated me, plus Russia seems like a very interesting place to visit some day. My mother has learned some Russian and is really enthusiastic about it, if I learn too perhaps I can encourage her to keep it up.

Personal Predictions: I want to get through the book, and I will see what that means for my skill level as I have no experience with Assimil. I tend to start things but run out of steam, so I am using this experiment as motivation to stick to it.

Other languages I'll do (in)formally: I'm currently studying Hebrew (via a 2 hour once per week class) and I will keep that up. Classes end mid-December and won't resume until February, though I will revise on my own and with a friend over the break. I am also taking Spanish classes once a week to revive the Spanish I learned at university about 15 years ago. I plan to keep that up too, though probably on my own after this series of classes finishes (also in December). I'm also planning to watch more DVDs in German (but won't be studying German formally for now). I want to get into a routine of studying the three languages (Russian, Hebrew and Spanish) on a daily basis, even if each is only for a short amount of time.
1 person has voted this message useful



reineke
Senior Member
United States
https://learnalangua
Joined 6234 days ago

851 posts - 1008 votes 
Studies: German

 
 Message 90 of 99
14 November 2012 at 5:09pm | IP Logged 
kanewai wrote:
Can Assimil really get you to a B1 in six months, or have you speaking "easily, fluently, and naturally?" How are you even supposed to use it? What are the best and worst courses? Does it even work???

HTLAL is about to answer (or try to answer) these questions, and more!

The Assimil Experiment will be a group effort, starting in November, where HTLAL members will work their way through an Assimil course in a new language, and report back their findings.   

It's not a challenge, and there are no rules per se; however, the more in-synch we are, the more useful the results will be. There is a Planning Thread with a discussion on how to run the experiment. The consensus is to use the following guidelines:

1. Start anytime in November,
   Estimated finish time: four to six months

2. Be a beginner in the language.
   (ideally, no experience; maximum less than 100 hours study, or low A2)

3. Follow the Assimil "method" of a passive wave followed by an active wave
   (there are numerous interpretations of this; see the Planning Thread for ideas)

4. Don't use outside courses!
   (Exceptions have been proposed for Anki, writing courses for non-Western scripts, and reference books)

5. Log back here regularly!
   I'll open an Assimil Experiment Group Log November 1



I'd avoid experimenting with a language that's related to anything I know. I'd move the end time to next summer to give people more time to join. I'd also reassess next November - December to see how much has actually stuck.
1 person has voted this message useful



Kerrie
Senior Member
United States
justpaste.it/Kerrie2
Joined 5182 days ago

1232 posts - 1740 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Spanish

 
 Message 91 of 99
14 November 2012 at 7:50pm | IP Logged 

Kerrie wrote:
Hrm. Must I choose only one?

Course:: Le Portugais du Brésil
Course:: Le Croate
Course:: Le Turc Sans Peine


Well, maybe I should have just chosen one, since I'm trying to focus on the book portion of the Super Challenge for Spanish now, too.

I am currently working through two lessons a day for Portuguese, finishing up Italian with Ease, and working through Le Croate, but I am going to hold off on Turkish until the beginning of the year. There are going to be too many breaks in the next six to eight weeks to keep the momentum of "every day" going, and I think a solid commitment to that will be important. More important for Turkish (for me) than for my Romance languages. I was really impressed (for the 9 days I kept up) on how much I was remembering and starting to really understand in such a short period of time.

So technically, the Portuguese is not going to "fit" within the parameters of the experiment, Italian had already been started earlier in the year, and Turkish is on hold until January. So I will pick Croatian.


reineke wrote:
I'd move the end time to next summer to give people more time to join. I'd also reassess next November - December to see how much has actually stuck.


I think this is a good idea. With the holidays (American Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years) all hitting within six weeks time, I know there will be two or three occasions where I'll be out of town for 2-3 days each.

Also, it seems like there are a lot of people who are just starting to get their materials and stuff. I think it would be a good idea to open it up for people to start through January. It will give us more of a spread, but there will already be a spread, with some courses only having 70 lessons or so, and some having 100+.

1 person has voted this message useful



gnomad
Diglot
Newbie
United Kingdom
Joined 6233 days ago

1 posts - 1 votes
Speaks: English*, French
Studies: Arabic (Written), Portuguese, Turkish

 
 Message 92 of 99
16 November 2012 at 9:01am | IP Logged 
Course: Le turc sans peine

Estimated Start Date: November 16

Prior experience with this language: A few words picked up on a trip to Turkey.

Any outside resources you might use: None     

Why you chose this language: It's on the master list, and it's different enough from
French which I'm trying to bring up to Advanced level.

Personal Predictions: I accept that my reading could reach B1, but have no experience
of Assimil with speaking.


Thanks for arranging the challenge, I am excited.
1 person has voted this message useful



FinnC
Newbie
United Kingdom
Joined 4226 days ago

11 posts - 13 votes
Speaks: English*
Studies: Japanese

 
 Message 93 of 99
17 November 2012 at 4:28am | IP Logged 
Serpent wrote:
That's not my challenge, but in my opinion you totally can:) After
all, you've been mostly taking classes. 150h of mostly independent study would've been
too much imo.


I think I'll go for it then :) I agree though - 150h of classwork moved incredibly
slowly, compared with the progress I got from 50h of independent study of Japanese over
the summer.

Course: Russian with Ease (2011 Edition)

Estimated Start Date: 17th of November

Prior experience with this language: I've spent a year studying Russian at university,
but concentrated on studying Japanese instead at the time, as I'm spending this year in
Japan. Since getting to Japan, I've forgotten all but a few tens of words of
vocabulary, and the placement test test/">here puts me at barely passing A1 level.

Any outside resources you might use: The Russian dub of 'Avatar: The Last Airbender'
(I've gotten into the habit of watching it in Russian, then French, then English), and
Kemple's 'Essential Russian Grammar' as a reference in case I want to clarify my memory
of a grammar point, although I doubt I'll use it often.

Why you chose this language: I'm studying for a degree in Japanese and Russian, and
while I'm on my year abroad in Japan, I need to keep my Russian up without imposing on
my Japanese.

Personal Predictions: I'm certain that I won't reach B1 level in speaking, but
I'm optimistic that I might scrape B1 in terms of comprehension skills. Speaking is
always my weakest skill, and as I won't be actively practising it with someone else
until the summer, I can see it being a struggle.
2 persons have voted this message useful



Gerardparks
Diglot
Newbie
United States
Joined 4176 days ago

7 posts - 8 votes
Speaks: Cantonese, English*
Studies: Mandarin, French

 
 Message 94 of 99
18 November 2012 at 9:58pm | IP Logged 
Course: New French With Ease

Estimated Start Date: November 15, 2012

Prior experience with this language: I know a few phrases like "What is your name?" or "How are you?" I also tried taking a Living Language course but I gave up on it because I felt it was not working for me.

Any outside resources you might use: None.

Why you chose this language: I like the way the language sounds. I also have a friend who knows French and I want to try talking to her in French one day.

Personal Predictions: I hope to finish the book in about 4 months (about 1 lesson a day) and I hope to be at least the B1 or B2 level by then.
1 person has voted this message useful



jingwumaster
Newbie
United States
Joined 4457 days ago

33 posts - 46 votes
Speaks: English*

 
 Message 95 of 99
22 December 2012 at 7:53am | IP Logged 
Course: Spanish With Ease
Estimated start date: December 24th, 2012

Prior experience: I've imitated Spanish, casually, for a couple years, but never actually studied it. I was determined to learn the Spanish r's before ever starting Spanish, and so I did. Besides that, I might can recall a few words, like tomorrow, dog, cat, etc but nothing more. Also I am monolingual, so this will be my first time trying to learn a language instead of simply reading about them.

Outside resources: Probably none, but that really depends on how fast I improve. If, half way through, I feel I am ready to start attacking magazines and or novels then I will. Besides that I might get more passive exposure like listening to a Spanish radio stations or try to get the gist of a Spanish movie or t.v. series every so often.

Why Spanish? Spanish is my practical language, I want to be able to communicate with the many Spanish speakers in my country, and when I get good enough, even help them with English or with adult education for immigrants.

Predictions: I would like to complete Assimil, confidently, in approximately six months with, hopefully, B level skill or at least very close to it.

To everyone, enjoy the experiment.

p.s.

I chose Spanish for more practical reasons for this particular experiment, but the languages and cultures that I have found fascinating for many years are Mandarin and Japanese. I love how these languages sound and look. The histories of China and Japan are also quite rich. Lately, I have also been drawn by the look and sound of Arabic and Russian.
1 person has voted this message useful



kanewai
Triglot
Senior Member
United States
justpaste.it/kanewai
Joined 4676 days ago

1386 posts - 3054 votes 
Speaks: English*, French, Marshallese
Studies: Italian, Spanish

 
 Message 96 of 99
22 December 2012 at 9:29pm | IP Logged 
It looks like we're all definitely looking at a longer end date. I think it might work
better to have a more natural beginning and end. i.e.: the experiment will end when the
last people finish!

tired to edit the first page, but can't anymore ... can any mods help?


1 person has voted this message useful



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