|
 |
Mystery over Assimil products | ||
Tags: Assimil | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| evol Triglot Newbie Hong Kong Joined 4115 days ago 28 posts - 39 votes Speaks: Cantonese*, English, Mandarin Studies: French, German, Spanish | Message 1 of 14 27 February 2013 at 12:24pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
|
I wonder if it is a mystery to me only, or to many other people as well, that the
products of Assimil come in force with many generations, and their reprints and different editions, that it is difficult to figure out the product history of the company. Did Assimil have provide any information about it? Or do anyone know anything? It's already not easy to distinguish different generations. I would love to know if I can, at least, get to know what are out there. Thank you in advance. Paco Edited by evol on 27 February 2013 at 12:26pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| lingoleng Senior Member Germany Joined 5083 days ago 605 posts - 1290 votes  | Message 2 of 14 28 February 2013 at 5:45pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
Hello Paco, in most cases there are not more than 3 generations, I think, and the newest one doesn't have anything like "without toil" or "sans peine" in the title, just the name of the language. There is a lot of information about Assimil spread over HTLAL, maybe you can try a google search including "site:http://how-to-learn-any-language.com", then you get results from here only. Or tell us in more detail about the language(s) you are interested in, then it will be easier to give an answer. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| evol Triglot Newbie Hong Kong Joined 4115 days ago 28 posts - 39 votes Speaks: Cantonese*, English, Mandarin Studies: French, German, Spanish | Message 3 of 14 28 February 2013 at 9:49pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
|
Thank you.
I am searching online for Assimil courses on German, French and Spanish. I would like to have the 2nd issued around 1960s-1970s. Or, still not bad, the 3rd around 1980s, as told by Prof. Arguelles in his review video. The professor said that there should be 4 generations, but he did not provide any more info. except vague years of publication. And I found lots of similar things that I can't tell which is which. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| Elexi Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5350 days ago 938 posts - 1839 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, German, Latin | Message 4 of 14 01 March 2013 at 12:44am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
|
He is being slightly misleading on that YouTube video - the 70s editions he is talking about are generally
Francophone-base language courses in languages that received an Assimil edition for the first time. German, Spanish and French, being core languages follow the Without Toil (40s-80s), With Ease (80-2000s) and the Collection sans Peine series (2010s-) progression. 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| evol Triglot Newbie Hong Kong Joined 4115 days ago 28 posts - 39 votes Speaks: Cantonese*, English, Mandarin Studies: French, German, Spanish | Message 5 of 14 01 March 2013 at 9:01am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
|
Is it common that the books are sold without audio online? Whether the books are sold
with audio is seldom stated clearly; I am not sure if it means without audio by default. (Seems to me many people have lost their audio.) If audio does not accompany, is there any chance that an earlier Without Toil book will match a later wT audio? Thanks. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| Juаn Senior Member Colombia Joined 5130 days ago 727 posts - 1830 votes Speaks: Spanish* | Message 6 of 14 01 March 2013 at 3:56pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
If the title is the same (French without Toil, German without Toil, etc.), for the greater part the audio will fit all printings (I'm not certain though about the Russian one). You may encounter small, insignificant discrepancies from time to time, for example when prices are mentioned in the lessons. In the case of the old methods, you'd do best by purchasing the printed book at a used-book store such as AbeBooks.com and look for the audio online for download, as physical copies either in cassette or record format can be difficult to find. In the specific case of the French course, avoid French with Ease and get New French with Ease which is still in-print, as it is the same book with the addition of a dozen or so lessons at the end. This book however is much inferior to the old French without Toil as it completely avoids or limits the presentation of tenses and moods in a misguided attempt at accessibility and mediocrity. My recommendation is to use both concurrently (French without Toil and New French with Ease), one lesson from each every study session. Edited by Juаn on 01 March 2013 at 4:02pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| evol Triglot Newbie Hong Kong Joined 4115 days ago 28 posts - 39 votes Speaks: Cantonese*, English, Mandarin Studies: French, German, Spanish | Message 7 of 14 01 March 2013 at 5:23pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
|
As Elexi have mentioned, there are 3 generations. If I am not wrong, the New French
with Ease is the 3rd, and books titled French with Ease are either of the 2nd or 3rd, where you can;t tell from the titles alone. Is that true? Taking your advice into consideration, for the core of my routine, I think I will get the Without Toil series for all 3 languages. Wish the audio is available somewhere. I imagine my program for each language will look like this: Core: Without Toil (bilingual-type) Also: a)Old TYS-type for grammar b)phrasebook-type published present day Considering the nature and content of Without Toil, I don't think the "out-of-date" issue will be a big problem; instead I will have a high quality course. Besides, an old grammar translation method as supplement of grammar, and a modern phrasebook-type course (like the new TYS series) to raise colloquial ability and to keep me up-to-date. What do you think? Add one more question. Were the courses of Assimil in the old days (say, the era of Without Toil) divided into several levels like nowadays? Are there manuals dedicated to people who have completed Without Toil? Thank you in advance. Edited by evol on 01 March 2013 at 6:40pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| Juаn Senior Member Colombia Joined 5130 days ago 727 posts - 1830 votes Speaks: Spanish* | Message 8 of 14 01 March 2013 at 7:55pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
New French with Ease would be the 3rd generation, French with Ease the 2nd and French without Toil the 1st. In the case of this particular language however, they didn't commission a new book for the 3rd generation but simply added a handful of lessons to the existing 2nd generation book. For most other languages the 2nd and 3rd generation manuals are different.
It is available online, or from various sites such as Ebay from time to time if you're patient and persistent enough, and have the hardware to play either cassettes or records.
Get both the new and old Assimil methods instead of a phrasebook. The old TY French is good too.
With regard to advanced volumes, there were La Pratique de l'espagnol and La Pratique de l'allemand in the 1st generation, which were later replaced by Perfectionnement espagnol and Perfectionnement allemand for the 2nd, but I don't believe they were ever translated into English. For French there is Using French. 2 persons have voted this message useful |
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
