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FIA and Assimil French Comparison | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5175 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 1 of 14 05 August 2013 at 2:46am | IP Logged | |||||
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I have read a number of threads about French in Action and Assimil's New French with Ease. I own NFE and have done Assimil's Spanish with Ease so I understand how the course works and have a pretty good idea of how far it takes you.
I gather from the threads on FIA is that it is an absolutely awesome course. People seem to say that it takes about 5-7 hours per lesson and on a schedule of one hour a day it would take a year to complete. People also say, however, that it only takes to you a low B-1 level. It seems from the threads that 6 months of Assimil 30 minutes a day gets you further than one year of FIA for 60 minutes a day. Is this true? If so, how is it possible if FIA is such an awesome course? 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Elexi Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5365 days ago 938 posts - 1839 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, German, Latin | Message 2 of 14 05 August 2013 at 12:12pm | IP Logged | |||||
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FIA and Assimil NFE do cover roughly the same ground, its just that FIA gives you more
of it - almost like immersion. By that I mean French in Action provides more 'language rich learning' (if that is the right phrase) - you go over the same material more often from different angles - e.g. by learning formal grammar, by examples, by oral and written exercises, by audio, by video and in many difference contexts. In reality, this is also what one has to do with Assimil to get the best out of it. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Sterogyl Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 4167 days ago 152 posts - 263 votes Studies: German*, French, EnglishC2 Studies: Japanese, Norwegian | Message 3 of 14 05 August 2013 at 5:59pm | IP Logged | |||||
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One concentrated hour of French every single day for one whole year and all you get is a low B1? Then you're doing something wrong (or you're from a non-indogermanic background, maybe). And why is the course awesome then?
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| Elexi Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5365 days ago 938 posts - 1839 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, German, Latin | Message 4 of 14 05 August 2013 at 8:45pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Why do you say that? The estimated time to for the average learner to obtain CEFR B1
from The Association of Language Testers of Europe is 350-400 hours - which maps onto 1 concentrated hour per day, give or take a few hours. As has often been discussed here - Assimil, Teach Yourself, etc, all advertise unrealistic grade levels on their courses. I doubt very much that one would not be able to pass CEFR B1 doing Assimil for 30 minutes per day for 6 months unless one was already an established language learner. Edited by Elexi on 05 August 2013 at 8:58pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Sterogyl Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 4167 days ago 152 posts - 263 votes Studies: German*, French, EnglishC2 Studies: Japanese, Norwegian | Message 5 of 14 05 August 2013 at 9:58pm | IP Logged | |||||
For what language, and what's the native language of the so-called 'average learner'? I think this shows very well that the Association's estimation is complete nonsense. Furthermore, are these 350-400 hours classroom hours, is homework/self-study exluded etc.? I just don't think that you only reach a "low B1" when you study one hour in a concentrated fashion for a duration of 12 months, provided you study French and you are a native speaker of English. B1 isn't the highest level, especially a "low B1" is next to nothing. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Elexi Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5365 days ago 938 posts - 1839 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, German, Latin | Message 6 of 14 05 August 2013 at 10:45pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I don't think that FIA is a low-B1, I would estimate it is more in the range of a very
solid upper B1. But I think it is a reasonable estimate to say that it takes the average native English speaker studying French for only 1 hour per day about 1 year to reach a solid B1. I don't even think this is a contentious statement - 360 hours is the time that most French language schools, such as the Institut Francais or the Alliance Francaise, estimate for English speakers to reach DELF B1+. By comparison, Deutsche Welle suggest it takes 400 hours to reach German B1.2 So unless all such bodies are making complete nonsense estimations, the 1 year mark is touted as a pretty universal figure. As I said before, if one is already an established language learner, then one would probably obtain the level with more alacrity, but for most English speakers getting to the point where one could cruise a B1 exam takes that level of time. Especially if only 1 hour per day is dedicated to the task - I think longer studying per day creates a greater synergy, but 1 hour per day is not really much time in terms of language learning. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Sterogyl Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 4167 days ago 152 posts - 263 votes Studies: German*, French, EnglishC2 Studies: Japanese, Norwegian | Message 7 of 14 06 August 2013 at 6:23am | IP Logged | |||||
These estimations must be nonsense, by all means, since the rapidity of language acquisition highly depends on the degree of relationship of your native language and the language to be studied. And according to "them", what exactly signifies one hour of studying? Sitting in a classroom with a teacher and other students? Then their estimations might even be optimistic.
I think most people don't manage to study one whole hour per day on their own, every day, for one whole year and in a concentrated fashion. One hour is already a lot! 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Elexi Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5365 days ago 938 posts - 1839 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, German, Latin | Message 8 of 14 06 August 2013 at 9:41am | IP Logged | |||||
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I think you are probably right on the latter, but for those of us that can do it, it is
never enough. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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