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Assimil vs TY for Latin American Spanish? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| haziz Bilingual Triglot Newbie United States Joined 3651 days ago 28 posts - 37 votes Speaks: Arabic (Written), Arabic (Egyptian)*, English* Studies: Spanish | Message 1 of 6 30 April 2014 at 3:05am | IP Logged | |||||
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I wish to study Latin-American Spanish, particularly as spoken in Costa Rica and Mexico. I am currently working
with both Pimsleur and the "Learning Spanish Like Crazy" discs. I am supplementing those with Madrigal's Magic Key to Spanish. I am intrigued by the high regard people have for the Assimil method on this board and have already ordered both the Assimil book/CD bundle as well as the Teach Yourself Latin-American Spanish bundle which appears to be a recent title. I also have the Living Language Complete Edition Spanish course, the freebie downloadable FSI courses and a couple of books including Easy Spanish Step by Step. Knowing myself, my concern is that I will do the first 3-4 lessons in each and every source I have, and never progress beyond that! I may try to impose some self discipline and focus on one or two resources, though the temptation is strong. Is Assimil suited to Latin American Spanish or is this a significant hurdle? I realize there are some differences between Latin American Spanish and Castillian Spanish, but my understanding is the difference is not huge, for e.g. use of vosotros in in Spain. I am also aware of some of the variation in Latin American Spanish, e.g. the use of vos rather than tu in Costa Rica. How is the new Teach Yourself Latin American Spanish bundle and does it come close to Assimil as a teaching aid? I am attracted by the fact that it is focused on Latin American Spanish and the series overall seems to be fairly well regarded. I am finding LSLC to be a little too fast paced, and a little too informal, for my taste compared to Pimsleur but am willing to use either, or possibly both. I have already purchased these resources and will probably look at them anyway, but any advice or guidance would be appreciated. Any advice, recommendations or suggestions? 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Hungringo Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 3777 days ago 168 posts - 329 votes  Speaks: Hungarian*, English, Spanish Studies: French | Message 2 of 6 30 April 2014 at 11:48am | IP Logged | |||||
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Assimil will serve you well in Latin-America as well. Of course there are some minor differences in accent, pronunciation and vocabulary, but if you speak standard Castilian Spanish you can adjust yourself to these particular differences within a couple of weeks upon arrival.
I think first you should establish your preferred learning method. Watch Prof Arguelles's videos on youtube, he explains this. Typologies of foreign language manuals and student learning styles All the materials you mention are useful, but in the beginning try to concentrate on one. Most people here would start with Assimil, myself being an analytical learner, I would rather do a Hugo or TY course first before moving on to Assimil. Edited by Hungringo on 30 April 2014 at 12:03pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| haziz Bilingual Triglot Newbie United States Joined 3651 days ago 28 posts - 37 votes Speaks: Arabic (Written), Arabic (Egyptian)*, English* Studies: Spanish | Message 3 of 6 30 April 2014 at 1:03pm | IP Logged | |||||
What do you think of the Teach Yourself Spanish course in it's current incarnation, if you have used it? I ordered the Complete Latin American Spanish with Two Audio CDs but have not received it yet. http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Latin-American-Spanish-Audio/ dp/1444192647/ref=sr_1_3? s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1398855505&sr=1-3 It's author is the same person who authored the regular Spanish book bundle so I suspect his style is the same for both. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5164 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 4 of 6 30 April 2014 at 1:45pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Assimil is fine for those who want to learn "Latin American" Spanish. Assimil will never cause a Spanish learner to be mistaken for a Spaniard in Latin America :)
If the learner is at the Assimil level they will have much bigger problems with the language to worry about than the Spain/Latin Spanish distinctions. FSI/Platiquemos would be a great option for you. 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Mutant Groupie United States Joined 3700 days ago 45 posts - 60 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, German | Message 5 of 6 30 April 2014 at 2:36pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I speak Latin American Spanish. I started with Assimil and then moved on to FSI and so far have had no problems being understood by Latin Americans at all. Just remember not to use the vosotros forms when addressing more than one person or you might get a somewhat quizzical look...
EDIT: I forgot to mention, Assimil Spanish With Easehas an appendix in the back of the book that describes Latin American Spanish fairly well. Edited by Mutant on 30 April 2014 at 2:39pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Hungringo Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 3777 days ago 168 posts - 329 votes Speaks: Hungarian*, English, Spanish Studies: French | Message 6 of 6 30 April 2014 at 3:32pm | IP Logged | |||||
I have the author's Castilian TY book, but haven't used it. After skimming through it I would say it is an OK course to start with. As I suggested above look into all these materials you already have or ordered and figure out which learning style suits you the best. Then finish at least one course compeletly before starting another. Myself being an analytical learner who needs to understand everything before memorising, I would follow the following order: 1. Analytical courses, explaining grammar in detail. (TY, Hugo, Colloquial). 2. Figure out yourself through context courses (Assimil, Linguaphone) 3. Drills (FSI, Platiquemos, LSLC). You should use all 3 approaches to succeed, but their order should depend on your own preferences. Don't worry about the differences between Castilian and Latin-American Spanish. Don't think of Spanish as if it was Arabic. In Spanish the differences are much smaller and don't hinder intelligibility (with very few and specific exceptions.) Edited by Hungringo on 30 April 2014 at 3:34pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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