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Assimil versus US language programs | ||
Tags: Learner type | Platiquemos | Pimsleur | Reading | Language Program | FSI | Assimil | Accent | Book | Grammar | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| tuffy Triglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 6846 days ago 1394 posts - 1412 votes  Speaks: Dutch*, English, German Studies: Spanish | Message 105 of 184 08 February 2006 at 6:37am | IP Logged | ||
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That is impressive indeed, much more than Pimsleur :)
How long do/did you study each day with Assimil? And in blocks or all at once? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Farley Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6904 days ago 681 posts - 739 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English*, GermanB1, French Studies: Spanish | Message 106 of 184 08 February 2006 at 8:43am | IP Logged | ||
I have found New French with Ease also has about 20-30 new words per lesson at 16 weeks for a total of 2000+ words.
My father’s French with Ease published in the 60’s compared learning a language to learning a song. They compared times when you can remember verses of a song you have heard -- but you can’t remember when and where you heard it. If you hear a new song today you would be able to remember it a few minutes later, but would forget it by tomorrow. But if you listen to the new song a few days in a row you would start to know it by heart. The 1960’s edition gave this advice to using Assimil. Start each lesson with a review of the last 4 lessons. On the passive wave 1 Read and Listen 2 Read each line -- out loud 3 Repeat each line from memory -- out loud (this step is more difficult and helps more than you would think) On the active wave Repeat steps 1-3 and 4 Recreate each line from English (or the base language) The way I use Assimil is to simply do step 1 on the passive wave and steps 2-4 on the active. I usually divide Assimil into blocks of 1-2 weeks of lessons and repeat then over a period of a week and then move on. This method supports interruptions better. Most days I study only 20 minutes a day, some days over an hour some days none at all. My only complaint with Assimil French is that I find it extremely difficult to pronounce. Without a listen and repeat exercises for each lesson, I find that I have to listen to a lesson -- on and off -- for about a month before I can begin to pronounce it correctly. Once I have the sound mastered I can complete a weeks worth of lessons active style in less than an hour. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| frenkeld Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6755 days ago 2042 posts - 2719 votes Speaks: Russian*, English Studies: German | Message 107 of 184 08 February 2006 at 10:21am | IP Logged | ||
In terms of currently available products from Assimil, in whatever base language, would the "Italian with Ease" course alone take you to 2500 words, or only when combined with the advanced course? If the former, where would both halves of the course take one in terms of vocabulary? Also, on the method itself. Just from the discussion and the description of the method, I am under the impression that Assimil versus Pimsleur/FSI may well boil down to whether we are talking about a language learning novice or someone who already has a few languages under the belt. I am not sure someone on his or her first or even second foreign language can really tear through Assimil at the pace you suggest, so the 2500 words will take a good deal longer to absorb, and quite possibly the first 700 or so will not be absorbed any faster, and not necessarily better, than with a Pimsleur course. At the same time, for a sufficiently experienced learner Pimsleur's pace must be well-nigh unbearable, unless there are special places to use it, like a treadmill, while driving, etc., and (s)he would want to use another, more intensive, approach outside those special places. Edited by frenkeld on 08 February 2006 at 12:04pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Kveldulv Senior Member Italy Joined 6765 days ago 222 posts - 244 votes 1 sounds Speaks: Italian* | Message 108 of 184 08 February 2006 at 1:02pm | IP Logged | ||
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Yesterday I gave a look to Assimil Finnois sans peine and it seems it teaches you less than 1500 words. I won't probably study Finnish until I'm fluent in some other language, but I wonder if there are other languages so "discriminated".
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Al-Malik Bilingual Heptaglot Senior Member United Kingdom arabicgenie.com Joined 6946 days ago 221 posts - 294 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English*, German*, Spanish, Arabic (Written), Dutch, French, Arabic (classical) Studies: Mandarin, Persian | Message 109 of 184 08 February 2006 at 1:06pm | IP Logged | ||
It seems to me that Arabe sans peine only teaches you as many words as other Assimil courses if you purchase tome 2 as well. Maybe the same is true for other "difficult" languages such as Chinese? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| braveb Senior Member United States languageprograms.blo Joined 7009 days ago 264 posts - 263 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, French | Message 110 of 184 08 February 2006 at 2:41pm | IP Logged | ||
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I think the harder languages would have to present fewer lessons. I pretty much gave up on the english version of Arabic with ease. I'll come back to it someday :)
How many of you create flashcards for every new lesson you do? I plan on doing this for Hebreu sans peine mainly because of the many words I have to look up in a Hebrew dictionary. My French isn't advanced enough to read the grammar notes and such. Isn't this what Barry Farber suggested: Once the "core vocab" is learned, and if the target article isn't too advanced, just go through each word and use the dictionary to find out the unknowns? Funny thing is that I seem to remember the words better when having to look them up rather than just glancing on the other page for the definition. The only problem is finding audiobooks in Hebrew. I can find plenty of modern novels, but no audiobooks. I think the closest thing would be just watching a film with subtitles. Edited by braveb on 08 February 2006 at 2:43pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| tuffy Triglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 6846 days ago 1394 posts - 1412 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, German Studies: Spanish | Message 111 of 184 08 February 2006 at 2:49pm | IP Logged | ||
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Thanks for the great tips!
I have saved it all to a word document so I can re-read it when I start with the courses. Appart from whether I'm going to do Assimil or FSI first, what do you recommend? In 2 weeks time I will finish Pimsleur 3. I know there are some words and forms I have forgotten a little. Should I spend 1 or 2 weeks on a quick refresh course Pimsleur? Or should I pick up one of the big courses next. I gues for a QUICKER result (and that is what I need) I'd better forget about Pimsleur then for a while right? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| robpom Newbie United States Joined 6728 days ago 9 posts - 9 votes Studies: English | Message 112 of 184 08 February 2006 at 3:01pm | IP Logged | ||
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Can someone tell me the difference between these two (except for the price)
http://www.multilingualbooks.com/assimeng.html and http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/2700510704/sr=1-1/qid=11394 31760/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-2740980-9319263?%5Fencoding=UTF8 1 person has voted this message useful |
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