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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| daristani Senior Member United States Joined 6930 days ago 752 posts - 1661 votes  Studies: Uzbek | Message 9 of 191 29 June 2007 at 11:27am | IP Logged | ||
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Marc, it's a bit off-topic, but if you're looking for materials to use for Turkish, there's a new textbook published in German by Margaret Ersen-Rasch which seems to be gathering some positive comments by German-speaking users (apart from the PDF answer key, which seems to create problems in some people's computers). In any event, here's a thread about it from a German forum for Turkish-learners:
http://www.tuerkisch-lernen-online.de/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi? sprach=deutsch.lng;board=13;action=display;num=1177487885 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| LilleOSC Senior Member United States lille.theoffside.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6477 days ago 545 posts - 546 votes 4 sounds Speaks: English* Studies: French, Arabic (Written) | Message 10 of 191 29 June 2007 at 11:36am | IP Logged | ||
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| Marc Frisch Heptaglot Senior Member Germany Joined 6451 days ago 1001 posts - 1169 votes Speaks: German*, French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish, Italian Studies: Persian, Tamil | Message 11 of 191 29 June 2007 at 12:54pm | IP Logged | ||
Thank you very much, Daristani! I'll order it right away. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| daristani Senior Member United States Joined 6930 days ago 752 posts - 1661 votes Studies: Uzbek | Message 12 of 191 29 June 2007 at 1:35pm | IP Logged | ||
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Marc, I'm not trying to peddle Mrs. Ersen-Rasch's books, or to break your budget, but if you haven't seen her reference grammar book, "Tuerkische Grammatik fuer Anfaenger und Fortgeschrittene" (299 pages, Max Hueber Verlag, Muenchen), it's truly excellent. There's less linguistic verbiage in it than in "Turkish: A Comprehensive Grammar" by Goksel and Kerslake (which is still a marvelous book), and it's very focused on practical use of the language, particularly in terms of the needs of speakers of German. She goes into a great many fine points, and contrasts similar constructions a lot to show the subtle differences. I can recommend it unreservedly to anyone who speaks German and has a serious interest in Turkish.
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| fanatic Octoglot Senior Member Australia speedmathematics.com Joined 6932 days ago 1152 posts - 1818 votes Speaks: English*, German, French, Afrikaans, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Dutch Studies: Swedish, Norwegian, Polish, Modern Hebrew, Malay, Mandarin, Esperanto | Message 13 of 191 30 June 2007 at 8:57pm | IP Logged | ||
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I would like to add some comments to the discussion.
I have Assimil courses for ten languages. Some are the new With Ease courses but the majority are the old Without Toil programs. Here are some reasons why I like Assimil courses: 1. They are interesting and keep your interest. They are humourous and teach about the culture. 2. They teach grammar through the dialogues and don't put you through boring drills. 3. You don't have to spend more than half an hour a day to learn the language quite well inside six months. The lessons can be broken up into five or ten minute segments. 4. You don't have to worry about memorising vocabulary. You learn the vocabulary without effort by repetition, not mindless repetition. You learn the words in context. 5. The lessons are short and you know exactly how much you need to get through each day. You know where to stop in the textbook. 6. The first phase is passive and you can make very fast progress at this stage because you don't have to master anything, just recognize. I was conversing with Germans after six or eight weeks of passive learning with German Without Toil. I couldn't speak about much but I had a good grasp on the workings of the language and could ask for explanations. I do prefer the old programs but I am quite satisfied with the new Dutch course. (I have a copy of the old Without Toil, French based, and maybe in this case prefer the new. They both have their appeal.) I have both the old and new French courses. There is not much to choose between them but I do prefer the old. I like the fact that it follows the story of an Englishman who arrives in France to improve his French. You feel you get to know him and you learn through his observations. I also like the weekly song that you learn. I have the textbook for Arabic in the old format and here I think a new course could only be an improvement. Maybe that is because I never got past learning the alphabet and I wasn't highly motivated. The courses are certainly valid language programs and much better than many costing much more. I was able to speak fluent German when I arrived in Germany, although I made mistakes and my German had to improve. I did public speaking and teaching in Germany, thanks to Assimil. The same goes for French. I have done public speaking in French thanks to Assimil. My knowledge of Dutch is almost entirely from Assimil but Russian and Polish are mainly from other courses. I disagree with those who say you should begin with Pimsleur before you start learning with Assimil. You can by all means if you wish, but there is no real need to do so. I think the differences of opinion stem from preconditioning to a large extent and also personality types. My children spoke fluent German but did no drills to improve their knowledge. Their method was definitely the Assimil way. They listened to others speaking the language and then spoke it themselves. When I learn a new language I intend to use Assimil, but also supplement it with other books and courses. I still learnt English grammar at school even though I could speak it without many grammatical errors (in the days when English grammar was taught in schools) and I enjoyed it. Assimil teaches me what to say because it sounds right, but the grammar books teach me why it should be said. Edited by fanatic on 30 June 2007 at 9:15pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| fanatic Octoglot Senior Member Australia speedmathematics.com Joined 6932 days ago 1152 posts - 1818 votes Speaks: English*, German, French, Afrikaans, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Dutch Studies: Swedish, Norwegian, Polish, Modern Hebrew, Malay, Mandarin, Esperanto | Message 14 of 191 30 June 2007 at 9:47pm | IP Logged | ||
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A note about how Assimil teaches grammar.
Some members seem to have the idea that Assimil courses don't teach grammar. They do. There are grammar notes in each lesson and each seventh lesson is devoted to grammar and clarifications. At the end of the textbook there are grammar tables teaching cases, verb forms etc. With Assimil you don't memorise tables and conjugations. You use them so they come naturally when you speak. The idea is to give the information so you recognize the forms when you see or hear them. My grasp of grammar has been good from learning with Assimil but, if I want to get more technical, I go to grammars for fuller explanations. I found the grammar taught in my Assimil courses to be adequate for general conversation and for report writing. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Cage Diglot aka a.ardaschira, Athena, Michael Thomas Senior Member United States Joined 6410 days ago 382 posts - 393 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French, Portuguese | Message 15 of 191 01 July 2007 at 12:50pm | IP Logged | ||
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Assimil does well playing a supporting role in the overall language learning program. French is the only one I can really comment about and have found it a valuable addition to my program. It is much more fun than FSI but I don't think it is going to give you speaking automaticity the way FSI will. That requires drills. When I was learning Spanish I did not feel the FSI program was for me but once I disciplined myself to it, it worked well. But no one thing is going to make you truly fluent not even FSI. By fluent I mean being able to express yourself nearly as easily as you can in your native language. In my opinion you need to hit it from different angles including slang sets and practicing with native speakers. You have to have discipline. Edited by Cage on 01 July 2007 at 12:53pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Cage Diglot aka a.ardaschira, Athena, Michael Thomas Senior Member United States Joined 6410 days ago 382 posts - 393 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French, Portuguese | Message 16 of 191 01 July 2007 at 12:58pm | IP Logged | ||
1 person has voted this message useful |
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