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Using French Assimil | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| vanityx3 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6251 days ago 331 posts - 326 votes  1 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Spanish, Japanese | Message 1 of 6 10 March 2008 at 4:05pm | IP Logged | ||
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Is this a good course? I need some good subjunctive practice and past conditional, pluperfect practice.
I found a torrent for Primsleur 3, but I deleted it from my computer when I looked at the transcript for the very last lesson and they were still teaching really basic French in my opinion. Is Using French a good high intermediate, advanced course? Edited by vanityx3 on 10 March 2008 at 4:07pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| BGreco Senior Member Joined 6183 days ago 211 posts - 222 votes 3 sounds Speaks: English* Studies: French, Spanish | Message 2 of 6 10 March 2008 at 4:23pm | IP Logged | ||
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I just ordered it yesterday. I'll let you know what I think when I get it.
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| Dvergr Newbie United States Joined 5966 days ago 32 posts - 33 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Dutch | Message 3 of 6 10 March 2008 at 4:41pm | IP Logged | ||
There is not a lot in the way of traditional practice in Assmil's courses, but if you like Assimil's approach, you'll like Using French. All the tenses not covered in French with Ease are covered in Using French including the subjunctive and the literary tenses. Some of the lessons are short extracts from Hugo and Balzac, so they pretty much had to include those tenses. Professor Arguelles has this to say: "Once you have a base in a language, Assimil also offers an �advanced� course in the main languages (English, French, German, Spanish, and Italian), and also in Dutch, and also in Swedish (although it is not marketed as such, merely as volume 2). All of these are heartily recommended as most exciting and culturally rich improvement courses!" Personally, I would recommend doing both Assimil courses as preparation for using the listening/reading method with real literature. Someone who can already work with real literature may not need Assimil... Edited by Dvergr on 10 March 2008 at 4:49pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| rob Diglot Senior Member Japan Joined 5955 days ago 287 posts - 288 votes 2 sounds Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, Norwegian, Mandarin | Message 4 of 6 10 March 2008 at 6:33pm | IP Logged | ||
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I have it, and I really like it. I heard somewhere that Using and With Ease together introduce around 5000 words. I'm not entirely sure if this is accurate, but it certainly covers a broad range of topics, and uses all tenses extensively. Further, it's a pleasure to read. It teaches about the regions and dialects of France as well as literature and the history of the language. My favourite lesson was one where they pointed out lots of words which derived from Ancient Greek and Latin. I agree that once you're finished with this you should be able to L-R very effectively.
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| jmlgws Senior Member Canada Joined 6892 days ago 102 posts - 104 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, German, Spanish, Mandarin | Message 5 of 6 10 March 2008 at 7:21pm | IP Logged | ||
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vanityx3,
I'm another person who really likes Using French, however it depends on what you want. Using French (and other Assimil courses) aren't really "grammar practice" courses. The grammatical tenses are there in the notes, but the focus is various conversations and cultural bits (everything from discussing various regions of France to bits of literature). I basically "shadowed" the lessons for a while, and was pleasantly surprised when fully formed phrases started popping up from conversations. I plan to have another go through the book in some detail, there are enough meaty phrases that I'm sure I'll learn more from another pass. Also I really like the cultural bits in the book. However if what you want specifically is practice on certain tenses, as opposed to just interesting material that contains info on the tenses in footnotes, perhaps the FSI French course or something like a Schaum's Outline Series might be better. FSI in particular is free at fsi-language-courses.com, you can search through the PDF to find the appropriate lessons, then download the lessons and drill away. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Dvergr Newbie United States Joined 5966 days ago 32 posts - 33 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Dutch | Message 6 of 6 10 March 2008 at 7:39pm | IP Logged | ||
I agree completely that FSI may be what you want if you are looking for drills on specific tenses. I've used the French, Spanish, and German courses, and they are all superb...if you enjoy language bootcamp.... I did! (But I think a lot of people would be driven mad!) 1 person has voted this message useful |
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