Is there any other program like Assimil? (Language Programs, Books & Tapes) Language Learning Forum

Is there any other program like Assimil?
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BrianDeAlabama
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Message 17 of 30

06 March 2014 at 6:25pm | IP Logged

montmorency wrote:

BrianDeAlabama wrote:

I've been trying to find other programs whose audio was all in
the target language. Is Assimil the only company
that has enough sense to make such a program? I bought some Teach Yourself stuff and
man their audio selection
is extremely lacking compared to Assimil. I don't see how someone could develop an ear
for a language using
their program.

Every week I'm getting more & more persuaded that I will have to tackle French so I can
use Assimil's products to
dabble in many other languages.

What language(s) are you initially seeking to learn by the programs you are looking
for?

Quote:

Is Assimil the only company that has enough sense to make such a program?
[whose audio was all in the target language]

Well, there are pros and cons to this approach.

As you yourself point out, one has to know the base language in which the course is
written for it to make sense to you: French, or some are available in German (e.g.
Danish, which I have); are some also coming out in English now?

Anway, the fact that the audio is all in the target language means that (for a beginner
anyway) there has to be some base language somewhere to make the target language
meaningful for you, and for Assimil, this is a book. So you are switching between
reading and listening/speaking (which is one potential problem), and you are having to
use a base language which you might not be perfect in (which isn't necessarily all bad,
since it gives you practice in that language, but is it as optimal as if the base
language were your native language?).

I can't defend the audio on the TYS courses ... it's pretty disappointing in my recent
experience, but there are some other approaches which are potentially as useful as
Assimil.

Michel Thomas, of course.
Say Something in (Welsh, Dutch, Spanish, Cornish (not much there yet); other languages
hopefully coming.
You Speak German.

All of the above present you with a series of "challenges" in English, which you are
then given chance to produce in the target language, and you then hear a "correct"
version by an expert speaker (native speakers of each gender for SSiW; Native speaker
for listening practice only in YSG).

So for SSi, you hear twice as much native speaker TL as there is English, and there is
no need to switch from reading to listening/speaking; it's 100% audio.

I have a feeling Pimsleur is along similar lines, but I've never used a Pimsleur course
myself, so I don't know for sure.

I'm not knocking Assimil. It's pretty well respected around these parts, and praised by
none other than Professor Arguelles, but on the other hand, I don't think it's a
forgone conclusion that theirs is the best or only approach, and one to be followed by
other course-providers.

I am looking for Thai & Modern Hebrew material. I experimented by buying the TY Complete for Modern Hebrew &
Thai. I may try the FSI stuff for them too.

If the FSI audio (for Thai) is anything like the FSI Lao then it isn't all target language in the beginning. They spend
considerable time helping you learn to read the script which is needful. I didn't make it far enough into the
program to see if it transitioned to all target language. I hope it does.
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Retinend
Triglot
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Message 18 of 30

10 March 2014 at 12:47am | IP Logged

A little-known addition to this bilingual text and audio family of materials is this and
the others (Spanish, German) in the same series. You'll have to do some digging to find
more info. My copy of the french one is at home.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/French-CD-Intensive-Language-Course/ dp/3632988498
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Gemuse
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Message 19 of 30

10 March 2014 at 7:48am | IP Logged

Retinend wrote:

A little-known addition to this bilingual text and audio family of
materials is this and
the others (Spanish, German) in the same series. You'll have to do some digging to find
more info. My copy of the french one is at home.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/French-CD-Intensive-Language-Course/ dp/3632988498

What is the level? A1/A2? One review said it was too basic.
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Retinend
Triglot
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Message 20 of 30

10 March 2014 at 8:35am | IP Logged

I think it'd be a very good addition to Assmil since it's basically the same format. On
it's own, you could work with it extensively enough to get a good beginner's footing, or
you could use it as a supplement and cement your level after finishing an Assimil or
Linguaphone course. But it doesn't have the same breadth and depth and those.
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Gemuse
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Message 21 of 30

10 March 2014 at 1:03pm | IP Logged

Retinend wrote:

I think it'd be a very good addition to Assmil since it's basically
the same format. On
it's own, you could work with it extensively enough to get a good beginner's footing, or
you could use it as a supplement and cement your level after finishing an Assimil or
Linguaphone course. But it doesn't have the same breadth and depth and those.

I'm confused, if it doesnt have the same breadth and depth as Assimil, what would be
the point of doing it AFTER Assimil?

Should one do it before assimil?
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Jeffers
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Message 22 of 30

10 March 2014 at 2:19pm | IP Logged

The Amazon link didn't work for me, but I just searched Amazon for French-CD-Intensive-
Language-Course and found them. These courses have been on sale for £5 at Lidl a couple
of times, and the Amazon price is still pretty low (around £10). What is the audio like?
Is it enjoyable to work on, or is it a chore? Is it all French, or is there a lot of
English instruction?

Also, I didn't see a review that said it was too basic. On the other hand, being a
beginner course, it would be pretty basic. All of the reviews were fairly positive (4 or
5 stars).

Edited by Jeffers on 10 March 2014 at 2:22pm
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Gemuse
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Message 23 of 30

10 March 2014 at 2:40pm | IP Logged

The beginner comment was for the German course :P
The reviewer was disappointed that it was lower than B1.

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Retinend
Triglot
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Message 24 of 30

10 March 2014 at 3:18pm | IP Logged

Gemuse wrote:

Retinend wrote:

I think it'd be a very good addition to Assmil since
it's basically
the same format. On
it's own, you could work with it extensively enough to get a good beginner's footing,
or
you could use it as a supplement and cement your level after finishing an Assimil or
Linguaphone course. But it doesn't have the same breadth and depth and those.

I'm confused, if it doesnt have the same breadth and depth as Assimil, what would be
the point of doing it AFTER Assimil?

Should one do it before assimil?

Now I'm confused. I think it's necessary to work with Assimil until you know it inside
out (with the audio alone, too), and afterwards to study with other such books as well.
For example with German I studied Linguaphone then two generations of Assimil before I
graduated to studying non-learner material.

If the book is good, it'll graduate to challenging material without needing to be split
into different volumes. In the case of Assimil and Linguaphone and this series, this is
the case, so that if you finish an Assimil book you will still find challenging and
fresh material in the others. After you finish one book it's a case of collecting all
the common expressions you don't yet know and reinforcing the ones you do from the
others.

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