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Assimil Learning methods | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| The Lorax Newbie United States Joined 6227 days ago 7 posts - 8 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 89 of 96 17 April 2007 at 12:42am | IP Logged | ||
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I have the audio CD's for Assimil Russian but no book... and I believe the book is written in French anyway (which wouldn't help). Does anyone know where I could get an English copy of the book? Is there any transcripts online?
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| fanatic Octoglot Senior Member Australia speedmathematics.com Joined 6941 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 90 of 96 17 April 2007 at 1:48am | IP Logged | ||
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I have an old Russian Without Toil and the English book doesn't match the text of the French version nor the German version. The CDs would definitely be different to the English textbook and may even differ from the French and German versions of the past.
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| Cando Newbie Joined 6219 days ago 12 posts - 12 votes Speaks: English* | Message 91 of 96 24 April 2007 at 5:37pm | IP Logged | ||
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Hi, I was quite shocked to read the negative posts about assimil. Even though I have not yet used the assimil courses, I feel I can comment on them, because I have had extensive exposure to someone who has used them religiously. It is my intention to make assimil the key component of my language studies. My reasons for this are because of the successes my old French teacher, and many others have had with the courses, and it’s the same set of courses he has learnt 12 languages with, hence my strong bias towards them.
He stresses the need for comprehensible input, and assimil seems to fit the bill nicely. Firstly, the courses give you authentic texts in your target language, even if translation errors arise, you can simply use a dictionary, because at the end of the day, if you learn to read the target language texts, and produce them vocally and in writing you’re learning something. All of which can be achieved through the consistent use of assimil. So who am I to comment on such things, when I haven’t even used the course yet? No one, just thought I’d add my thoughts to the topic, thanks. Steve 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Lastminute Diglot Newbie United States Joined 6752 days ago 3 posts - 3 votes Speaks: Yoruba*, English Studies: Spanish | Message 92 of 96 24 April 2007 at 9:32pm | IP Logged | ||
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Cando, does your teacher have his own special method of using Assimil or does he just follow the instructions given in Assimil?
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| Cando Newbie Joined 6219 days ago 12 posts - 12 votes Speaks: English* | Message 93 of 96 25 April 2007 at 11:28am | IP Logged | ||
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Hi Lastminute, when I asked him for the most effective method for assimil use, he stressed that the standard assimil method was inadequate for himself and most other people he taught, and so changed the "rules" a little. The instructions he wrote for me are as follows…
The course is to be split into four different parts. Part one: Pronunciation, working through the pronunciation guide detailed in the course book. Part two: With a good grammar book and dictionary, read each assimil lesson, making sure to take note of new words through the use of a dictionary. With the grammar book, consolidate upon the grammar taught in the assimil lessons. The goal here is to simply learn to read the script, without having the worry of learning listening and speaking skills. Although I have been instructed to say the sentences out loud in my head. Every seventh lesson review the previous six. Part three: I should now have a good knowledge of the language. And it’s time to work on speaking skills, going back to the very beginning, and working my way to the very end, but this time perfecting pronunciation. Reviewing constantly. Part four: The listening phase. Here I’m to go back to the beginning again, and then I am to try to understand, through listening, all the spoken dialogue all the way to the finish. These processes may take some time, but it’s the language I’m after not beating the clock. The method seems highly logical to me, no far-fetched ideas presented, just good old basic methods. Can anyone spot any potential problems with this method? Steve. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Farley Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6887 days ago 681 posts - 739 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English*, GermanB1, French Studies: Spanish | Message 94 of 96 25 April 2007 at 1:25pm | IP Logged | ||
No potential problems, it is just a question of taste – and “getting it”. I devised my own rules for Assimil that are similar: Step 1 is strictly passive, it involves reading and listening to the dialogs just to get the meaning. The emphasis here is on the book, I treat it more like novel or audio book just to satisfy my curiosity and get a feel for the course. Step 2 is when I start tasting the language. Here the emphasis is on the audio. I’m not a fan of editing audio or of MP3 players, so I just pop the CD into a play and keep my finger on the pause button. I take a couple of lessons at a time and echo/shadow line per line until I get the feel of it. I’ll used the pause button frequently to make sure I “get it” line per line. I also start reading thought the notes and start using other grammar books and other tools. This is a day per day, 20-30 minutes a day, deliberate study of the book lesson per lesson. I’ll take the book cover to cover with this method. Step 3 is book only. I’ll take a lesson and read 5-6 line out load, and then immediately back translate them. I also read and back translate the exercises, and do the fill in the blank exercise. Usually I can make use of the hidden moments to knock out 1-2 lessons at a time throughout the day. If the sentences are long or seem awkward, I’ll divide them into smaller phrases and back translate them in segments. When I have the time and inclination, I’ll pick a couple of lessons and create my own dual text translations by breaking the sentences into 3-5 word phrases. This helps to develop an eye for the grammar. Step 4 is back to the CDs. Once I have a good handle on the lessons, I’ll shadow will reading the instructional language. I’m not so much concerned with shadowing the audio as I am with back translating the text with the audio. I hear the audio and read the text and try to anticipate where the story is going. If I get it wrong then I have an instant correction with the audio. The steps can be either sequential or concurrent. Once the book mark makes it to the end of the book I start over again. If I’m having a problem with one of the steps, then I fall back on the previous steps. I also try to dive into authentic sources as soon as possible, and I use Assimil with other courses depending on the language. As far as I’m concerned I’m never done with the course because they are easy to review, so each course remains a work in progress. So far I have 5 Assimil courses as works in progress. Each language and each Assimil course presents its own challenges. It took some experimenting to adapt the course rules to my liking, beyond just listening and reading the lessons. I should add that have I work at each course to getting the meaning and the back translation. Not too hard, because my adaptation is more of a guided imitation rather than a drill based method. I don’t employ an input only method; every step involves a quick line by line test to make sure I’m getting it. If I’m not I’ll supplement with other sources. French, for instance, required using a couple of different courses to get the pronunciation, German required a few Assimil style grammar books. Edited by Farley on 25 April 2007 at 1:29pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Goldoni Diglot Newbie Germany Joined 6254 days ago 9 posts - 12 votes Speaks: German*, English Studies: French, Swedish | Message 95 of 96 28 April 2007 at 3:06am | IP Logged | ||
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I'm obviously in the minority here, but I find that I get most out of Assimil if I play more or less by the rules outlined in the books, namely:
1. Listen to the lesson 2. Read the lesson text 3. Read the translation 4. Read the notes 5. Speak the lesson text aloud 6. Do the excercises 7. Practice daily 8. Don't proceed too fast 9. Repeat regularly 10. Start with the 2nd wave after lesson 49 11. Proceed with the 2nd wave until I reach the very last lesson. Perhaps I'm wrong but I suspect that many people find the method inadequate simply because they are too eager to get to the active phase. Which is a shame because the passive phase takes only a few weeks anyway, and learning a second language is always a lifelong task. Edited by Goldoni on 28 April 2007 at 3:14am 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| tpiz Diglot Groupie United States cvillepayne.blogspot Joined 6159 days ago 77 posts - 79 votes Studies: Portuguese, English*, French Studies: Mandarin, Japanese | Message 96 of 96 03 July 2007 at 2:41pm | IP Logged | ||
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yea, i agree, plus i feel like when I am using Assimil I don't want to go too fast and not learn anything but at the same time I feel like I can get through it quicker than I am so I don't know how fast i should go.
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