Completed Assimil French

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siouxchief
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Posts: 77
Joined: Sat May 25, 2019 8:36 am
Location: Ireland
Languages: Learning French
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Re: Completed Assimil French

Postby siouxchief » Thu Feb 27, 2020 10:53 am

Thanks speakeasy for the suggestions and definitely something I will consider. Just seeing this post now due to lack of email notifications!

Anyhow, I am now 10 lessons into Pimsleur 3 and I am enjoying it and taking my time. If I didn't understand fully the lesson on my hour commute going into work I do it again on the way home then move on. I will begin italki lessons next month as fundamentally I want to be able to have basic French conversations in France in August.

I realize that Using French was giving me more and more words but I really felt there was no point knowing 4,000 words if I couldn't construct the most common 2,000 words perfectly. I just felt I needed to slow down on vocab but increase my understanding of grammar and production speed as I feel my listening in a 1 on 1 scenario would be sufficient now (I hope).

Main thing is my motivation is back after it dipping half way through Using French. My advice to people; don't be afraid to mix things up if frustrated because that is better than giving up completely. You aren't a failure for not finishing a course you may just need to try something different as it seems to me at least that language learning takes twists and turns like a maze until you get to the end.

I'm confident that Pimsleur, iTalki and a chance to use the language in France will give me the next boost of motivation to keep this going to an advanced level.
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joecleland
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Posts: 77
Joined: Tue Aug 20, 2019 3:09 am
Location: Saint Petersburg, FL
Languages: English (N), French (A1/A2)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 18#p147718
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Re: Completed Assimil French

Postby joecleland » Thu Feb 27, 2020 11:44 pm

siouxchief wrote:My advice to people; don't be afraid to mix things up if frustrated because that is better than giving up completely. You aren't a failure for not finishing a course you may just need to try something different as it seems to me at least that language learning takes twists and turns like a maze until you get to the end.


I couldn't agree more with this statement. I admit the burn out feeling using Assimil is REAL. I think with your knowledge of vocabulary will be quite useful when you start your plunge onto iTalki. I had to switch to Lingoda to get some native interaction while learning grammar. That McGraw Hill book was putting me to sleep lol. I wish you the best, and feel you will surprise yourself after a month or so with speaking practice with a native.
6 x
    Complete
  • Pimsleur French 1
  • Fluent Forever 625 Word List
  • Assimil NFWE - 77/113 Lessons (68%)
  • iTalki Conversations - 26 Hours

    Currently Using
    Lingoda Level A1 - 100 hours
  • A1.1 - 45/50 Hours Complete (90%)
  • A1.2 - 7/50 Hours Complete (14%)

munyag
Yellow Belt
Posts: 68
Joined: Tue Jul 09, 2019 4:22 pm
Languages: Shona (N), Spanish (Beginner), French (Beginner)
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Re: Completed Assimil French

Postby munyag » Mon Mar 06, 2023 12:24 pm

siouxchief wrote:Thanks speakeasy for the suggestions and definitely something I will consider. Just seeing this post now due to lack of email notifications!

Anyhow, I am now 10 lessons into Pimsleur 3 and I am enjoying it and taking my time. If I didn't understand fully the lesson on my hour commute going into work I do it again on the way home then move on. I will begin italki lessons next month as fundamentally I want to be able to have basic French conversations in France in August.

I realize that Using French was giving me more and more words but I really felt there was no point knowing 4,000 words if I couldn't construct the most common 2,000 words perfectly. I just felt I needed to slow down on vocab but increase my understanding of grammar and production speed as I feel my listening in a 1 on 1 scenario would be sufficient now (I hope).

Main thing is my motivation is back after it dipping half way through Using French. My advice to people; don't be afraid to mix things up if frustrated because that is better than giving up completely. You aren't a failure for not finishing a course you may just need to try something different as it seems to me at least that language learning takes twists and turns like a maze until you get to the end.

I'm confident that Pimsleur, iTalki and a chance to use the language in France will give me the next boost of motivation to keep this going to an advanced level.


Where's your French now 2/3 years down the line? Ever use Lingoda?
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