Completed Assimil French

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siouxchief
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Completed Assimil French

Postby siouxchief » Sat Dec 21, 2019 11:40 am

Hey all,

I've just completed Assimil French today which is a great feeling. I'll review it for the rest of the year as I stopped the 2nd wave on lesson 20 but for now I'm enjoying the satisfaction of no further material.

I found it quite challenging especially the last 2 weeks but it's definitely a great system. As I didn't shadow (just don't enjoy it) I feel I may need to go back to work on my output as I felt growing speaking confidence after finishing Pimsleur 2 so might do Pimsleur 3 and book a tutor on iTalki. I go to Provence in July so it would be good to carry out basic conversation with people at that point.

I also have Using French and Business French which I hope to complete but not sure should I do Pimsleur 3 first to mix things up. I realise I could do both via multi track but think I may have less time next year to do both daily and not keen on doing every 2nd day.

Yesterday on Reddit someone pointed to a C1 podcast which I found easy enough to understand which I'm happy about although I realise these things can be subjective.

Any further advice would be welcome?

Thanks
Last edited by siouxchief on Sat Dec 21, 2019 11:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
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PeterMollenburg
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Re: Completed Assimil French

Postby PeterMollenburg » Sat Dec 21, 2019 11:49 am

Well done on completing Assimil French! It's a great feeling to complete a lengthy course like that. And importantly your motivation remains, so keep moving on. My advice, if you felt it a little tough towards the end, take a breather, complete all the Pimsleur French you have and maybe review Assimil French at the same time when you desire- no harm in solidifying your gained skills at this point. Then dive into Using French and see how far you get! There's even a lesson in there that talks about Provence and give's you a taste of the accent down that way.

Oh and on the output note, I'd recommend shadowing all the Assimil content if you haven't been doing so. Perhaps that could be your reviewing if you choose to do so.

Good luck!
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siouxchief
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Re: Completed Assimil French

Postby siouxchief » Sat Dec 21, 2019 11:54 am

Thanks for the advice Peter, much appreciated. Motivation is still there for sure, so much time spent now it would be a shame not to get to a conversational level at least.
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Re: Completed Assimil French

Postby Speakeasy » Sat Dec 21, 2019 12:37 pm

siouxchief, congratulations on your accomplishment! As you are undoubtedly aware, despite a good deal initial enthusiasm, most independent language learners do not have the stamina to finish their courses. While Assimil courses seem quite easy at the beginning, it takes a huge dose of perseverance to get to the end. I agree with PeterMollenburg’s comments. Now then, just a quick comment on your plan for Pimsleur French and Assimil Business French.

When I began studying German, Simon and Schuster had not yet begun publishing Levels IV and V of their Pimsleur programmes. So then, having completed Pimsleur III+, I continued my studies with Assimil and FSI Basic. Some years thereafter, correctly anticipating that studying the newly-released Pimsleur IV and V levels would not expand my L2 vocabulary nor would it enhance my understanding of the L2’s structure, I purchased and completed these levels all the same. Although I was right about the net effect on my linguistic skills in German, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. In addition, having already moved into the Lower-Intermediate level, I was better prepared to appreciate the manner in which the Pimsleur method subtlety introduces and reinforces the L2’s grammar. It was a great experience and I did not at all mind the “lost opportunity” of not having studied more advanced materials. So then, while I encourage you to complete the entire Pimsleur French programme, I suggest that you not expect too much from this phase of your studies other than a bit of a rest and a goodly measure of enjoyment.

As to the Assimil Business French course, the audio recordings can be difficult to come by. Should you have a set of the recordings, then I encourage you to work through this excellent course. If, on the other hand, you cannot locate a set of the audio recordings, I would recommend that you chase down materials having a similar scope but which also include audio recordings. Now then, back in the early 1990’s, there was a surge in the availability of self-instructional “business” language courses which eventually faded. Almost three decades on, virtually all of these courses are out-of-print and, while some the older course manuals are still available (e.g., Assimil Business French), tracking down the audio recordings can resemble the quest for the Holy Grail. Still, as an alternative to Assimil Business French (without the audio recordings), I suggest that you consider Hugo French for Business (with the audio recordings). The approaches to study are not the same; however, the Hugo course is quite solid (although it progresses at a breathtaking pace!). Used copies can be found from time-to-time via the eBayUK website. The “good news” in this story is that the publishers of “business” language courses destined for classroom use have picked up the slack. These are often graded from A2 through C1 and frequently contain 2 hours of audio recordings. You can locate them on the publishers’ websites or via Amazon.FR under the category “Le français des affaires” and similar search criteria.

Once again, congratulations!
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siouxchief
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Re: Completed Assimil French

Postby siouxchief » Sat Dec 21, 2019 1:55 pm

Thanks for the info speakeasy and the congratulations. I did manage to get the Business French recordings downloaded online and came across a relatively cheap version of the book + cassettes (which I discarded) from Amazon France although the package comes from Dublin, Ireland. One remains for anybody interested. (UPDATE someone seems to have bought it)

https://www.amazon.fr/gp/aw/d/B00008CTL ... UTF8&psc=1

Thanks for the Hugo tip too, never heard of that course! Good to know you got some good use out of Pimsleur 4 and 5 too even when you were a bit more advanced as I have them also.
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Klara
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Re: Completed Assimil French

Postby Klara » Sat Dec 21, 2019 7:29 pm

That was me :lol:

Thank you so much for the link and thanks to Speakeasy for the detailed explanation. Then I just couldn't resist to get this treasure at such a bargain ... :!:
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siouxchief
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Re: Completed Assimil French

Postby siouxchief » Sat Dec 21, 2019 9:05 pm

Glad to help Klara, hopefully you're in Europe so postage from Ireland isn't too bad :)
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Klara
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Re: Completed Assimil French

Postby Klara » Mon Dec 23, 2019 8:10 pm

You are welcome - the shipping wasn't too high as I live in Germany. So, 40 euro (shipping included) for Assimil Business French with audio is a real bargain! The only downside is that I have to digitize the tapes, but there are worse things to do. ;)
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siouxchief
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Re: Completed Assimil French

Postby siouxchief » Thu Dec 26, 2019 3:12 pm

I guess since you literally can't buy them anymore and we've bought the book this is allowed. So my advice is if you go to the world's biggest torrent provider and you can download them easily.
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joecleland
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Re: Completed Assimil French

Postby joecleland » Wed Jan 15, 2020 6:48 pm

I am so happy to see you have completed Assimil. Well done. We were almost on the same lesson before I burnt out and you bull rushed by me :shock: lol. I ended up purchasing Assimil Using French as well. I hate having things left unfinished and seeing this post I will have to chip away at these last 30 lessons. Your last 2 weeks comment makes me feel like I need to psych myself up, throw on some loud music and a headband before the lesson jk! I'm eager to see when you start the new material and how your experience is compared to New French with Ease . Like Speakeasy said, I too would probably encourage completing all of Pimsleur 1-5. I find Pimsleur 2 to be really easy right now but solidify the grammar is the biggest takeaway in my opinion. I would imagine you having a similar experience at your current level.
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  • 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%)
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