Using multiple courses concurrently

[kimmitt]

Hi all

So I'm currently working with Assimil's New French with Ease (about a third of the way through) and doing some of the FSI French course when I can find time (currently working with Unit 7). I'm also keen to work with French in Action (the entire course, not just the videos).

Does anyone think it would be a bad idea to work through these at the same time rather than waiting to finish one before starting the next? Would there be obvious disadvantages, for example, to following a schedule like:

Week 1 - Assimil lessons 50-57
Week 2 - FSI Unit 7
Week 3 - French In Action Lesson 2
Week 4 - Assimil lessons 58-65
etc.

[DaveAgain]

Does anyone think it would be a bad idea to work through these at the same time rather than waiting to finish one before starting the next? Would there be obvious disadvantages, for example, to following a schedule like:

Week 1 - Assimil lessons 50-57
Week 2 - FSI Unit 7
Week 3 - French In Action Lesson 2
Week 4 - Assimil lessons 58-65
etc.

It would take years to finish anything. I think Assimil is ~5 months if you're doing a lesson every day.

[lavengro]

You may find the attached a helpful read in relation to your question (I know many others have found it a very productive read): http://www.language-learners.org/2016/02/07/the-multi-track-approach-to-language-learning-guest-post-by-iguanamon/

From my perspective, your proposal schedule builds in too long of a delay (three weeks) between touching French in Action, and a similar, overly-long period of time between touching FSI. I believe you risk backsliding during the three week off periods, instead of building on momentum and opportunities to refresh what you have learned during the FSI week and the FIA week.

[tractor]

I agree with DaveAgain and lavengro. It will take forever before you finish anything and before you reach more advanced materials. I think it's better to stick to doing one Assimil lesson a day. If you have some time left after the Assimil lesson, then you can do some FIA or FIS as well that day.

[白田龍]

You'd probably want to go faster, like:
Week 1 - Assimil lessons 50-65, FSI Unit 7-8, French In Action Lesson 2-3
etc.

Making it intensive is the key to learn a language in months not years.

Since much of the content of one resource will be repeating what you have already seen in another, you will not need to dwell so much on each lesson.

[Decidida]

I barely maintain my current skills at one hour a day and one course. If I want to make any progress, I need to overlap multiple courses. Some courses are better at introduction and others are better at drill. Some courses specialize in speaking and listening, but I do better starting with text and visual prompts.

I am using a ton of stuff right now, and the more I overlap, the more my learning is jumping ahead exponentially. But I am spending a LOT of time on language study. Most things I use every day and do not take breaks.

I don't learn languages easily, but if I work hard, I do make steady progress. The progress is not steady. I tend to plateau and then jump ahead as the overlapping programs weave together.

Alternating programs would not work for me! When I have very limited time, I stick to two things and plan an hour a day. If I have less than an hour, I just stop studying, because I go backwards anyway at anything less than an hour.

[vegantraveller]

Just stick to one course and go on, otherwise you'll likely to lose momentum and not progress quickly enough.

[PeterMollenburg]

Like many questions on language learning, I don't think it's a straightforward answer, however it seems that for your particular situation not all of my ponderings below will be relevant to you.

1. Where are you in your learning stage (beginner, intermediate, advanced)?
2. How much time do you have on your hands?

Answers-
1. If you are a beginner, I really feel that multiple language courses are a good idea, because in my experience (but not necessarily the experience of others), language courses are best used in the beginning stages of language learning. However, they most certainly can be present even in the advanced stages, but not as your sole method of learning. The general consensus is that by the advanced stages of learning a language, language courses are much less of a necessity than they can be for some learners (myself included) in the beginning stages.

2. However, if you're going to use multiple language courses, you're best to have more time on hand. For example, if you have an hour a day, then sticking to one or two courses I think is idea. One is great for consistent learning, but to break it up you could alternate between two (one one day, the other the next... or one one week, the other the next).

In your OP you're indicating that you don't have that much time. If you have an hour a day, don't spread yourself too thin. If you want to do French in Action, with an hour a day, don't do any other course concurrently is my feeling. If you want to do Assimil and FSI, I think these two can be used on alternating days for best consistency or just one of the courses. If you have two hours a day, sure you could use FIA for an hour a day and the other hour alternate days between Assimil and FSI (or again just one of them for that second hour).

I think the ideal time for one course a day in my personal experience sits at around one hour a day. For FIA you wouldn't want to do less if you're using all the components (video, audio, textbooks, workbooks, studyguide and studyguide audio).

As you improve you should be branching out to other content (books, TV, podcasts) suited to your level. The need for courses should drop off gradually, but perhaps not entirely depending on your learning style and interests. So yes, I think as a beginner go for multiple courses, go for ten at a time, but only if you have 10 hours a day and the stamina to last the distance!

[kelvin921019]

I would stick to one good course (in my case, Assimil Spanish) and digest the course. This is at least my approach.
I would supplement it with extra reading and listening of native materials, and if something is not explained well enough in the course I will google for more explanation or refer to a grammar book.