Assimil Direct Series (mid-1970’s)

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Speakeasy
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Assimil Direct Series (mid-1970’s)

Postby Speakeasy » Wed Jul 17, 2019 9:50 pm

Assimil Direct Series (mid-1970’s)
I am reviving a discussion which took place about eight years ago on the HTLAL. I am doing so because I finally managed to get my hands on a set of very elusive Assimil course books which were published in the mid-1970’s as the “Assimil Direct” series. Locating copies of the course manuals, of which apparently few were published, is complicated by the fact that Assimil chose to use a different set of course titles for each book in the series, the authors of these works were often not those associated with the regular courses, and the listings on the online bookseller’s websites are, in my opinion, not up to the task.

The courses were comprised of two separate course books, for which a total of 6 audio cassettes were available either as packaged sets or for separate purchase. As far as I can tell, the series was limited to the following:

French course from an English base
Book 1: Let’s Learn French
Book 2: ???

English course from both: a French base, and a Spanish base
Book 1: Let’s Start, by Jean-Loup Chérel and Robert-Louis Brownlee
Book 2: Let’s Get Better, by Jean-Loup Chérel and Robert-Louis Brownlee

German course from a French base
Buch 1: Auf Geht’s, , by Jean Peltier*
Buch 2: Es geht weiter, by Jean Peltier
*author of Assimil l’allemand des affaires

Brief Description
The two course manuals were slightly larger than those of the regular Assimil series. Whereas the regular books measured approximately 4 inches x 6-3/4 inches and comprised some 400 pages, those of this separate series measured approximately 5-1/2 inches x 8-1/2 inches, but comprised a total number of pages which was similar to the regular books. The approach to teaching was modelled on Assimil’s standard “sans peine” series; that is, L2 dialogues on the left-hand page, L1 translations on the right-hand page, accompanied by notes. The first book contained a review section every few lessons similar to the regular series. The second book did not contain such a review section. Having more physical space, as implied by the availability of 6 audio cassettes versus the standard 4 cassettes, the “direct” series contained more exercises. Nevertheless, in the typesetting process, the publisher chose to leave a little more blank space than exists in the regular series, thereby rendering this new series somewhat more readable. In my view, the potential of the “Direct” series would have been no different than that of the “Sans Peine” series; that is, somewhere in the A2-B1 range. The image below is drawn at random from my copy of “Assimil Direct Buch 1: Auf Geht’s”.
Assimil Direct (Auf Geht's).JPG

Assimil’s Let’s Learn French - HTLAL - October 2011
http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=29708&PN=42

Audio Recordings
As reported above, 6 audio cassettes were available to accompany the two course books; unfortunately, these are as rare as hen’s teeth. Should anyone happen to have a set of the audio cassettes for the Assimil German course in this series, I would be a very willing buyer!

Comments?
Discussions on the HTLAL indicate that not even a handful of members have used these courses. Perhaps some of the cross-over or newer members of the LLORG are familiar with the “Direct” series and would like to comment.
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Speakeasy
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Re: Assimil Direct Series (mid-1970’s)

Postby Speakeasy » Thu Jul 18, 2019 6:35 pm

As a continuation of the above presentation, I thought that some members might be interested in viewing a lesson from the second book of the German course in this series. The books contain a combined total 84 lessons, the seventh of which is a review of the preceding six lessons. Whereas the contents in the first book resemble closely the format and presentation of those of the Assimil “sans peine” series, those of the second book are more developed.

The image below presents the front covers of the two, hardcover books for the self-instruction of German from a French base.
Assimil Direct allemand.JPG

The following images present the contents of a lesson, drawn at random, from the second book. You will notice that, in comparison to the regular series, the initial dialogue and exercise set appear somewhat longer and more in-depth.
Assimil Es Geht Weiter Leçon 64 a.JPG

Assimil Es Geht Weiter Leçon 64 b.JPG

The lessons contain a set of “drills” for practicing specific elements of the L2 structure. The L1 translations of the drills are presented at the bottom of the pages in a smaller font. In the example below, the left-hand page contains the drills associated with Lesson 64 whereas the right-hand page presents the "solutions" to a preceding set of drills, those of Lesson 62.
Assimil Es Geht Weiter Leçon 64 c.JPG

All of the lessons in the second book reflect these same features. The only negative aspect of this series worth mentioning is that, as for Assimil’s regular series, the accompanying notes (the lesson notes, not the review sections) provide insufficient support.
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AnthonyLauder
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Re: Assimil Direct Series (mid-1970’s)

Postby AnthonyLauder » Fri Jul 19, 2019 7:02 pm

Thank you very much for the overview of this series, which I was unaware of until now.

After a great deal of searching, it seems that the Assimil Direct books teaching English are quite easy to find; those teaching German are hard to find; and those teaching French are close to impossible to find. All of which, of course, makes me want the German and French even more :lol:
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Speakeasy
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Re: Assimil Direct Series (mid-1970’s)

Postby Speakeasy » Fri Jul 19, 2019 7:40 pm

AnthonyLauder wrote: ... All of which, of course, makes me want the German and French even more.
Yes, there are so few copies of “Assimil Direct” course manuals available, and there has been so little discussion of the series on the HTLAL, that I find myself wondering whether or not this series was a “test” on the part of the publisher to see if a somewhat enhanced version of their “sans peine” series had market potential.

There are still a couple of copies of the German books available.

Assimil: Auf Geht’s

https://www.eurobuch.com/buch/isbn/0828890315.html

https://www.amazon.com/Gehts-Allemand-German-French-Speakers/dp/0828890315

Assimil: Es Geht Weiter
The green book cover in the photo depicting the second book is the dust jacket.

[url] https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDe ... 1-_-title3
[/url]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/BUCH-2-ES-GEHT-WEITER/dp/2700500687/ref=sr_1_189?keywords=Es+geht+weiter&qid=1562849303&s=gateway&sr=8-189

https://produto.mercadolivre.com.br/MLB-833005848-livro-es-geht-weiter-buch-2-jean-peltier-_JM
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David1917
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Re: Assimil Direct Series (mid-1970’s)

Postby David1917 » Fri Jul 19, 2019 8:12 pm

Is German from a French base then the language for which Assimil has the most courses?

We have 3 generations of sans peine beginning with A Cherel, 3 generations of perfectionnement, the first branded as "la pratique," and now two additional coursebooks under the direct method moniker.
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Speakeasy
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Re: Assimil Direct Series (mid-1970’s)

Postby Speakeasy » Fri Jul 19, 2019 9:00 pm

@David1917, putting aside workbooks, language guides, and other incidental publications, I would put Assimil’s courses for the self-instruction of German, from a French base, as follows:

Direct series : 1
Sans peine series: 3*
Perfectionnement series: 3
Affaires series : 1
Apprendre / Objectif langues series : 1

*The « Sans peine » series first appeared in 1929. I have copies of the German course, from a French base, dating from 1939 through 1972, all of which have the same dialogues. However, it is possible that a previous edition existed, dating from 1929 and having different dialogues, which would bring the total in this series to 4 generations. Qui sait?

Generations of Assimil - HTLAL - February 2014
http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=37993&PN=3
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