Assimil Question

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siouxchief
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Re: Assimil Question

Postby siouxchief » Thu Sep 26, 2019 8:20 am

Thanks Peter, a great insight into your process :)
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siouxchief
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Joined: Sat May 25, 2019 8:36 am
Location: Ireland
Languages: Learning French
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Re: Assimil Question

Postby siouxchief » Mon Sep 30, 2019 11:10 am

A quick question please. I just went over the first 19 lessons (listening to the audio only) before I start lesson 20 to see how far I've come.

I understood them all except the word for birth certificate in one. Part of me wonders though that my mind may be cheating as the lessons are so short that I may have learned the English and my mind knows what's coming next even before hearing the French. I wonder if I was to take the words out of context would I not be able understand some of them....

Should I care at this stage or am I doing ok? Just don't want to cheat myself before going further.

Thanks
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Speakeasy
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Re: Assimil Question

Postby Speakeasy » Mon Sep 30, 2019 12:16 pm

siouxchief wrote: … I wonder if I was to take the words out of context would I not be able understand some of them …
This is quite possible both in our native languages and in our target languages. Nevertheless, as the meaning of words can change according to context, perhaps the best way of retaining them is through repeated exposure in a variety of contexts. This is the power of the spaced repetition technique which was adopted by Paul Pimsleur in the design of his method and which subsequently formed the basis of some language-learning study aids such as Anki. As to your present stage of learning, I would not at all be concerned about having not remembered a word here or there, particularly one such as “birth certificate”; how many times does it pop up in conversation in English? I would submit that “date of birth” pops up more frequently, not in conversation, but in the filling out of profiles. In any event, as you are learning the language of William the Conqueror, you "already know" at least 10,000 French words, you just don’t realize it at this stage. In time, all will be revealed.

siouxchief wrote: … Part of me wonders though that my mind may be cheating as the lessons are so short that I may have learned the English and my mind knows what's coming next even before hearing the French.
Jokingly, our minds are constantly playing tricks on us and, to a large extent, there’s not a lot we can do about it! More seriously, I suspect that our minds make associations based on the contexts in which we learn new words. In addition, I believe that we have a natural tendency towards mental translating, especially during the initial stages and that this can seem to slow our progress or can be otherwise confusing and just darned frustrating. I do not view this as cheating, particularly when relying on packaged language-learning courses. As your vocabulary expands through the practice of dialogues and other techniques, as your exposure to the target language increases via higher-level study materials and native materials, and as you transition to more-or-less full immersion situations, your mind will continue to make new associations without consulting you. Just let it happen.

siouxchief wrote: … Should I care at this stage or am I doing ok? Just don't want to cheat myself before going further. Thanks
I do not wish to appear judgmental but, it seems to me that much of this thread is a search for some degree of reassurance. You’re doing just fine. Keep on truckin’! ;)

EDITED:
Typos, tinkering.
Last edited by Speakeasy on Mon Sep 30, 2019 3:34 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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siouxchief
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Posts: 77
Joined: Sat May 25, 2019 8:36 am
Location: Ireland
Languages: Learning French
x 125

Re: Assimil Question

Postby siouxchief » Mon Sep 30, 2019 12:26 pm

Interesting stuff speakeasy and you're right, reassurance before I spend hours doing something maybe inefficiently is definitely on my mind. Glad I'm not missing a trick so far :)
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