New Assimil Series with online, streaming audio

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ClaireB
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New Assimil Series with online, streaming audio

Postby ClaireB » Wed Jul 26, 2017 9:04 am

Assimil is starting a new series next month, which is supposed to take you to A2 level, with the audio available free online

http://blog.assimil.com/objectif-langues-une-nouvelle-collection-de-methodes/

They are releasing French-based English, German, Spanish and Italian in August, and Icelandic in October (which is great, since Icelandic ressources for french learners are few and far between. A "real" Assimil book for Icelandic would be better, but this is a start).

No mention is made of English-based, or other language-based course at this point, though.

Also, they also released a proper Thai book (with Thai script !) , and a new Modern Greek book last month, but I don't know enough about those languages to judge how good/bad those new courses are.

(I'm not affiliated with Assimil. I'm just a long-time lurker, and thought I would share the news !)
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ilmari
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Re: New Assimil Series with online, streaming audio

Postby ilmari » Fri Aug 25, 2017 3:48 am

The first four books are just out: German, English, Spanish, Italian. You can listen to the whole streaming audio on the Assimil website http://fr.assimil.com/methodes?collection=20&ligne_produit=objectif-langues or directly on SoundCloud https://soundcloud.com/assimil.

I have listened to a few lessons of Spanish and Italian, and my first impression is that these courses are not for complete beginners, but rather for learners wishing to improve their conversational skills. Actually, they seem remarkably similar to traditional Assimil courses, just downsized to 30 lessons, and with a more practical orientation. The first lessons sound even more demanding than the first lessons in the traditional courses.

I am now curious to see the books.
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reineke
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Re: New Assimil Series with online, streaming audio

Postby reineke » Fri Aug 25, 2017 1:51 pm

The Assimil page mentions that the learner can expect to reach the A2 "survival" level .Beginners will not be able to take full advantage of the free audio without the books.

"C’est vraiment la collection d’initiation par excellence, à un prix accessible".

It would appear that the course is aimed at beginners. A complete beginner may feel lost with any type of material.

Last edited by reineke on Fri Aug 25, 2017 2:32 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: New Assimil Series with online, streaming audio

Postby DaveBee » Fri Aug 25, 2017 2:04 pm

ilmari wrote: Actually, they seem remarkably similar to traditional Assimil courses, just downsized to 30 lessons, and with a more practical orientation.
A german publisher, Langenscheidt, offers a line of 'in 30 Days' courses >A2, mostly from a German base, German courses being offered from other languages.
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Speakeasy
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Re: New Assimil Series with online, streaming audio

Postby Speakeasy » Wed Oct 11, 2017 1:11 am

It would appear that the "Assimil apprendre ..." series is now available. For those having a preference for CDs (mp3 format), such editions are currently available, as well. My reading of the Assimil website is that the products are available for shipment. The dates on the Amazon websites suggest that the products have been available for some time, or will be available in 2 days, or will be available in 1 month ...

Assimil apprendre - Assimil.com
http://fr.assimil.com/methodes?collection=20&ligne_produit=objectif-langues

Assimil apprendre - Amazon.fr
https://www.amazon.fr/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_5_12?__mk_fr_FR=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=assimil+apprendre&sprefix=Assimil+appr%2Caps%2C225&crid=3B2DDPUBU21I6

Assimil apprendre - Amazon.co.uk
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Assimil+apprendre+

Assimil apprendre - Amazon.com
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Assimil+apprendre+

Un gros merci à ClaireB !
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Assimil “Apprendre ...” Series

Postby Speakeasy » Thu Dec 07, 2017 5:53 am

Assimil “Apprendre ...” Series
The “Assimil Apprendre ...” series was released earlier this year as a new collection of introductory-level, home-study, language courses. A few weeks ago, I received a copy of “Assimil Apprendre L’Allemand” that I had ordered via the Amazon.fr website and, having examined it and worked through many of the lessons, I am now filing this report.

Languages
The “Assimil Apprendre ...” series is presently available from a French base only. Languages in the series are English, German, Icelandic, Italian, and Spanish. I have not communicated with Assimil about the likelihood of other languages being included this series. I would assume that response from the marketplace will be a determining factor in this publisher’s decision-making process.

Level Attainable: CEFR A2
In the Preface to the course manual, the publisher takes pains to briefly introduce the “Cadre européen commun de reference pour les langues” (CECRL) and the system of classification that the CECRL adopted for evaluating language skills. The series editor also remarks that, while many publishers of home-study language courses make reference to the CEFR levels in their publications, these levels are often assigned a posteriori, whereas the courses themselves might not necessarily have been designed to meet the stated goals and that, in contrast, this new Assimil series was specifically designed to take the student to the CEFR A2 level. While I do not profess to be even remotely initiated in the art of assigning CEFR levels, my familiarity with my own embarrassingly-large collection of graded course manuals, grammars, readers, and testing materials from Klett-Langenscheidt, Hueber, Cornelius, Schubert, as well as numerous other publishers, leads me to believe that a level of CEFR A2 would, indeed, be attainable with this series -- provided that the independent learner applies him/herself diligently.

Materials
The materials include (a) one soft-covered course manual, of approximately 300 pages in length, measuring 5-3/4 inches x 7-3/4 inches, printed in black-and-white with modestly-coloured highlighting, on high-quality, heavy paper, and (b) one CD-ROM containing the accompanying audio recordings in MP3 Format for a duration of approximately 1-1/2 hours. The audio recordings are also freely-available for streaming via the Assimil.com website.

Audio Recordings
The dialogues and exercises are performed by voice-trained, native speakers of the target language, male and female. The speakers’ delivery is warm, lively, clearly articulated, and easily understandable. Surprisingly, the cadence of speech in the dialogues approaches (but does not quite attain) that of conversational speech. Fortunately for the student, the voice tracks that were prepared for the accompanying exercises were recorded at a slower, more easily-understood cadence.

Approach to Teaching
Please refer to the attached scanned images. As is common to numerous introductory-level, self-study, language courses, this new Assimil collection presents the target language through a series dialogues accompanied by a translation, a few simple exercises, and explanatory notes. However, the publisher has made an small, but important, departure from the Assimil Method with which many of us are familiar.

Whereas the dialogues in the “regular” Assimil Method seem to have no relationship one-to-the-other and would be difficult to place within a recognizable scheme, those of this new series follow the pattern of predictable situations that are often portrayed in language guides and phrase books. That is, the 30 lessons are grouped into four broad themes covering Greetings, Daily Life, Leisure Activities, et cetera. The dialogues themselves are more straight-forward than those often encountered in the regular Assimil courses. While the dialogues are well-conceived examples of direct communications, they lack the light humour that some of the regular Assimil dialogues display; also, fewer colloquial expressions are presented.

A first-time independent language-learner’s initial encounter with the dialogues might come as something of a jolt. Fortunately, these are supported by some very basic exercises. To ease the shock, I would suggest that, for each new lesson, one first read through the accompanying notes, then complete the exercises, and finally work through the dialogue.

Putting the dialogues and exercises aside, perhaps the greatest difference between this new series and the regular Assimil courses is the nature of the accompanying course notes. In my experience, the notes accompanying the regular series, while invariably correct, are written in a manner such that they are quite difficult to understand without reference to a grammar of the target language. As a noticeable improvement, the new series’ notes on grammar, culture, and interpretation of individual words or phrases in the dialogues, while concise, are much clearer.

The final page of each lesson presents a list of the newly-presented vocabulary items. A list of answers to the written exercises is placed in an annex to the course manual. A summary of grammar and a glossary are not included.

Overall Appreciation
The new Assimil series is well-conceived. The courses would appeal to independent learners who want a straight-forward presentation of a language through dialogues, supported by clear, concise explanations. The diligent study of the dialogues, exercises, notes, and lists of vocabulary would be sufficient to attaining a CEFR A2 in the target language. As the courses are available in a French base only, I would recommend that only those students possessing an Intermediate level of French attempt them.

The inclusion of Icelandic amongst the target languages covered by this series should generate well-deserved interest amongst Beginners wishing to study this language.

Now for the bad news ... for Assimil, not for you! There must be at least a hundred different, good quality, well-conceived, low-priced, introductory-level, home-study, language courses available for learning English, German, Italian, and Spanish. So, with the exception of the Icelandic course, I find Assimil’s decision to launch yet another variant into a very crowded market place rather perplexing.

IMAGES
Assimil Apprendre L’Allemand, Lesson 2.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
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aravinda
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Re: New Assimil Series with online, streaming audio

Postby aravinda » Sun Aug 05, 2018 2:35 am

New titles
Just a quick update on Assimil’s Objectif Langues series. All the titles below are forthcoming except Learn Spanish which is already available.

English base
Learn Spanish
ISBN-13: 978-2700570984
Learn French*
ISBN-13: 978-2700571059

French base
Apprendre le Wolof
ISBN-13: 978-2700571042
Apprendre l'Arabe
ISBN-13: 978-2700507867
Apprendre le Creole Guadeloupéen
ISBN-13: 978-2700570953
Apprendre le Chinois
ISBN-13: 978-2700570915
Apprendre l’anglais#
ISBN : 9782700570755

Spanish base
Aprender Inglés#
9782700570939

* The entry for this title on Amazon.fr is currently incomplete but this seems to belong in the series. Please check before buying!
# Not currently listed on Amazon.fr but is listed on Assimil website.
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Re: New Assimil Series with online, streaming audio

Postby zenmonkey » Sun Aug 05, 2018 9:33 am

Icelandic is also available in the series (French - Islandais)
ISBN : 9782700570885

Great to see, but I'm a little surprised at the decision to charge more for the rarer languages.
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Re: Assimil “Apprendre ...” Series

Postby jonm » Fri Feb 08, 2019 4:43 am

Speakeasy wrote:The materials include [...] one CD-ROM containing the accompanying audio recordings in MP3 Format for a duration of approximately 1-1/2 hours. The audio recordings are also freely-available for streaming via the Assimil.com website.

Hi Speakeasy, thanks so much for this detailed review! Could I ask, on the CD, is it just one mp3 file per dialogue? I really like how the Sans Peine and Perfectionnement courses include individual mp3 files for each line of dialogue, with the corresponding text in the tags. It's very convenient for making flashcards. But I imagine they're not doing that with this new line of courses?

zenmonkey wrote:Icelandic is also available in the series [...] Great to see, but I'm a little surprised at the decision to charge more for the rarer languages.

Yeah, it looks like the price goes up for Arabic, Wolof, and Guadaloupean Creole, and then again for Icelandic. And some of these only have about half as much audio as the courses for more commonly studied languages (42m for Icelandic and 43m for Wolof, compared to 1h30m). I imagine they're looking for ways to make it cost-effective to offer languages for which there's less demand, but of course the same measures make the course less of a good deal for the customer.

Speakeasy wrote:The dialogues themselves are more straight-forward than those often encountered in the regular Assimil courses. While the dialogues are well-conceived examples of direct communications, they lack the light humour that some of the regular Assimil dialogues display [...]

Now for the bad news ... for Assimil, not for you! There must be at least a hundred different, good quality, well-conceived, low-priced, introductory-level, home-study, language courses available for learning English, German, Italian, and Spanish. So, with the exception of the Icelandic course, I find Assimil’s decision to launch yet another variant into a very crowded market place rather perplexing.

I'm torn on the Icelandic course. I would jump on an Islandais Sans Peine course, and I know forum members have been requesting one for years. The author of this new course gave a presentation at the Reykjavik Polyglot Conference that I watched on YouTube and found quite interesting. I don't doubt that the new courses are solid. But I could imagine getting to the end of the course and feeling like it cut out too early. And it's a pity that at least in the German course, the dialogues aren't as humorous as in the Sans Peine courses. That's a big part of what makes Assimil courses so special.

And with Icelandic, there's already the well-regarded Hippocrene Beginner's course that has a similar format to these new Assimil courses. I'm torn on that one too: It seems like a very solid introduction to the language, but I can imagine feeling like it didn't reach a high enough level (some reviewers have pointed out that it doesn't get to the past tense) and wishing that the dialogues were funnier. Basically, I can imagine thinking that it's quite good but no Assimil, so it feels a little redundant to get an Assimil course but along those very same lines. I just wish there was enough demand to justify Sans Peine courses in the "house style" for less commonly studied languages.

(Though this dialogue from the Icelandic course is titled "Farmhouse under a volcano" and ends with the voice actors doing barnyard noises, so possibly the course does have its quirky or humorous moments.)
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Re: New Assimil Series with online, streaming audio

Postby Speakeasy » Fri Feb 08, 2019 3:52 pm

@jonm, with respect to your question concerning the mp3 audio files which accompany the “Assimil Apprendre l’allemand” course manual, regrettably, they do not include an individual track for each line of dialogue. Rather, the recordings are segmented no lower than two tracks per lesson number, as follows:
- one track per dialogue, with a duration of approximately 1½ to 2 minutes each
- one track per exercise set, with a duration of approximately ½ minute each
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