I’m quite fond of Assimil courses, and I use them for French, Spanish, Russian and Dutch. But in one area, they’re very often lacking: instructions. In many of the courses, the instructions amount to: “during the passive wave, just listen to the audio and read the text, and you’ll slowly start to understand; during the active wave, go back and translate from the base language to the target language.” Considering Assimil uses a methodology that is different from most textbooks, the instructions are rather vague, especially for a person who might be studying their first foreign language. There are also “exercise” sentences at the end of each lesson, but it’s never really clearly stated what you’re supposed to do with them; do you not look at the translation, and translate them on your own after doing the lesson? Do you just treat the exercise sentences exactly like the lesson itself, listening, reading, and understanding?
The Dutch with Ease course, unlike the other courses, actually has very detailed instructions:
1. Listen to the text with the book closed. It does not matter if you do not understand what is said. You will gain a general impression of the sounds, hearing the pronunciation without being influenced by the spelling.
2. Listen to the recording a second time while looking at the English translation.
3. Read the Dutch text aloud (with the aid of the phonetic transcription if necessary). Be sure you understand the meaning of each sentence, comparing it with the translation as required.
4. Now read the Dutch text again, but this time without looking at the translation.
5. Listen to the recording twice, once while looking at the English translation, and once while looking at the Dutch text.
6. Listen to the recording again with the book closed. At this point you should understand what is being said.
7. Listen to the recording once more. Stop the machine after each sentence, and try to repeat it aloud.
8. Carefully read the comments several times. Examine the Dutch sentences being explained. These notes are very important.
9. Read the exercises. Repeat each sentence several times. The exercises review material from the current lesson and from preceding lessons. If you have forgotten certain words, consult the English translation.
10. Examine the examples of sentence structure. They show how words and phrases are combined in Dutch, which is not always the same as in English.
Of course, the Assimil courses can be used in many ways – adding the sentences and translations to a flashcard program, shadowing, writing out the lessons, etc. – but it’s nice to see detailed instructions as to how Assimil thinks their courses should be used.
Thank you SO much for sharing the Assimil instructions. I have Assimil for Thai. But instead of struggling through the instructions in French, I study using polyglot Luca’s method.
Note: I love Assimil, but I detest their use of phonetic transcription. I really do believe that a choice should be given, if only to assist in looking up iffy words in the dictionary, creating flashcards, etc.
No problem, Catherine. I’m not familiar with Luca’s method; could you describe it?
As for the phonetic transcriptions, I agree – they’re not particularly helpful. I’ve basically given up on any system that gives me things like “this letter is pronounced like ch in German, but blended with an Arabic glottal stop and a Russian R.” With the internet and modern language courses, it’s far easier to just use something that has a transcript and audio, and learn the pronunciation that way.
Luca’s method is very simple. You listen to the audio files, repeat the phrases out loud, read the text with and without the audio. After you do this for awhile, you translate the phrases into your own language. Then you translate your translations back into the original language.
It’s a bit more difficult for Thai as I’m having to translate back into Thai script. But it does help with my spelling (which is awful in any language).
And since I won’t read transliteration, I took the time to write out the phrases/conversations in Thai script. So my actual reading abilities are also improving. It’s a slow process as I’m not a very good student. But for me, it’s a good way to study.
That sounds somewhat like my modified method of approaching Assimil courses. I’ll read the text and translation, listen to the audio repeatedly, repeat (following the standard Assimil instructions, basically), but then I’ll usually go back and 1) copy the target language stuff by hand and 2) look up all of the new words and make a list with the base forms. I really dislike being shown a word once or twice, and only in a declined / conjugated form.
I may actually start translating back and forth, as that sounds quite helpful. With Assimil, I suffer greatly from the problem of being able to read and listen to a lesson and understand it, but not being able to produce similar language myself.
And finally, why do you say you’re not a very good student?
Luca says that by translating back and forth, you solidify the conversations into your brain. And it’s true. He also stresses translating into your own language first, then back. As Thai oftentimes cannot be directly translated, I find myself taking notes to jogg my memory.
I’m not a good student for several reasons. 1) long stretches of insomnia get in the way. When that happens, it takes awhile to get back to proper studies. And while I can continue to study throughout, my retention level goes to mush. 2) As I’m always playing catchup, I have a lot going on and get easily distracted.
Hmm.. I’m definitely going to try the translating exercise.
Sorry to hear about the insomnia – I don’t suffer from it regularly, but it has struck me a few times, for a number of weeks each time, and it really did me in. As for always playing catchup, having a lot going on, and getting easily distracted… well, I can’t relate with that at all.
Hah! Hey, if you ever feel like sharing workable tips for keeping distractions at bay, please do (you are doing something right, so you are bound to have a trick or two
I’ve tried locking myself in the back room, but my cats just sit outside and howl.
Btw – Luca’s method is on YouTube here >> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6SH2U_rO6c
Part one of two on my site is here >> http://womenlearnthai.com/index.php/part-one-an-easy-way-to-learn-foreign-languages/
Lucan’s method may not be for everyone as it sometimes feels like it’s going slow, but for me, it’s slow but sure…
I use Luca’s method with my Assimil French, but I also use it with my Linguaphone courses and it’s very effective. It takes a bit more effort with Linguaphone because the lessons in Linguaphone are much longer – but it’s well worth the effort.
How long do you need to study a lesson?( an hour, half an hour, 20 minutes,etc.) Is it a lesson per day?
Gabo: The Assimil company generally recommends one new lesson per day, along with reviewing a week’s worth of lessons every 7 days (in other words, when you’re doing every 7th lesson which is a review lesson, you go back and review the 6 before it).
As f0r how long you spend on a lesson, I’ve found that there’s no hard and fast rule for that. With Dutch, I can feel like I have a decent grasp of a lesson in 20-30 minutes – but I’m fairly confident in both English and German. With Russian, it can take me an hour to feel like I have a decent grasp of a lesson, and even then, it will need a lot of reviewing until I feel that I’ve mastered it.
thank you very much!
Thanks for sharing your great idea. I am currently using your method along with shadowing, and translating back and force at the end. Doing all these takes me about 50 mins to an hour, and I review previous lesson after I learn a new one. I think I am addicted in studying. I am currently studying about 5 to 8 hours a day depends what my work/social life schedule is like. I threw away my music playlist, it’s all pimsleur, assimil audio, podcast, radio, and more audio program. I need a language rehab LOL
Hi
I have just got Dutch with Ease (Assimil) delivered. I copied the mp3 for lesson one from the CD on to my iPod (via iTunes). I followed the instructions – listening to the lesson twice but then when I looked at the book, the lesson one is different text. It is not the same as what I had just been listening to. I then checked lesson two, and the recording is not the same as the book.
My first thought was that I had got the wrong book for the recordings on the CD, but then I thought Assimil are a long established company and they are hardly going to send out the wrong book with the CD.
So what am I doing wrong or have I misunderstood how the whole thing works.
Any advice would be much appreciated.
I am dying to start learning Dutch and this has set me back.
Thank you
Hi,
Where did you buy the course from? What’s the ISBN on the packaging? Was it all in one case or were the CDs separate from the book?
Hi Josh
I ordered on the Assimil site and I got a box today containing the book and CD. The ISBN on the book is 978-90-70077-04-4. The CD bar code is 3 135414 904297.
One thing I noticed is that the picture on the book is not the same as the picture on the CD cover – not sure if this makes a difference. I am wondering could there be two versions and I have the wrong book for the CD.
The cardboard cover for the box has an ISBN 978-90-78801-00-9.
Carol,
If you purchased the MP3 CD / book pack directly from Assimil, I would definitely contact them and let them know that something is wrong. I just looked at their site about their Dutch course, and just out of curiosity: what exactly does the CD case say? When I look at the MP3 CD page (here), the cover shown says “Het nieuwe Nederlands zonder moeite.” The nieuwe means “new,” and many Assimil courses which have been updated have that in the title somehow. However, I don’t see a New Dutch with Ease book, just the same old Dutch with Ease. I’m not sure what that means, but if the audio doesn’t match the book, definitely contact them.
Josh
The overall box says “Dutch with Ease” and the MP3 CD just says “Nederlands”. This is the one I ordered (http://www.assimil.com/descriptionProduitDetail.do?paramIdProduit=3036¶mIdMethode=76). I have sent a enquiry to Assimil through their website but haven’t heard back yet.
Hopefully they can sort it out for you. By the way, can you tell if the language being spoken on the CDs is Dutch, or is it something else entirely?
Yes, hopefully. I still haven’t heard from them. It is definitely Dutch on the CD and beginners level.
Assimil apologised and said they would send me the correct CD. I got it today and did my first lesson!! All is good now.
Carol: I’m glad to hear they fixed the problem. Thanks for letting me know!
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Thank you so much for posting this. I found this page after doing a random google search about the best way to use the Assimil course. I’m on my 25th lesson of German with Ease and today was the first day I used the instructions you kindly posted, the difference is amazing! I was struggling to remember exact words before this. I could remember a few complete lines but not committing all of it totally to memory. Now however I can remember all the words and in the right context of the actual dialogue, just like you are supposed to do with the Assimil course. I have to say I am using this in conjunction with Teach Yourself Complete German in order to practice my reading and writing and some additional listening, and I am thoroughly enjoying it. I’ll be ordering French with Ease in the next week or so, and I can’t wait to get started on that. Thanks again. Greetings from England!
Adam,
I’m glad you found the instructions helpful. I wish you the best of luck in your studies!
Thank you for posting this. I am currently working on the Assimil French, and had a question. The book comments that it is important to memorize the genders of words. Should I make a list of nouns from each lesson and memorize their gender(I am still in the passive phase if thet matters)?
Hi Andrew,
Whether you do it now or at a later time, I would make a point of learning the nouns coupled with their genders, yes. A lot of the time with French, you can tell quite clearly what gender a noun is by the article used, or the adjective form, but sometimes it’s harder. With plural nouns, you have less to work with, and sometimes, it simply can’t be seen what gender a noun is when it’s being shown in the plural.
Unless the version you have is different from mine (I have New French with Ease), all of the words used are listed alphabetically in the back of the book, including genders. Using that might be a bit quicker than copying out the words and then looking them up in a standalone dictionary.
Hi.
I’ve heard about Luca’s method before but I have never used it. I am learning Italian using Assimil but I am not sure if the method described in book is effective for me. I would like to use Luca’s method but I don’t know if I should use this 2 phases (passive and active). I mean do I have to use the book with the method described and add Luca’s method element or change it completely into Luca’s method?
Paulina: Sorry for the very late reply; I was out of town for a while. As I understand it, Luca’s method is a stand-alone method, meaning you wouldn’t be doing Assimil’s passive and active waves – you would just be following Luca’s method.
I’m not so sure about Luca’s method. To me it seems like you’re bringing the active wave into the passive wave, and one of the great things about the Assimil method is the division between the waves. The idea is that you work on understanding fully first, and after a decent gap of time return to easier lessons and work on production. I think returning after that gap of time is what makes the course material really stick.
I’ve posted this on How to learn any language as well, but it seems relevant here.