Assimil Review (2 Big Issues I Had)

[@FrenchCoach]

"Assimil with Ease" is the only resource I used to go from French Beginner to Intermediate reading & listening. Good points overall Loïs. One thing I will say is that Assimil, from what I have seen, and what my students have seen, is NOT a the only resource which is going to get you to a good Advanced French level. Bringing in KZbin videos & Netflix tv series and movies is needed in order to prepare ourselves for the genuine "fast", "slang" French that we will no doubt run into when speaking with friends informally.

[@loistalagrand]

Good point. Did you do the book version?

[@FrenchCoach]

@@loistalagrand yeah that's right. you can use the e-book as well - same thing. but the audio is crucial. the book without paying for the audio is not useful. simply because you can't develop listening without it! also, how long have you been doing your KZbin channel for? I just found you :)

[@loistalagrand]

@@FrenchCoach I guess it's been around 5 years

[@alfonsobifulco-of6oc]

Ciao, che bello che impari l'italiano. Con assimil ho imparato lo spagnolo, il portoghese brasiliano e l'inglese Americano utilizzano parallelamente anche altre risorse. Forse la prossima lingua sarà il francese 😂. Saluti ed in bocca al lupo con il tuo italiano ❤

[@TheJediBendu]

Your Anki Core Decks link in your description seems to be down, just FYI

[@SubatomicParticleX]

I love their books but the app is terrible for us who love books and they discontinued the english books... How ridiculous!

[@Gabu_Dono]

Alexander Argüelles, the well known linguist, has a pretty unique and interesting method to use Assimil and other parallel texts that he has used to study many, many languages.

[@belphegor_dev]

I'm going through two Assimils right now: French (in English) and Thai (in French). Great books, especially the French course.

[@loistalagrand]

Thanks for sharing!

[@AdamYLM]

I have used Assimil French with ease. To mediate the vocabulary problem, I would revise last three lessons everyday + one new lesson everday, and this way I didn't have any issues. Other than that, I was not at B2 level when I finished Assimil, more like good A2 level. But I love Assimil, I am about to use it again for Hindi language.

[@loistalagrand]

Thanks for sharing!

[@drserj5222]

I think that the fact that you couldn’t remember japanese vocabulary had place cause (and you noticed that) it’s really far from your mother tongue. We have a tendency to underestimate the main role of our mother tongue. I passed through the french exams delf b2 with success, but it was extremely hard for me cause my native language is Russian. So, if you are an arab don’t be surprised that learning chinese, for example, takes all of your mental power, and at the same moment, you can learn hebrew for one year without any special difficulties.

[@loistalagrand]

It's true, but at the same time, the method matters a lot. I get much better retention with Anki, for example (unsurprisingly).

[@belphegor_dev]

Anki and Assimil go together wonderfully. ​@@loistalagrand

[@christophjasinski4804]

Salut from Switzerland

[@loistalagrand]

Salut !

[@alexBumann]

Be careful because most Italians in Suisse Romande are from the Italian-speaking canton and they speak some Lombardic dialect.

[@loistalagrand]

The people I spoke to (Ticino) spoke pretty standard Italian.

[@alfonsohshk8998]

Assimil plus Anki for the Assimil sentences = success! Voilà ! 😇

[@loistalagrand]

I did this at first, but it took me a ton of time. Also, I didn't have any audio on the flashcards.

[@alfonsohshk8998]

@@loistalagrand 1) ANKI: You can add in the Anki decks the sentences in MP3 format using an audio editing free software called audacity. I just had the sentences corresponding to the revision lessons from Assimil, not all! 2) LISTENING: I also merge together the audio of several lessons as to listen to the audio while at home, bus, when driving, etc. Listening to these audios many times helps identify the sounds as well as mimic the intonation, and memorise words.