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After many attempts to learn different languages (Spanish, Arabic, German, Bengali) and having mixed results over the years, I started using Assimil courses and

After many attempts to learn different languages (Spanish, Arabic, German, Bengali) and having mixed results over the years, I started using Assimil courses and I’ve been very pleased with them. Going through Assimil French along with some comprehensible input on YouTube and I got to a high B1 reading/listening in 3-4 months. After that you can jump into tutoring on italki/Preply for speaking and then find other native content that interests you. I just wish I had found Assimil courses years ago.

mettamage 2y ago
What helped so much with them that other attempts/methods lacked?
- mtalantikite 2y ago
  I find having the parallel text (one page target language, the other your source language) to be extremely helpful. The lesson texts are progressively more difficult (A1 to about B2), so it never feels overwhelming. And maybe most importantly you can get through a lesson in 20-30 minutes, so it’s easy to make a daily habit of it. Here is how the method is generally used: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar04zvpoylU https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar04zvpoylU With all the other language courses I’ve done it has always been tons of grammar lessons, some basic classroom discussion, and making vocab decks for something like Anki. With Assimil you’re immediately just inside the language, learning it almost passively. I was able to pick up easy native content books — like Camus in the case of French — after getting through the full Assimil course in a few months. Of course it’s still slow going and takes lots of effort, but the faster you can get to native content that is interesting to you the better I think.
onemiketwelve 2y ago
The biggest resource I've ever stumbled upon was discord servers for specific languages. During the pandemic when everyone was trying to learn languages they were popping off. Like thousands would be in servers and you could just chat with people whenever you wanted. I would spend every minute commuting, cleaning, or any time I would've usually listened to podcasts bullshitting with random people and learning how to actually speak. I've tried italki I've tried other platforms where it's bumble for language learning. They didn't even come close to how quickly I learned there. And you can't beat free. I joined one for Spanish and French. I'm sure they exist for others.
- arisAlexis 2y ago
  Very interesting,can you post links to those servers? Was it also audio or mostly text based.what was the ratio of native speakers?

mettamage 2y ago

What helped so much with them that other attempts/methods lacked?

mtalantikite 2y ago
I find having the parallel text (one page target language, the other your source language) to be extremely helpful. The lesson texts are progressively more difficult (A1 to about B2), so it never feels overwhelming. And maybe most importantly you can get through a lesson in 20-30 minutes, so it’s easy to make a daily habit of it. Here is how the method is generally used: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar04zvpoylU https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar04zvpoylU With all the other language courses I’ve done it has always been tons of grammar lessons, some basic classroom discussion, and making vocab decks for something like Anki. With Assimil you’re immediately just inside the language, learning it almost passively. I was able to pick up easy native content books — like Camus in the case of French — after getting through the full Assimil course in a few months. Of course it’s still slow going and takes lots of effort, but the faster you can get to native content that is interesting to you the better I think.

onemiketwelve 2y ago

The biggest resource I've ever stumbled upon was discord servers for specific languages. During the pandemic when everyone was trying to learn languages they were popping off. Like thousands would be in servers and you could just chat with people whenever you wanted. I would spend every minute commuting, cleaning, or any time I would've usually listened to podcasts bullshitting with random people and learning how to actually speak. I've tried italki I've tried other platforms where it's bumble for language learning. They didn't even come close to how quickly I learned there. And you can't beat free. I joined one for Spanish and French. I'm sure they exist for others.

arisAlexis 2y ago
Very interesting,can you post links to those servers? Was it also audio or mostly text based.what was the ratio of native speakers?