I thought it would be interesting to see the kind of responses I would get from this post, so I am starting my journey to learn Spanish on Monday reason why I say Monday is because this is when my Assimil book is supposed to come!
My routine will be as follows
Listening to my lessons while on the tram to work (20 minuet tram) and taking a photo of the lesson on my phone so I can read along while listening, once off the tram I will switch to some Spanish music as I think Spanish music is very catchy and good to listen to! this will be for 15 minuets while I walk to work.
Once finishing work I shall again listen to some Spanish music while walking to the tram (again 15 minuet walk) then once back on the tram re-listen to the material from the morning to really get it into my head!
once home start my next lesson which might be for another 30-45 minuets (listening and reading)
then repeat the lesson the next day and then starting a new lesson later into the day and just completing until the book is finished.
There are 100 lessons in the Assimil book so if I do this everyday which is my plan I shall finish the book in under 3 months! then I can move onto some interesting content! oh and I will not be focusing on anything but listening and reading for this entire time call it the silent period if you will.
any advise would be greatly appreciated at this moment in time I only speak English but hopefully Spanish will be my gateway to a second language and hopefully if this goes well I will continue learning more!!!
I’ve gone through similar routines when beginning the study of new languages and I think they’re very helpful. Three months of daily Assimil lessons (plus some extra exposure through songs) will provide you with a very strong foundation in the language.
I’d advise you to go on to use Lingq after you finish Assimil (in my mind, Lingq’s basically Assimil on steroids). Be sure to graduate to real, interesting content as soon as possible, either already available on Lingq or uploaded by you. If you can keep up working at an almost daily basis for an extra 9-10 months or so after you finish Assimil, I’m sure you’ll reach a very good level. Of course, do add some conversation with natives or immersion experiences, if at all possible, to “activate” your knowledge of the language.
I wish you success in this journey
Hey thanks for the advise my plan is to use lingq once I have finished my Assimil book it will be the first book I have ever finished! and then yes to go onto some interesting content and begin speaking after finishing the assimil book and basically changing all my input to spanish
Assimil is a great method. You scan your way listening and reading through texts maybe doing the exercises. When you’re half way through its suggested that you start on the active phase if that’s what you want.
Steve Kaufman says he’s not a fan of the above Assimil method. I think it’s a paper book method of Lingq myself. I’m not sure why Steve doesn’t acknowledge this.
If you already have Lingq why even bother with Assimil? Lingq makes the learning process easier. You don’t have to highlight your own text or make your own flashcards. Neither must you bother with finding the right track on your mp3 player.
The Assimil texts might be good but I wouldn’t say superior necessarily to what’s on Lingq. It would be good perhaps if the Assimil texts were already on Lingq but if not no big deal.
Unless you can’t get an internet connection on the go I would for convenience sake skip Assimil and just start on Lingq. Currently it’s the best and most comprehensive language learning site available. Others will have to innovate or be left behind.
before lingq i used assimil but now i don’t use it as much i prefer the format at linqg with much better more interesting content and less of what i think is silly dialogs especially in the newer versions of assimil .but that is just my opinion if it helps you then continue with it
I want add that after some weeks you’ll, perhaps, get bored; I recommend when this happens just continue putting the time and vary your activities. Lingq, now, have 10 mini-stories on spanish. Furthermore, Steve said that he has learned greek faster than any other language using them, therefore, I recommend after one month or even soon started them.
Hola es muy lindo que las personas se interesen en aprender nuevos idiomas, de seguro, si continuas con tu empeño lograrás aprender español y muchos mas idiomas.
Por el contrario he estado aprendiendo inglés, un idioma que personalmente es muy interesante y útil.
gracias chao !