Assimil
ASSiMiL is a French company founded in 1929. Their goal is to allow one to learn a foreign language intuitively like a child learning to speak. The idea is that a child hears words spoken continually and learns to assimilate those sounds and meanings and even reproducing them before integrating those words into one’s vocabulary. Learning is progressive where each lesson builds on the previous one. The method is intended for children and adults ages 15 and up. The study is divided into 2 parts, the impregnation phase and the activation phase.
The impregnation phase involves the hearing phrases and sounds for 30-40 minutes a day, doing repetitions and exercises. Every 7th exercise has a review and consolidation of the previous 6 lessons. The activation phase has the learner producing their own sentences in response to questions and exercises using the knowledge from the previous lessons.
The method involves whole sentences being learned with a recording and an accompanying book. There are many different programs they offer including the Learn Series, the With Ease Series (In French, Sans Peine, literally meaning, without toil or pain), and the Perfectionnnement series, which teaches advanced idioms and idiosyncrasies, as well as a Business series , Phrasebooks and even a Slang series.
John H. McWhorter, a linguist and NPR contributor, says that he always recommends the Assimil books. He states that if you follow the program exactly, they will work. You won’t be conversing like a native speaker, but you will be able to have a decent conversation. He recounts being complemented in his skills after using the system to learn German and Hebrew. It turns out there aren’t as popular here in the United States as they have been in Europe and elsewhere around the world.
With A1 meaning beginner and C2 meaning complete proficiency, Assimil is rated to get the user to a C1 or B2 in about 4-5 months and is now available in a variety of formats including computer and phone apps on most major operating systems.