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 Language Learning Forum : Immersion, Schools & Certificates |  | |
| hypersport Senior Member United States Joined 5967 days ago 216 posts - 307 votes  Studies: Spanish | Message 26 of 35 02 February 2009 at 10:45pm | IP Logged |
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Yeah, I would love that too. I didn't even know that it still existed. You can imagine back in the day how fast they got those guys fluent with this course and in a classroom setting all focused on just language. I wonder how many hours a day they had those guys training? Would have been cool.
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| ZeroTX Groupie United States Joined 6221 days ago 91 posts - 100 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 28 of 35 03 February 2009 at 1:36pm | IP Logged |
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I have the FSI 3&4 that came with LSLC, but I haven't looked at it and when I tried listening to it, I couldn't figure out what to do with it. How does it work??
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| hypersport Senior Member United States Joined 5967 days ago 216 posts - 307 votes Studies: Spanish | Message 30 of 35 03 February 2009 at 8:18pm | IP Logged |
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FSI Basic is extremely thorough. You can get a little over half of the audio of Level 1 at the FSI site along with the text and you can get the text for volume 2.
That said, your library will probably have the volumes re-packaged under Barrons Mastering Spanish series, this series too has 4 volumes and is copied straight from FSI but they've added in some sightseeing stuff to claim it as their own. Also, the Barrons edition of Level 2 that I used (cassette tape version) was missing all of the conversation stimulus and dialogues at the end of each unit. Kind of a bummer as I had grown to look forward to those at the end of each unit, but you have it all there in text anyway, so you can just read it all out loud yourself. I had my library here in Boise find Level 2 for me as they don't stock it. They found it in Utah. I really liked using these courses in the physical sense as the cassettes were always in my stereo where I had left off, and I had the physical book in my hands, just so much nicer. Although for free, I'm not complaining as I have 3 and 4 like you guys courtesy of LSLC. There are 55 units in all. They are all done the same way after a point, I can't exactly remember how the first couple started out. You get a dialouge at the beginning of each unit and the goal is to be able to repeat it for fluency piece by piece after you've been trained to repeat it bit by bit slowly. They use a reverse order of repeating that is very effective with the longer sentences. Then you're taken into all different kinds of drills and vocabulary that you are prompted to answer. Again, very effective. If you don't understand something, just have a look at the text and rewind. If a set of the drills is too tough, and you feel you don't have it, just rewind and do it again. This course really hammers home the ud. form. For me this has been huge as I've used tu exclusively for almost 3 years. The course will ask you something and it is addressing you as ud. This really puts you in the ud. mode as you have to respond as such. At first I thought the tape was asking about someone next to me as I wasn't accustomed to being addressed as ud. at all, but after some time, my brain started to recognize that I'm the one being spoken to, really valuable. Then later on it switches up and you start to recognize when it is addressing you as tu and when not. Sometimes just by the fact that a name has been given and so you start to recognize that this is someone that you know well, that it is tu. There are drills that switch back and forth between all the forms of ud, uds. tu ellos etc and you really have to be on your toes and thinking in Spanish. At the end of each lesson there is conversation stimulus and dialogues that follow the story that is taking place within the course. You get a piece of the story at the start of each unit with the dialouge and you get some more at the end. Then there is always a reading with questions afterwards. The readings start to get longer and longer. So yeah, if you're going to do Basic, I'd suggest you do it from the start and have the text with you either in pdf or a physical book. Edited by hypersport on 03 February 2009 at 8:21pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| hypersport Senior Member United States Joined 5967 days ago 216 posts - 307 votes Studies: Spanish | Message 32 of 35 04 February 2009 at 8:07pm | IP Logged |
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No, there aren't any instructions. You figure out pretty fast how it works though.
So yeah, for example with the translation drills, you hear something in English and then you are give time to say the same thing in Spanish. I don't pull up the pdf or look at the book unless I don't understand something. I do have the book open and I keep it current on the correct page so I can pause and have a look when necessary. There are other drills where you will be given an example from the audio and it will state it as so. Then you will be given an answer and it too is stated as so. This lets you know how the drill is going to work and what is expected. Then you get into the drill and it's done that way. This is also in the book word for word so you can analyze it if needed first. You can also have a look at all of the items in the drill and read them to familiarize yourself if that helps, then start the audio and see how it goes. They will of course be familiar as you just read them. Personally, I like to do all of it with just the audio. I don't like to read the words while I'm hearing them as it is distracting. I just want to hear it as if someone was here speaking to me, and then I respond. Some of the drills are the same style as are in programmatic too. The ones where you are given an example sentence and you repeat it. Then they change one word and you adjust the sentence to work with that new word. This usually goes on for about 7 or 8 sentences until a new group starts. Really good stuff. There was a drill in Basic 1 that I remember where you could imagine yourself in a room with a teacher and a friend. 3 of you. And there was always a different noun, maybe a pencil, a book, a pen, etc. You are given a narrative of what just took place, like the teacher maybe just gave your friend juan 4 coins. Then she starts asking you questions about what just took place, but each question is worded differently, you have to answer her as such each time. That's one of the best drills, you can feel yourself there with both of them, and you can only have success there if you are completely thinking in Spanish. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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