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Italian "FSI-Style" Courses/Audio Forum | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| ericblair Senior Member United States Joined 4712 days ago 480 posts - 700 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 1 of 12 01 October 2014 at 1:39am | IP Logged |
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I am interested in Modern Spoken Italian by Elaine Vertucci Beran.
I found the two books for sale: http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Spoken-Italian-Active-Communica tion/dp/1579700756/ref= http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Spoken-Italian-Active-Communica tion/dp/1579700764/ref= Parts A & B that show an early 80s publication date, but say they are published by Audio Forum. When I go to the audio forum site, I find the same books: http://www.audioforum.com/software/info.php?ID=7757 http://www.audioforum.com/software/info.php?ID=7758 However, the number of pages does not add up on the Part A book. The ISBNs match, but the Amazon site says it is 110 pages and the audio forum site says 124. Then, there are these: http://www.audioforum.com/software/info.php?ID=7737 http://www.audioforum.com/software/info.php?ID=7739 Which are the pdfs of the books plus the audio in MP3 form for $39.95 each Finally, these: http://www.audioforum.com/software/info.php?ID=7736 Part A with cds and the book for $69.96 http://www.audioforum.com/software/info.php?ID=7738 Part B with cds and the book for $99.95 I plan to buy the mp3/pdf downloads for $40 each. If I really want the physical copies,I would buy the 2 off Amazon for $15 each so it is $110 total rather than $170 to buy the Audio Forum version of everything. Any thoughts on that plan or on Audio Forum in general? I've never dealt with them. There just don't seem to be many audio-lingual drill courses for Italian out there. Thanks, as always, for any input. Edited by ericblair on 05 October 2014 at 4:44pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| ericblair Senior Member United States Joined 4712 days ago 480 posts - 700 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 2 of 12 01 October 2014 at 3:06am | IP Logged |
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A bit of searching around the forum shows me that Audio Forum went out of business in
2010. Looking closer at the site told me that any order is fulfilled by "selectsoftnow.com" No mention of that site anywhere, but it has the same mid-90s layout as audio forum. I just don't want to get my credit card info stolen or compromised trying to get this audio, haha. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Speakeasy Senior Member Canada Joined 4053 days ago 507 posts - 1098 votes Studies: German | Message 3 of 12 02 October 2014 at 12:35am | IP Logged |
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SLIGHTY UPDATED POST:
Yes, the original Audio Forum went out of business, but was resurrected under a new name and subsequently closed, two separate times. The latest incarnation of Audio Forum (which has absolutely no relation to the original, except for the name and some of the inventory) still offers some the original company's versions of the FSI language courses, along with some other introductory material. Last year, because I wanted a copy of the full printed text of the FSI Portuguese Programmatic course, I ordered from this new company and I was quite satisfied by their level of service. I purchased a copy of Modern Spoken Italian, from the original Audio Forum during their close-out sale. While the basic approach was meant to simulate that of the FSI Basic courses, in my experience, the effort was well-intentioned but quite unsuccessful; so much so, that I simply cannot recommend it at all. Seriously, it was so bad (but well-intentioned) that I dumped it into the recycling bin! As an alternative, I would recommend Assimil Italian along with any simple, introductory Italian grammar. You could also try the FSI Italian FAST course, which is quite thorough, with any simple, introductory Italian grammar. Although Living Language ceased publication of their excellent "Ultimate" series a couple of years ago, one can still find copies of Ultimate Italian on EBay, Amazon, Alibris, Abebooks, and elsewhere. However, prices have risen. You could also opt for Living Language Italian All the Way which preceded the "Ultimate" series. The two courses are identical! Random House merely changed the name and printed the new manuals on cheaper paper. Both courses include two sets of audio files (set A, set B), the latter, presumably, to be used while driving (apparently, using a cellphone at the wheel is dangerous whereas trying to focus on the audio of a foreign language course is not). To increase the usefulness of the two sets of audio, I converted the files to mp3 and strung the A and B sets together by lesson number. Thus, my files are organized: Lesson 1A, 1B, Lesson 2A, 2B, and so forth. Finally, if you want to experience the language-learning equivalent of "water boarding", you could always try the FSI Italian Programmed Course. The author took the basic approach of the other FSI Programmatic courses, which were all quite well done, and simply went, well, bonkers! Don't be fooled by the Barron's version of this course, which was sold as Mastering Italian, as it is merely a copy the original FSI Italian Programmed course. Also, the original company Audio Forum published a version of this course as Italian Phonology. This (absolutely horrible) course is available on the new Audio Forum's website. Ciao! Edited by Speakeasy on 02 October 2014 at 1:40am 7 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Speakeasy Senior Member Canada Joined 4053 days ago 507 posts - 1098 votes Studies: German | Message 4 of 12 03 October 2014 at 2:08am | IP Logged |
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Hello again, Eric:
As a follow-up to my comments above, I would add that, at the time I placed my order, the newly-resurrected Audio-Forum was not yet set up for international orders. This gave me an opportunity to have a pleasant Email exchange with the new operators. I have traced down my file and I can confirm that "selectsoftnow.com" was one of their identifiers. Here are the names and addresses of the people I dealt with at Audio-Forum, both of whom were pleasant, helpful, and professional: Lisa Lew SelectSoftNow.com Customer Support E: lisa@selectsoftnow.com W: www.selectsoftnow.com Jeffrey Chen V.P. of Operations Select Publishing Group (an MPS Multimedia Company) 1222 South Amphlett Blvd. San Mateo, CA 94402 USA Tel: 650.872.7100 Ext 107 • Fax: 650.872.7133 Jeffrey Chen [mailto:jeff@gospg.com] I hope that this helps somewhat. Ciao! 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| ericblair Senior Member United States Joined 4712 days ago 480 posts - 700 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 5 of 12 05 October 2014 at 4:19am | IP Logged |
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Wow,
What an incredibly helpful set of posts. I am sad I could only like them each once. Thanks for saving me money on Modern Spoken Italian! Do you have any experience with "Spoken Modern Italian" by Robert Hall from Spoken Language Services? Someone told me before the same book is sold under the name "Italian for Modern Living," which a friend of mine happens to have the mp3s for. The email on the SLS official site is dead, so I have no way to verify. If nobody knows, I may save my money and opt for that Italian: All the Way course. But it would be very cool since Arguelles' review make it seem like a solid alternative to FSI overall. I wish we maintained a master list for major publishers on which courses are identical and which are different. Edited by ericblair on 05 October 2014 at 4:21am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Speakeasy Senior Member Canada Joined 4053 days ago 507 posts - 1098 votes Studies: German | Message 6 of 12 05 October 2014 at 3:52pm | IP Logged |
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Hi Eric,
Italian "FSI-Style" Courses First, I would say that, from a reading of your posts, you seem to be looking for an Italian course somewhat similar to the FSI Basic courses of the 1960's; that is, with lots of pattern/substitution/variation drills. A few years ago, I embarked on a similar quest and came up empty-handed. By the way, since the discussion seems to be evolving in this direction, I suggest that you revise the title of this post to something like "Italian "FSI-Style" Courses" or some other evocative title so as to draw comments from others. Modern Spoken Italian, Elaine Vertucci Beran This was the only course that I found that approached the FSI style. Unfortunately, in my opinion, Ms. Beran was an enthusiastic, well-meaning, unskilled amateur who lacked the talent for designing FSI-Style pattern drills. Furthermore, she rather unwisely recorded the audio herself (she is an American of Italian descent and she has no voice-training). She inserted lengthy, redundant, droning explanations into the audio recordings. If you decide to purchase this course, I suggest that you simply buy the MP3/PDF version. The text is quite slim and you can easily print it yourself. That way, you will minimize your investment and decrease the likelihood of feeling particularly disappointed. Spoken Modern Italian, Robert A. Hall I conducted a quick search (Alibris, AbeBooks, Amazon, EBay) and came across a number of copies of this course. It seems to have been introduced in the 1940’s and re-issued in the 1970’s. Some of the copies on Alibris describe this as a package containing the book plus two cassettes. Having been burned in the past, I suggest that you send the supplier an Email to confirm that the offer does, indeed, contain the audio recordings. I have NOT tried this course. However, given that it contains only 2 audio cassettes and that it was developed in the same time period as Spoken German (see below), I would expect that it is of historical interest only, especially at the current prices. Spoken Language Services I found the LINK for Spoken Language Services. I ordered two separate courses from them a few years ago. I have NOT ordered "Spoken Italian", however, I did order ... Spoken Polish This course turned out to be the original text and 19 cassettes tapes of "Beginning Polish (revised edition)", Volume One, by Alexander M. Schenker. This is "the" reference for FSI-style Polish courses. In fact, the FSI was a co-sponser of the course and used it rather than developing their own course. So, based on this very positive experience, I purchased ... Spoken German This turned out to be a rather small book with 6 audio cassette. The course was developed in 1944. Having worked through his course, I can easily imagine this work as having been "part" of the original source material for what later became FSI Basic German. However, despite the 294 page text and 6 audio cassettes, I found it to be “woefully” inferior to some of the better commercial offerings such as Assimil or Living Language Ultimate. My Recommendations The only “good” material that I have found, that even approaches FSI-Style pattern drill courses, would be the Assimil course. Okay, before everyone jumps all over me, I recognize that Assimil is not an FSI-Style course. However, arduous repetition of the numerous mini-dialogues could yield similar results to the pattern drills, meiner Meinung nach! However, you “must” acquire a very simple Italian grammar to compensate for Assimil’s weakness in this area. My second recommendation would be the FSI Italian FAST course. Like all of the FSI courses, it was designed to presented in a classroom setting. Nonetheless, it is quite thorough and, if used in conjunction with a simple grammar, one could learn quite a lot on one’s own. My third recommendation would be Living Languages “Ultimate Italian” or “Italian All the Way” course (they are identical). You won’t need a grammar for this course. However, the material can be a little “dry” at times, as well as "quite" challenging. Ciao! Edited by Speakeasy on 05 October 2014 at 4:03pm 4 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Speakeasy Senior Member Canada Joined 4053 days ago 507 posts - 1098 votes Studies: German | Message 7 of 12 05 October 2014 at 6:51pm | IP Logged |
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Hi Eric,
As a continuation of the above discussion, I have just sent you a private message. Ciao! 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Elexi Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5566 days ago 938 posts - 1840 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, German, Latin | Message 8 of 12 05 October 2014 at 7:06pm | IP Logged |
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The 1970s Linguaphone Italian course (which I think is still the one on sale) consists
of a 30 lessons of a three-part dialogue and six lots of FSI style exercises per lesson. Not quite the drill sergeant approach, but quite near to it. Edited by Elexi on 05 October 2014 at 7:20pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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