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Best use of a commute? FSI, podcasts, etc | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Stelle Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Canada tobefluent.com Joined 4146 days ago 949 posts - 1686 votes  Speaks: French*, English*, Spanish Studies: Tagalog | Message 1 of 25 21 September 2013 at 7:01pm | IP Logged | ||
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My Spanish is currently somewhere around a B2 level. I've recently started a new job with a short commute, and
I'd like to use my driving time productively. I'm thinking that I might listen to podcasts during the drive in to work (currently working my way through the Notes in Spanish advanced podcasts), and then do some kind of drills on the way home. I'm pretty sure that I'm beyond Pimsleur, so it's not worth the investment. Any other suggestions? Are FSI drills any use to someone who already knows some of the language? I do feel that my grammar (verb tenses and sentence structure) leaves a lot to be desired when speaking. Would FSI help me improve that? It seems that many programs with drills/dialogues (Pimsleur, FSI, Assimil, etc) are aimed at beginners or early intermediate learners. Are there any that would help an intermediate speaker get to an advanced level? Thanks for any help! S Edited by Stelle on 21 September 2013 at 7:02pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5377 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 2 of 25 21 September 2013 at 7:11pm | IP Logged | ||
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I am at about a B2 level in Spanish and I am doing FSI right now. I think it is extremely helpful. The second two levels are definitely worthwhile. I really benefitted from some of the lessons in the second level too. You may want to do the first level just once, but it would likely be too easy.
If you have at least half an hour you could do one tape every commute. Personally, I would also like to do something useful on my 20 minute commute and I have never been able to. I just cannot get motivated. Maybe a good audio book would be a solution? Good luck. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| liddytime Pentaglot Senior Member United States mainlymagyar.wordpre Joined 6231 days ago 693 posts - 1328 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Galician Studies: Hungarian, Vietnamese, Modern Hebrew, Norwegian, Persian, Arabic (Written) | Message 3 of 25 21 September 2013 at 7:42pm | IP Logged | ||
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You are correct, don't waste your time on Pimsleur if you are at B2!
The only problem with FSI is that you are somewhat tied to the book to get anything out of it. If you are motivated, you could do your "book study" the night before, then use your commute as a review of the previous night's work. I have done this with other FSI courses and works well if you are motivated. Assimil's Using Spanish is also quite good if you are interested in an advanced book-based course. Alternatively, the old Living Language Ultimate Advanced series was great (I'm not sure if it is still in print). I'm sure you could find it used pretty cheap or find it somewhere in cyberspace. Half of it is specifically designed for commuting which would work well for you. Finally, there are GREAT podcasts for advanced Spanish learners. Try SpanishPod101's Advanced level. It is entirely in Spanish but has vocab lists for help. I can't recall the others I have used off the top of my head but they are pretty easy to find if you search for them. Buen suerte! 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Stelle Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Canada tobefluent.com Joined 4146 days ago 949 posts - 1686 votes Speaks: French*, English*, Spanish Studies: Tagalog | Message 4 of 25 21 September 2013 at 8:27pm | IP Logged | ||
Did you start FSI when you started learning? I was thinking of maybe just starting a bit later on in the program, but I'd only want to do the audio - I have enough to keep me busy at home. I don't want to add any book-learning to my routine. Hmmm...maybe I'll have to play with it a bit today and see how it goes. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Stelle Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Canada tobefluent.com Joined 4146 days ago 949 posts - 1686 votes Speaks: French*, English*, Spanish Studies: Tagalog | Message 5 of 25 21 September 2013 at 8:29pm | IP Logged | ||
Thanks for the suggestions! I found something on chapters, but at 35 bucks for 3 books and 9 CDs, it seems a bit unlikely that it's what you're talking about. Thoughts? Thanks! http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/living-language-spanish- complete-edition/9780307478597-item.html? LangType=4105&__lang=en-CA Edited by Stelle on 21 September 2013 at 8:32pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| BaronBill Triglot Senior Member United States HowToLanguages.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4691 days ago 335 posts - 594 votes Speaks: English*, French, German Studies: Spanish, Mandarin, Persian | Message 6 of 25 21 September 2013 at 9:09pm | IP Logged | ||
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I'm at about a B2 in German and all of my commute time I listen to audiobooks in German. That has been a huge help for me as I get listening practice as well as an entertaining story to hold my attention. Maybe it would be helpful in Spanish as well. In addition to improving listening skills, audiobooks provide consistent exposure to vocabulary and correct grammar, so long term, it could benefit active skills as well.
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| montmorency Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4830 days ago 2371 posts - 3676 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Danish, Welsh | Message 7 of 25 21 September 2013 at 10:03pm | IP Logged | ||
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I think audiobooks and/or podcasts are probably the way to go for listening
comprehension. Probably something different is required for speaking skills, but perhaps that is best left for when you don't have to concentrate on the road. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5377 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 8 of 25 21 September 2013 at 10:47pm | IP Logged | ||
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If you are at B2 you should not need the book for FSI... especially if you start on an easy lesson. I certainly don't need it. I do have it in front of me and periodically look at it just to check a spelling or a word I could not quite hear well enough. I have done FSI before so I understand how to do the drills. It might be tricky at first understanding what the drills are actually doing, but once you get the hang of it, it should not be a problem at all. It does require thinking and concentration so if you are driving in traffic it might not be the best thing.
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