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FSI Basic Spanish confusion | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| cboscari Newbie United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4618 days ago 3 posts - 3 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 1 of 9 02 April 2012 at 10:39pm | IP Logged | ||
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Hi everyone!
I am trying to learn Spanish, as my first language. I have tried a few times, but really want to give it a serious try this time around. I choose the FSI Basic course, mostly because it is complete, and I didn't want to find myself not knowing where to go for the next step if I finished one course before starting another. I am on Unit 3. I am concerned because I am starting to see in the drills verb tenses that have not been covered,grammar constructions thst are expected responses to drills (specifically, question formation), and the like that are confusing but I do not see where they were covered. I did the first two units, several times (actually about 12 hours each) spending a little over half of my time memorizing the dialogues, and then doing the drills. However, I am not sure I am doing them correctly. The response drill, for example, does not prompt for the answer before asking the questions. Is there a place that explains how to do and what to expect for each type of drill? I read the intro pdf but it didn't really talk much about it. Anyway, thanks for any help you can give me. I have never learned a language, so maybe this confusion is normal because I don't know what to expect. Thanks again! Chris 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5373 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 2 of 9 06 April 2012 at 2:18am | IP Logged | ||
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Welcome to the forum. I am working on FSI Basic too. I think it is the best and most comprehensive course available for Spanish and I have done many courses in the past 2.5 years. I do recommend starting with something else before trying to do FSI. I cannot imagine doing FSI as a beginner. I would suggest spending 6+ months with something like Assimil first.
Regarding your questions, they do introduce some things without explaining them, but they will eventually explain everything. Just do the best you can. I actually skipped the first two units, so I cannot comment on those... but 12 hours seems like a lot of time on those. The response drills are tough. I had problems with all of the response drills throughout the entire course. However, on the responses you are asking about there is not a right or wrong "answer." For example, if they ask "Do you want the pen or the pencil" it does not matter which you say as long as you say, "I want the....". Just for fun, I would try to remember which answer they gave on the second run through. As far as I know, there are not really any directions. I just read through the dialogue and footnotes and then start the audio. Good luck. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| cboscari Newbie United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4618 days ago 3 posts - 3 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 3 of 9 06 April 2012 at 2:43am | IP Logged | ||
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Hi, thanks for replying.
That makes me feel better. I just started Unit 4, so I am doing about one unit a week. I think for Unit 3, I spent about 10 hours total. From what I hear, that's pretty average. I would love to do another course first, but I can't afford it. There is something about language courses that just seems to make them expensive. Not sure why. Chris 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| El Señor Cara Tetraglot Newbie Netherlands Joined 4940 days ago 3 posts - 5 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, German, French Studies: Spanish | Message 4 of 9 06 April 2012 at 10:51pm | IP Logged | ||
I agree (except for Assimil but that is a learning style thing and thus personal). I have just started with FSI Platiquemos and I love it. It suits my leaning style perfectly. I have just finished level 1. Before I started I already studied: Michel Thomas, Hugo Spanish in 3 months, Colloquial Spanish of Latin America & the passive wave of Assimil. I quit studying Assimil because it does not suit my learning style. I'm very glad I did these above mentioned courses; it makes Platiquemos much more effective. I don't run into things I have never seen before ( I already did some reading in higher levels, e.g. subjunctive). If I had to choose one book before starting FSI Platiquemos it would be Colloquial Spanish. It is clearly written and complete for a beginners course and it is, like FSI/Platiquemos, Latin American Spanish. IMO spending too much time on a unit is not very efficient. It is better to do the whole course a couple of times. Distributed practice is the way to go. ¡buena suerte! El Señor Cara de Papa Edited by El Señor Cara on 07 April 2012 at 10:44am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| James29 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5373 days ago 1265 posts - 2113 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: French | Message 5 of 9 07 April 2012 at 2:32pm | IP Logged | ||
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In terms of other "free" courses to get a Spanish foundation you may consider the "fast" or "headstart" courses on the FSI website. I have not done them, but they are free and likely worth doing for a beginner. Even programmatic... many people here do that course and speak highly of it.
Assimil Spanish with Ease is only $33 on Amazon. Other options would be to check out Colloquial, Living Language Ultimate/Beginner, or some other similar course through inter library loan at your local library. I borrowed many courses (and audio books) through inter library loan. They can get almost anything... as long as it is available in the US. I agree that FSI/platiquemos is much more effective with a good base. I was a solid intermediate when I started and worked through it pretty well... until I totally hit a wall at units 46/47... now I am struggling with it. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| cboscari Newbie United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 4618 days ago 3 posts - 3 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 6 of 9 11 April 2012 at 3:16am | IP Logged | ||
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OK, I'll take everyone's advice and try something else first. I'm looking at Michel
Thomas' course. I looked at the pdf's at their site, what do you think of the course, besides the pronunciation issues? (I live in L.A, so lots of natives to help me on that.)Does it cover grammar in a way to be useful, or will I find myself limited later on by the approach? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| dbag Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5020 days ago 605 posts - 1046 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 7 of 9 11 April 2012 at 10:37am | IP Logged | ||
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MT is a brilliant way to start! Especially if you do the advanced course as well. You
will get a very useful rundown of almost all the grammar (although his treatment of the subjunctive is not very thorough). It is a much more gentle way of beginning than fsi. One idea though, would perhaps be to try and do the basic sentences section of fsi for 5 or so units, and then go back and do the drills? That might be more manageable. If you find you are really enjoying Spanish, I really would recommend saving up and buying Assimi. I would say it has roughly double the vocabulary that you will find in most of the other courses, and is full of really useful idioms. I really think it is almost indispensable. Best of luck! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| dbag Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5020 days ago 605 posts - 1046 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 8 of 9 11 April 2012 at 10:40am | IP Logged | ||
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Oh, and another thing, I personally don't worry to much about the response drills. As
long as you understand the grammar rules that is being taught, I think it's fine not to worry to much about overlearning these. The response drills are the only part of the course that I really don't enjoy. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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