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Cortina French, German, and Russian | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| jpazzz Groupie United States Joined 5045 days ago 54 posts - 76 votes  Studies: Russian | Message 1 of 2 26 March 2015 at 6:33am | IP Logged |
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Hello Everybody, With Cortina selling its courses for $75.00 there seems to be a renewed interest ion those courses. Since I have experience with three of them, I thought that perhaps some of you might be interested in my observations.
First of all, Cortina French. I really like this course. All of the conversations are recorded as are the vocabularies for the first sixteen lessons. Since I learn vocabulary better by both hearing and reading it, this works well for me. And, just to be clear, this means that the first sixteen lessons are recorded in their entirety as well as appearing in the well know three column format: target language, pronunciation, and translation. Lessons seventeen through twenty (each one running eight to ten pages) are wholly in French and are recorded in their entirety. My copy of the course has the old 78 RPM records, and the all French sound runs two hours and twenty-two minutes. So that makes for about one hundred, forty-seven pages that are recorded. And, by the way, the recordings are very clear,the diction very good. This is the case with all the Cortina courses that I've used or skimmed. This is followed by a one hundred, thirty-eight page grammar and an extensive vocabulary. People are critical sometimes of the fact that the Cortina courses were written and recorded in the 50s and 60s. That makes them "out-of date." This does not matter to me. Languages change, but not so much in fifty or sixty years as to become unintelligible. And in my own experience, I'm never going to be mistaken for a native speaker when I speak anything other than American English. So up to date colloquialisms are not something that occupy me. There is a nice exposure to French culture, with references to musicians and theatre, to Gide and Sartre (sorry, no mention of Pauline Reage), etc. On to Cortina Russian. Russian seems to be a difficult language for which to write good courses. As Dr, Arguelles (sp?) mentions, the Cortina Russian course has shorter dialogs than , say, French, German, etc. and has many drills (which French and German do not). The first two lessons have vocabularies that are recorded as well as the Conversations. The subsequent Lessons (there are a total of twenty-one rather than the twenty of most Cortina courses) have the conversations recorded, but do not have separate vocabularies. The recordings are, as usual with Cortina, done with clear speakers, and at a faster pace than the French or German recordings. Again, my copy of the recordings is on 78 RPM records (I believe this is the only form in which the Russian recordings were released) and run one hour and thirteen minutes, all Russian...I have, needless to say transferred my 78s to CDs. The course begins in the usual Cortina three column format mentioned above, but the middle, transliteration column, disappears after lesson three. And, of course the twenty-one lessons (192 pgs.) are followed by a two hundred, eight page grammar. I might add here that Cortina course seem in general to give you a minimum of necessary grammar in the lessons with copious references to finer grammar points found as numbered notes in the Lessons. Finally, there is a general vocabulary. One of my copies of this text mentions that it give s 3700 word vocabulary. I really like this Cortina Russian course. It's challenging, but clear and very, very well worked out. I'm not sure how I would feel about it if I didn't have the recordings which can be used to shadow (which I don't do), or simultaneously listened to and read which is how many things that require memorization are for me best handled. Repetition. Repetition. Finally, Cortina German. It is very similar to the Cortina French, i.e., it uses the three column format up through Lesson sixteen. Then there is lots and lots of pure German (twenty-nine pages over four lessons) with lots of culture and history thrown in. In those last, pure German lessons, there are no vocabularies or word lists. The student is expected to know most of the words or be able to use a dictionary. The Lessons are followed by a one hundred, twenty-nine page grammar and a bi-lingual dictionary. All of the material in the Twenty lessons is recorded. My copy is on cassettes, and I haven't timed it. The recordings are very clear, but there is one thing that I do not like about them. After every sentence, there is a pause, presumably meant for the student to use to repeat what has just been said. I find it annoying. I'm not talking here about occasional pauses, but after every sentence in twenty lessons. And so here is my question. Can anyone out there in HTLAL-land tell me if the current CD versions of the Cortina courses have these pauses after every sentence. I ask because it occurs to me that my early 78s would not have had room for pauses, and also, because I know that Berlitz made some courses in the 60s where they did this same thing, i.e., pausing after every sentence. I hope that I may perhaps have answered some questions about the Cortina courses. Should anyone have any questions, I should be happy to try to answer them insofar as my knowledge will allow. Cheers, John 8 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Paco Senior Member Hong Kong Joined 4277 days ago 145 posts - 251 votes Speaks: Cantonese* | Message 2 of 2 26 March 2015 at 11:16pm | IP Logged |
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I like how Cortina courses are chalk full of culture. I only wish they would sell the
recordings separately. I have the books already, and I do not need the other components of the package, which would take a shipping cost as much as the cost of a course. That said, the Cortina books are still good reads without audio materials, and their reference grammars (following the lessons in the books) are gems, where essential bits are presented concisely and to the point in a systematic way. By the way, does anyone have any idea where one can obtain the audio materials at a reasonable price outside the US? 1 person has voted this message useful |
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