|
 |
Non-US Government Courses? | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| dmg Diglot Senior Member Canada dgryski.blogspot.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 7010 days ago 555 posts - 605 votes  1 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Dutch, Esperanto | Message 1 of 7 14 October 2009 at 2:28am | IP Logged | ||
|
So, we all know about DLI and FSI courses as produced (and provided by -- Thanks Public
Domain!) the US Government. However, does anybody have any experience with non-US Government courses? Are any of them available for download? Is everything else protected and proprietary? Are they mostly the same types of courses, or are they totally different? Do other governments use "standard" textbooks, or do they all re- invent the wheel? The Canadian government, for example, has produced language courses which are available for purchase by the public. From what I flipped through (quickly), the French course appeared to be somewhat similar and drill-based. So, what else have peoples tax dollars paid for? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| xtremelingo Trilingual Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 6286 days ago 398 posts - 515 votes Speaks: English*, Hindi*, Punjabi* Studies: German, French, Arabic (Written) | Message 2 of 7 14 October 2009 at 10:08pm | IP Logged | ||
|
DMG,
I am interested in what courses the Canadian Government has developed.. Could you post a link or something.. Thanks. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| pfwillard Pro Member United States Joined 5698 days ago 169 posts - 205 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French Personal Language Map | Message 3 of 7 14 October 2009 at 10:26pm | IP Logged | ||
|
There must be good courses produced in the Soviet Union--especially for the languages of the USSR and the Near Abroad.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| dmg Diglot Senior Member Canada dgryski.blogspot.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 7010 days ago 555 posts - 605 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Dutch, Esperanto | Message 4 of 7 15 October 2009 at 12:08am | IP Logged | ||
Perhaps "Language courses" was too vague.. While I'm sure there are other ones, the only ones I've actually _seen_ are the French (and English) courses for the public service. They are available for purchase from FedPubs, a bookstore in Toronto that specializes in Canadian government publications. The French course I flipped through that looked like drills was at the Librairie Michel Fortin, a language bookstore in Montreal. Edited by dmg on 15 October 2009 at 12:09am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 6010 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 5 of 7 15 October 2009 at 7:24pm | IP Logged | ||
|
Government-written courses are very much against the "free market" ethos. In the UK, if the government was to sell language courses, they'd get sued for damaging the market for private enterprise. The BBC (not a government institution, but effectively a public-sector organisation) tread a fine line on this, with their courses now managed by their commercial publishing arm, and no longer connected to any TV series (there are late-night language programs produced by the Open University, but these are mostly self-contained lessons).
In fact, a few years ago the BBC got taken to court for their world-leading on-line revision resources for high school students, BBC Bitesize, on grounds that the free material stifled competition. Of course, the competition was woeful. However, the BBC material was produced by the public service arm so couldn't be commercialised properly. Had it been, it would have still stifled competition on grounds of being so much better than everything else. The US has the great get-out clause of government works being public domain. The work exists for internal use and you can't sue someone for making material for in-house use! The fact that it always (legally) leaks is irrelevant. However, most countries don't have this. "Crown copyright" in the UK is managed and protected by Her Majesty's Stationery Office. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| maaku Senior Member United States Joined 5573 days ago 359 posts - 562 votes Speaks: English* | Message 6 of 7 15 October 2009 at 10:01pm | IP Logged | ||
|
Interesting. As a contractor to the US government what you describe just seems weird.
Far from being improper, the government going its own way is the expected, de facto course. It's when the government uses commercial services that red flags are raised and you have to be very careful about avoiding lawsuits. I should say though that the issue of US government copyright is much more complex than people on the internet make it out to be. For something to fall under the classification of public domain government work, it has to meet a very stringent set of requirements, and I'm straining very hard to think of a single example of something which does. I wish I had time to write a more detailed reply than that. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| xtremelingo Trilingual Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 6286 days ago 398 posts - 515 votes Speaks: English*, Hindi*, Punjabi* Studies: German, French, Arabic (Written) | Message 7 of 7 15 October 2009 at 10:10pm | IP Logged | ||
|
That is very interesting Cainntear. I just learned something new. You get my vote!! :) 1 person has voted this message useful |
If you wish to post a reply to this topic you must first login. If you are not already registered you must first register
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
