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How to use DLI courses | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| Bart Triglot Senior Member Belgium Joined 6971 days ago 155 posts - 159 votes  Speaks: Dutch*, French, English Studies: German, Spanish, Japanese, Swedish | Message 1 of 5 01 August 2010 at 12:30am | IP Logged | ||
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I have downloaded and skimmed through some of the DLI courses available online and I'm a little confused about the 'right' way to use these materials.
Could someone who has used one of their courses (succesfully) maybe elaborate on this? As I have recently fallen in love with all things Hungarian, that's the language I'm looking at, but I'm pretty sure all courses follow the same framework so any advice given would probably be applicable to most of them. (And yes, I know there is also an excellent FSI course for Hungarian available, but learning from multiple sources has never hurt anyone) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| liddytime Pentaglot Senior Member United States mainlymagyar.wordpre Joined 6040 days ago 693 posts - 1328 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Galician Studies: Hungarian, Vietnamese, Modern Hebrew, Norwegian, Persian, Arabic (Written) | Message 2 of 5 03 August 2010 at 9:10pm | IP Logged | ||
So, DLI courses are not quite the same as FSI courses. DLI courses were made specifically to supplement the intensive full-time programs at DLI while the FSI courses were slightly more geared towards self-study. A few years ago I called DLI to inquire about getting copies of tapes for their retired courses. The administrator I talked to thought I was nuts. " You can't use those tapes for self-study!! You'll never learn anything from them. They need to be used in context with a class and an instructor!" Not true. I have used several of their courses successfully for self-study. The advantages of the DLI courses are; 1. a VERY regimented and thorough approach to grammar step by step. Most of the textbooks are 10- 12 volumes at 200+ pages each! 2. TONS of audio ( for most of them) I have not counted the total hours of cassette for Hungarian but I am sure it is at least 100 hours. 3. TONS of vocabulary. Most of them instruct 3000-4000 words. (if you manage to make it to the end of the course) 4. The potential to reach a 3+ level of fluency ( basic fluency) 5. The availability of languages not available in the FSI format such as Romanian, Albanian, Czech, Persian, Indonesian etc.. Their Disadvantages; 1. Not as many recorded drills as FSI. This IS where a native instructor would come in handy. 2. Too much military vocabulary for the average civilian 3. Sound quality on many of the tapes is terrible 4. Very dry. Even more so than FSI in my opinion! In the first volume of each DLI course there are instructions how to go about using the tapes. I copied and pasted those from the Hungarian DLI course below. These are only suggestions, of course. I have had success putting a unit's vocabulary into Anki and drilling it until it is totally familiar. Then, I go back and try to understand as much of the tape unit as possible without using the book. Then I go through the tapes with the book. By this time I can usually get the gist of the lesson from memory. In fact, by this time I am usually hearing it in my sleep! DLI units are much shorter than FSI so it shouldn't take more than a couple of days to get through each unit. sok szerencsét!!! a. What you must do: ( 1) Listen and repeat aloud a) Part One, Introduction (b) Part Three, Vocabulary (c) Part Four, Dialogue (2) Copy the vocabulary items from print. (3) Memorize the vocabulary and the dialogue. b. How to do it: (1) Listen and repeat aloud while keeping the book closed. (a) Part One, Introduction 1. Section 1. Each word is'voiced twice, followed by a pause during which you should repeat the word. 2. Section 2. (and following): follow instructions as recorded on the tape. (b) Part Three, Vocabulary 'Each item is announced in English as Item One, Item Two,. etc., and voiced twice in Hungarian followed by a pause during which you should repeat the item. (c) Part Four, Dialogue (l) The entire dialogue is recorded first, as if it were a normal piece of conversation between two people. Listen to this part only. (2) Copy the vocabulary from the book. Do not voice the items while copying. Check carefully for diacritical marks. Turn in your written homework(s) to your class instructor before the first period of the next working day. (3) Memorize the vocabulary and the dialogue. It is essential that you memorize both the vocabulary and the dialogue while listening to the sounds. Thus, keep the book closed. It might help you to close your eyes for better concentration on the sounds • - Vocabulary Listen to Part Three, Vocabulary 1. (closed Book) Each item is announced (Item one, Item Two, etc.) in English and voiced twice in Hungarian followed by a pause during which you should REPEAT THE WORD. Rewind the tape and repeat the procedure with each item as necessary, until you are satisfied with your own pronunciation. ~ After you mastered the pronunciation of alI items, rewind the tape to item one, open the book at Part 3, Vocabulary, and cover the right hand column which lists the English meaning of the Hungarian words. Listen again to the Hungarian utterances while sliding the cover down to expose the English meaning. Repeat the Hungarian word and visualize its meaning. Repeat the procedure until you master alI items. (b) Dialogue The dialogue is first recorded in its entirety) as if it were a piece of authentic conversation. In the second part the dialogue is recorded in segments, i.e., the first voice utters a question twice, followed by a pause, then the second voice utters the answer twic~ followed by a pause. The same procedure is used for alI exchanges in the other four recorded parts.~ With the book and your eyes closed, listen to the complete dialogue. ~ Keeping the book closed,listen to the segmented dialogue. After each of the sécond voicings, during the pause following it, repeat the instructor's utterance. Rewind and replay as often as necessary uritil you master the pronunciation. Rewind' to the start of thesegmented dialogue. ~ With the book open at the cartoons, listen to the instructor's utterances and repeat them, exchange by exchange, while watching the cartoon pictures. 5. Repeat each exchange as often as necessary to master it (while-watching the appropriate cartoon) • Repeat the entire dialogue.... Edited by liddytime on 04 August 2010 at 12:39am 7 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| daristani Senior Member United States Joined 6955 days ago 752 posts - 1661 votes Studies: Uzbek | Message 3 of 5 03 August 2010 at 10:05pm | IP Logged | ||
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Many thanks, liddytime, for spelling out some of the virtues of the DLI courses.
One of the interesting things about these forums is the waves of enthusiasm that people seem to go through for different instructional materials; when the effort to digitize the FSI courses first began, there was tremendous interest, and various forum members took up the idea that these were the "Holy Grail" of foreign language learning. They'd been available at extortionate prices from AudioForum and other resellers for quite some time, but financially beyond the reach of many, and so the idea of their becoming available for free download caused a number of us to become positively orgasmic. Over time, though, the idea seemed to be expressed more and more that, while extensive, they're too "dry" for most people to make it through, and so these days, more positive comments seem to be made about other, commercial materials, such as Assimil (in particular), or Michel Thomas. (Note that not all that many people are aware, by the way, that the FSI courses' availability came about largely due to the discussions and volunteer efforts that started on the HTLAL forum.) When Fat-Tony made the DLI courses available, I thought this was another incredible product of this forum, and a great resource for people with an interest in the languages he made available. Although again there was a burst of enthusiasm at the time, those courses as well seem to have largely faded from visibility, and they're hardly ever mentioned any more in the discussions. (I hope they're still available at the links he and others uploaded them to.) Your comments on the DLI courses are thus very welcome, as the DLI materials represent, as far as I'm aware, just about the most extensive audio-accompanied materials out there, and thus are a great resource, even if not as pretty, as entertaining, or as up-to-the-minute as the commercial materials that get so much more attention. So once again thanks to Fat-Tony and the others for making them available, and to you for highlighting their usefulness even for learners who don't have the opportunity to take part in the intensive training at DLI itself. ADDENDUM: For those interested in the courses, this (rather lengthy) thread contains most of the links at which they were made available, as well as some comments re downloading them. (I don't know to what extent the links are still valid, though.) http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?T ID=16633&PN=1 Edited by daristani on 03 August 2010 at 11:59pm 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| hobbitofny Senior Member United States Joined 6044 days ago 280 posts - 408 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Russian | Message 4 of 5 03 August 2010 at 11:44pm | IP Logged | ||
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If you want the Russian DLI, I have part of it on this down load link:
http://www.4shared.com/dir/y2H86LcE/DLI_Russian_early_1980s. html 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| liddytime Pentaglot Senior Member United States mainlymagyar.wordpre Joined 6040 days ago 693 posts - 1328 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Galician Studies: Hungarian, Vietnamese, Modern Hebrew, Norwegian, Persian, Arabic (Written) | Message 5 of 5 04 August 2010 at 4:42pm | IP Logged | ||
True, they are both pretty "dry". Neither FSI nor DLI will appeal to the casual language learner who wants to pick up a few words in a language before their next vacation. I truly believe, however, they are not too dry for someone who needs to achieve fluency or near fluency in a language and cannot spend the time or resources to attend DLI or become a foreign service officer. Truly learning a language takes discipline, time and effort. The drills of the DLI/FSI courses may not be entertaining, but they serve an important function; drilling the language into your brain so speaking becomes second nature! They are incredibly effective. (they have been for me anyway!) Thanks again to fat tony and the folks at FSI.com for making these courses available! Edited by liddytime on 04 August 2010 at 4:43pm 3 persons have voted this message useful |
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