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How long to complete platiquemos?

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16 messages over 2 pages: 1
magictom123
Senior Member
United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name
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Speaks: English*
Studies: Italian, French

 
 Message 9 of 16
27 January 2012 at 10:34am | IP Logged 
To those who have finished the course, at what level would you say your Spanish was at?
Are everyday conversations easy to navigate after completing the course? Can you watch
TV etc? I think I read somewhere that the course leads to around C1 - is that correct.

Of course, the course requires a huge investment in time. I have done a lot of reading
about how good the course is, but not necessarily from people who have completed it, so I
would be interested to know.
1 person has voted this message useful



petteri
Triglot
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Finland
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Speaks: Finnish*, English, Swedish
Studies: German, Spanish

 
 Message 10 of 16
27 January 2012 at 11:56am | IP Logged 
magictom123 wrote:
To those who have finished the course, at what level would you say your Spanish was at?
Are everyday conversations easy to navigate after completing the course? Can you watch
TV etc? I think I read somewhere that the course leads to around C1 - is that correct.


No. In my opinion Platiquemos leads to listening and reading comprehension somewhere between B1.1 and B2.1. But everyday speaking proficiency can be higher than usually at that level. Overall C1 skills generally require learning much wider vocabulary (8000 - 12000 words and idioms) than Platiquemos provides.    

Completing Platiquemos provides good amount skills needed to achieve C1. But it does not provide enough vocabulary neither adequate amount of reading nor listening practice.

Edited by petteri on 27 January 2012 at 12:30pm

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magictom123
Senior Member
United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name
Joined 5390 days ago

272 posts - 365 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Italian, French

 
 Message 11 of 16
27 January 2012 at 2:00pm | IP Logged 
Thanks for the reply. I guess the source (I can't find it now) from which I had
mistakenly gathered that the course led to C1 may have simply been someone self-assessing
after completion of the course. A quick look at the Amazon reviews for the course show a
couple of people at least stating that they had gone from zero to fluency using
Platiquemos.

Back to the point of the thread, I read earlier today that one person using the course to
teach was spending around 45 hours per level. The notes at the start of the textbook
suggests 5-600 hours but I suppose how long each day you are spending on it and how well
you are able to absorb what you are learning.

Edited by magictom123 on 27 January 2012 at 2:03pm

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petteri
Triglot
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Finland
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Speaks: Finnish*, English, Swedish
Studies: German, Spanish

 
 Message 12 of 16
27 January 2012 at 2:43pm | IP Logged 
It all depends on deficiency of fluency. Platiquemos can take a learner pretty far in everyday speaking proficiency.

But in my mind C1 language skills mean also ie. being able to read newspapers or Isabel Allende novels without consulting dictionary too much and understanding good amount of tv programs without subtitles. As well C1 includes ability to write text which has pretty low amount of errors as well as ability to use the foreign language at work. All of those tasks require good vocabulary.





Edited by petteri on 27 January 2012 at 2:45pm

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petteri
Triglot
Senior Member
Finland
Joined 4729 days ago

117 posts - 208 votes 
Speaks: Finnish*, English, Swedish
Studies: German, Spanish

 
 Message 13 of 16
27 January 2012 at 3:16pm | IP Logged 
magictom123 wrote:

Back to the point of the thread, I read earlier today that one person using the course to teach was spending around 45 hours per level. The notes at the start of the textbook
suggests 5-600 hours but I suppose how long each day you are spending on it and how well
you are able to absorb what you are learning.


Using 500-600 hours to study just Platiquemos could provide pretty unbalanced skill set and probably not best results.

If you have 500 hours ie. this kind of mix up could give more balanced skill set:
30 hours: Learn Pimsleur (I and II)
150 hours: Learn Platiquemos
50 hours: Learn Assimil
120 hours: Learn words and idioms (grind, grind, grind.)
90 hours: read and listen to native materials.
70 hours: Write and analyze what you have written (Find a tutor to correct your errors).

After studying 500 hours you should book four week language course in ie. Cuba. During the trip you are not allowed to speak or read anything but Spanish. After the immersion period you can probably speak pretty well. :)



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Random review
Diglot
Senior Member
United Kingdom
Joined 5580 days ago

781 posts - 1310 votes 
Speaks: English*, Spanish
Studies: Portuguese, Mandarin, Yiddish, German

 
 Message 14 of 16
27 January 2012 at 11:03pm | IP Logged 
I finished Platiquemos plus many other things and I'm certainly not C1 in productive
skills (probably I am in receptive skills, if the definition of petteri is right, but
that came from extensive reading, watching lots of TV etc). I'd agree with
petteri: it should leave you somewhere between B1 and B2.

Edited by Random review on 27 January 2012 at 11:21pm

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dano21
Newbie
United States
Joined 4716 days ago

4 posts - 5 votes
Studies: English

 
 Message 15 of 16
06 February 2012 at 9:23pm | IP Logged 
I agree with all of the above posters. I'm on unit 36 of the course, and after doing it
for about 9 months, my comprehension skills have improved dramatically. There are a few
things I would touch on:

You cannot rely only on this course. Watch tv, listen to radio, try to have
conversations with people in person/online.

Be persistent. Do a little every day. It would be better to do a couple of drills from
a unit (20-30 minute) every day rather than do the full unit (~1 hour) every few days.
It can be a little dull sometimes so you must remain motivated and persistent.

I like to do the drill while I am walking to work and class. I get too distracted if I
am sitting in front of my computer. I only need to book the first time I go through the
unit, so it is not an issue. Good luck! It is a great program and I have seen many
people of the forums here improve their Spanish using it!
2 persons have voted this message useful



DaraghM
Diglot
Senior Member
Ireland
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1947 posts - 2923 votes 
Speaks: English*, Spanish
Studies: French, Russian, Hungarian

 
 Message 16 of 16
07 February 2012 at 11:50am | IP Logged 
magictom123 wrote:
To those who have finished the course, at what level would you say your Spanish was at?


As other posters have mentioned it leaves you somewhere between B1 and B2. I would say it gives you most of the grammar associated with B2, such as the various compound tenses and subjunctives, with an ability to use them actively in speech. While it teaches around 2,500 words, that's still not sufficient for B2 fluency.


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