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Language Programs: Digital or Hardcopy | ||
Tags: Language Program | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| Lone_Wolf Groupie United States Joined 5104 days ago 60 posts - 117 votes  Speaks: English* | Message 1 of 17 17 September 2012 at 5:15pm | IP Logged | ||
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Greetings Friends,
I know that we here all have our preferences when it comes to specific language programs such as Assimil, Pimsleur, FSI, Teach Yourself, etc. My inquiry isn't focused on that. My inquiry is focused on the FORMAT you all would prefer when it comes to using language programs; specifically book and audio language programs. Let's take FSI for example. I have taken a break from my Egyptian Arabic studies and for the past two weeks have been learning from the FSI Saudi (Hijazi) course and I absolutely love it. I love the dialect and I love FSI's teaching methodology. However, I for one would love to have the hardcopy and CD's because FOR ME it is much easier to handle and I don't have to exclusively sit in front of my PC in order to read the text book. However, I also have the Arabic course by Assimil which teaches MSA and I have the physical paperback textbook that comes with the course. But Assimil teaches MSA in a conversational style which is incorrect. MSA is not used at all in conversation. Especially among the non literate segments of Arab society. So I prefer FSI due to it's teaching methodology but I also prefer hardcopy. And I realize that there are people out there selling hardcopies of FSI courses but I think those can be pretty costly. How about you guys? Any preference? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Arekkusu Hexaglot Senior Member Canada bit.ly/qc_10_lec Joined 5179 days ago 3971 posts - 7747 votes Speaks: English, French*, GermanC1, Spanish, Japanese, Esperanto Studies: Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Estonian | Message 2 of 17 17 September 2012 at 5:54pm | IP Logged | ||
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I wouldn't want to sit in front of the computer either, but I have an iPad, so digital documents are now much simpler to deal with, and carrying loads of books while being able to look anything up online is quite a pleasure. I can even write on the book without damaging it! Occasionally, if the script is small, I can also zoom in easily.
I myself am writing a language book and will be selling it as a hardcopy only, at least for now, but I would love to be able to offer it as an application where people can not only read the text on the iPad and take notes, but also click on anything to be taken to the original word entry or grammatical explanation, or else to hear the word or the line being spoken, or even access links to pictures, texts or videos using the word or expression that other owners are recommending... There is no way this would compare with any use of a hardcopy manual. At this point, development costs are preventing me from offering that, unfortunately. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5060 days ago 2237 posts - 6731 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French) | Message 3 of 17 17 September 2012 at 6:07pm | IP Logged | ||
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Tablets make dealing with pdf's so much easier and pleasant. Any tablet will do as long is it will handle pdf's and mp3's- it doesn't have to be an iPad, per se. The iPad has more interactive apps available and stands head and shoulders above the competition, but there are cheaper, less frills, options available. I use an HP Touchpad (HP tried to compete with Apple and failed) that I got for $150. Now, I can't imagine reading pdf's anyway else.
Now, I prefer a pdf to a hardcopy. I prefer an ebook on my dedicated e-reader to a hardcopy or a pdf on a tablet. When you look at the cost involved in printing and binding DLI and FSI courses, a low cost tablet becomes a better option. Obviously, a tablet is limited to indoor/shaded reading while an e-reader with "e-ink" technology is truly outdoor friendly. The dedicated e-readers don't handle formatted and scanned pdf's very well. Edited by iguanamon on 17 September 2012 at 7:29pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| garyb Triglot Senior Member ScotlandRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5005 days ago 1468 posts - 2413 votes Speaks: English*, Italian, French Studies: Spanish | Message 4 of 17 17 September 2012 at 6:17pm | IP Logged | ||
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I'm generally all for modern technology, including Kindles etc., but for a course like
Assimil I definitely prefer having a paper book that I can quickly flick through and put several bookmarks in than some scanned PDF that takes ages to load and change pages. Only disadvantage of a paper book though is that it needs to be held open with a hand or a strategically-placed object, which is annoying if you want to write or type something out like an active wave translation. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Hendrek Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 4680 days ago 152 posts - 210 votes Speaks: English*, Italian Studies: Persian | Message 5 of 17 17 September 2012 at 7:20pm | IP Logged | ||
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Technology helps make things so much more efficient if you look for ways. I've decided that learning Mandarin for example is not worth the pain without something like a tablet to tap characters into flashcards and such while reading.
However, I also prefer to have a hard copy of any text or grammar book that I'm using. This is what makes me dislike FSI. Once I'm into actual native materials though, digital just makes more sense. Switching my Kindle to Italian and downloading and reading books with a pop-up dictionary was probably the best idea I've had in months of language studying. It makes it possible to look up words and learn them without severely slowing down the reading process. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Juаn Senior Member Colombia Joined 5143 days ago 727 posts - 1830 votes Speaks: Spanish* | Message 6 of 17 17 September 2012 at 8:02pm | IP Logged | ||
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I only read paper books of course, and would never use an ebook. Reading from a book will always be a superior experience.
Especially in the case of language learners, we should always support paper copies; by purchasing digital content, we contribute to a future where the enjoyment of our languages will be crippled as the availability of foreign books, movies and all forms of culture and knowledge becomes ever more limited due to regional restrictions imposed on digital distribution. I think the obsession of our time with fashionable (and a lot of the time useless) technology is part of a process of de-culturization that leads to a life of the mind and the spirit that is ever poorer and more barren. It is only fitting that great writers and readers, from Umberto Eco to Carlos Fuentes, say no to ebooks. Let me quote the former: "‘Today we have texts that are 500 years old which seem to have been published days ago, yet we can barely read the computer discs that we used 10 or 15 years ago. As for the durability of new supports, for the moment we have no perspective.’" Really, ebooks are fit for trash content - and that only. Edited by Juаn on 17 September 2012 at 8:04pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Arekkusu Hexaglot Senior Member Canada bit.ly/qc_10_lec Joined 5179 days ago 3971 posts - 7747 votes Speaks: English, French*, GermanC1, Spanish, Japanese, Esperanto Studies: Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Estonian | Message 7 of 17 17 September 2012 at 8:57pm | IP Logged | ||
Ebooks are NOT concerned with the preservation and veneration of an object; their goal is to transmit and share information. And if you are talking about language acquisition, you are not aiming for esthetics but for the acquisition of knowledge. I have more knowledge and "culture" because of ebooks than I would have without. Ebooks have not empoverished the mind of their readers, on the contrary: so much more is available, so much more easily and at a lower cost. Of course, you are allowed to prefer printed books by all means, but as a whole, you are fighting a lost battle and I think you are blinded by your dislike and distrust of technology and change. 6 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| liammcg Senior Member Ireland Joined 4402 days ago 269 posts - 397 votes Speaks: English* | Message 8 of 17 17 September 2012 at 10:06pm | IP Logged | ||
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Much prefer a hard copy myself, I can't stand looking at a computer screen for too long.
I must admit I've never used a tablet for reading, but would be eager to try it out based on the opinions above. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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