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Question about FSI German course

  Tags: FSI | German
 Language Learning Forum : Advice Center Post Reply
GermanMd
Newbie
Turkey
Joined 3859 days ago

18 posts - 34 votes
Studies: English

 
 Message 1 of 8
19 October 2013 at 9:41pm | IP Logged 
Guten Tag :) ..

Please I just want to ask about FSI German course, I know that this course can possibly take me to B1 level
if I work hard on it ..

I want to know if I finish the whole course, can I then be able to form all types of sentences easily and understand
the structure of any sentence and then it's the matter of acquiring more and more vocabulary to reach the B2 level
?

For example after finishing the course can I read a newspaper easily with the help of a dictionary ?


( I am doing this course with assimil German without toil + assimil German with ease ) ..

Danke schön ..
1 person has voted this message useful



Jeffers
Senior Member
United Kingdom
Joined 4669 days ago

2151 posts - 3960 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Hindi, Ancient Greek, French, Sanskrit, German

 
 Message 2 of 8
20 October 2013 at 9:45am | IP Logged 
Individual results may vary.

Nobody can really tell you what CEFR level your course will take you to (there's wide disagreement as to what constitutes these levels). But I can guarantee you that if you work hard on FSI German, you will be able to do more with German than you did as a new beginner. Isn't that what we use courses for?
5 persons have voted this message useful



Avid Learner
Diglot
Senior Member
Canada
Joined 4422 days ago

100 posts - 156 votes 
Speaks: French*, English
Studies: German

 
 Message 3 of 8
23 October 2013 at 1:43am | IP Logged 
GermanMd, I'm about to start unit 18 and I can read news articles. :) You are right that you are going to need more vocabulary (I have maybe 60% more vocabulary than what is in all the 24 FSI units). That being said, it will help you if you start reading on the side as you are going through the units. Personally I would say that once I made it to past participles, then it was the perfect time to try to read easy native material.
2 persons have voted this message useful



HenryMW
Tetraglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 4934 days ago

125 posts - 179 votes 
Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, French
Studies: Modern Hebrew

 
 Message 4 of 8
23 October 2013 at 3:28pm | IP Logged 
I love the FSI German course. I started attending Stammtische after I finished the course
and was immediately able to carry on with little trouble. Still, I brought my dictionary
and wrote down the words I didn't know. The course isn't perfect, but it places you very
well to hit the newspapers and interact with the German community.
3 persons have voted this message useful



TehGarnt
Diglot
Newbie
Germany
Joined 4612 days ago

33 posts - 63 votes 
Speaks: English*, German
Studies: Spanish

 
 Message 5 of 8
23 October 2013 at 3:59pm | IP Logged 
I slogged my way through the whole FSI German course and I kind of regret it. The
register is super-formal (1960s diplomatic!) and if you follow the instructions to
master the drills in each unit your progress will be very slow, particularly in regards
to learning vocabulary.

That said, if you are using Assimil at the same time FSI could be a good compliment as
a source of grammar drills. But I really wouldn't worry about mastering constructions
like "sich mit jdm. in verbindung setzen" at an early stage. My personal recommendation
for grammar drills is the later Linguaphone complete course.

In answer to the question about a newspaper, I would say that FSI by itself doesn't
provide nearly enough vocabulary and reading practice for this to be easy, but it's
possible. I would recommend an intermediate-advanced course first.
2 persons have voted this message useful



GermanMd
Newbie
Turkey
Joined 3859 days ago

18 posts - 34 votes
Studies: English

 
 Message 6 of 8
23 October 2013 at 11:47pm | IP Logged 
Many thanks for your replays guys ..

What I liked most about FSI is the grammar drills, I don't rely much on the vocabulary it provides , I complement it
with langenscheidt basic German vocabulary (~ 4000 words ) and the accompanying workbook ..


All what I need from FSI is the ability to understand sentences structure and to be able to form sentences correctly
and accurately and as fast as possible .. I am looking forward to B2 level as soon as possible for working purposes
in Germany ..

Any other feedback is highly appreciated :) ..
1 person has voted this message useful



GermanMd
Newbie
Turkey
Joined 3859 days ago

18 posts - 34 votes
Studies: English

 
 Message 7 of 8
24 October 2013 at 11:41pm | IP Logged 
By the way, can we use FSI program without the audio files ?

This could be strange ! but has anyone here done it without audios ?
1 person has voted this message useful



Avid Learner
Diglot
Senior Member
Canada
Joined 4422 days ago

100 posts - 156 votes 
Speaks: French*, English
Studies: German

 
 Message 8 of 8
26 October 2013 at 12:56am | IP Logged 
I always used the audio at first. I paid attention to the pronounciation lessons that are in the first 9 units. However, I worked without them from unit 13 or so. I listen to German through other sources, so I don't feel I need them that much and they aren't very pleasant to listen to.

I changed my approach over time. Up until unit 16 or so, I did everything by the book, but it became hard to progress and remember everything. Now I only work thoroughly with a meaningful sample of sentences, which give me at least one example of each grammar point or word/expression. That's also partly because units in the third quarter are longer. It works well for me. I've put the selected sentences into Anki and I find it works better to have everything mixed together than to review the same notion in 5 sentences in a row. It's only when I can recall any notion at any time that I find it useful.


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