|
 |
"Modern Russian 1-2" by Dawson et al. | ||
Tags: Russian | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| Zegpoddle Diglot Newbie United States Joined 3253 days ago 7 posts - 29 votes Speaks: English*, French Studies: Spanish | Message 1 of 2 21 June 2015 at 9:30am | IP Logged |
|
Can anyone confirm whether or not the Georgetown Univ. textbook series "Modern Russian 1-2" by Dawson,
Bidwell, & Humesky (1977) is just a reprint or repackaging of one of the FSI Russian courses from the 1960s-1970s that is freely available online? I've gleaned from comments on this site and from Amazon reviews that both are audio-lingual-type courses (heavy on pattern practice and substitution drills) and that both contain some outdated cold-war vocabulary, which leads me to wonder if one is actually just a duplication of the other. Also, the instructor's manual for volumes 1-2 of "Modern Russian" is for sale on Amazon, but I don't see any clear indication that it actually contains any answers for exercises in either the student textbooks or the two workbooks. Can anyone verify this? (Sorry if this topic has been touched on before. I've been having trouble getting searches on HTLAL to return results.) Many thanks. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Speakeasy Senior Member Canada Joined 3839 days ago 507 posts - 1098 votes  Studies: German | Message 2 of 2 21 June 2015 at 2:22pm | IP Logged |
|
It would appear that, in most cases throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the FSI produced their own basic course manuals and accompanying audio recordings for the teaching of modern langugages to their staff and to the members of their staff's families. Occasionally, they relied on outside sources and either sub-contracted the development work, or acted as co-sponsors of a project lead by a consortium of universities, or simply purchased well-prepared and highly-regarded materials off-the-shelf.
In the case of Modern Russian (issued in two volumes) by Clayton L. Dawson, published by the Georgetown University Press, the FSI acted as a co-sponsor of a project lead by a consortium of universities. I have not come across the answers in the Modern Russian Workbooks (two volumes). However, for the serious student, I would recommend including them in one's library, particularly given their very reasonable pricing. One rather bizarre feature of the series is that the Instructor's Manual, Modern Russian contains the texts of the Supplementary Pronunciation Drills that are spread throughout the course textbooks. It is bizarre (to me) because the drills cover a mere 20 pages, and thus could have easily been included in the textbooks, and yet are an extremely valuable tool for learning the Russian sound system. I recommend that you include the Instructor's Manual in your purchase. As you're probably aware, the audio recordings are freely available on the Indiana University Centre For Language Technology website. The Supplementary Pronunciation Drills that I mentioned above form part of the audio recordings (identifying these drills is not always obvious as one seems to simply bump into them, but they're quite helpful). The audio files available on the Indiana University website have a couple of minor uploading errors; that is, one or two files have been uploaded twice and a couple of files are missing, but you can get beyond this. Finally, I must admit that I, too, have yet to master the subtleties of the SEARCH function of the HTLAL Forums. ADDENDUM 1: Just like me, I failed to answer one of your questions. To be brief, the 62 pages of the Instructor's Manual contain the following: I. Description A brief history of the development project that lead to the publication of this series, a description of the underlying teaching principles, which can be summarized as intensive practice, and a fairly detailed explanation of the format of the textbooks and of the lesson materials. II. Suggestions for Use of the Text A detailed description of the various types of drills and suggestions on how to integrate them into the study periods. Suggestions on how to Schedule the materials for 3-hour, 4-hour, or 5-hour per week teaching programmes. IV. Suggestions for Tests Brief suggestions for testing. Appendix A - Supplementary Pronunciation Drills These are the "sound drills" that are scattered throughout the textbooks and to which I refered above. They are keyed to specific Lesson Numbers. It is quite odd that they were not included directly in the textbooks! Appendix B - Sample Questions on Reading and Writing Sample questions (in Russian) keyed to Lesson numbers. IN CONCLUSION: Putting the supplementary pronunciation drills and the sample questions aside for the moment, the Instructor's Manual makes for useful reading as it helps the independent-learner gain insight into how the course is structured and why their particular approach was adopted. It also provides specific suggestions for a study (teaching) schedule. ADDENDUM 2: As far as I know, the only FSI Russian courses that are "freely available" online are: A. FSI Russian FAST From what I understand, with the exception of the FSI Italian FAST course, these Familiarization And Short Term language courses were designed to be delivered in the classroom over a relatively short period (3 to 6 months) and were basic "survival" courses for new-arrivals. The FSI Italian FAST course is much more intensive than the average FAST course. Generally speaking, the FAST courses did NOT adopt the teaching method of "intensive practice" of sentence patterns as had been done with the FSI Basic courses, of which Modern Russian is a very fine example. B. FSI Russian: An Active Introduction The text of the very brief "FSI Russian: An Active Introduction" course is available; however, I do not know where the audio recordings are located. Edited by Speakeasy on 29 June 2015 at 1:59am 6 persons have 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. |
