Well, I have done extensive research into many different Spanish programs. Through my reading I have come across dozens of reviews on the FSI courses. I have heard many good things as well as a few bad. I have heard things like “Don Casteel’s enhanced version of FSI is great”. I was not nearly as impressed. I don’t understand why the audio was slowed down as much as it was. I compared a few of the beginning tracks on the new and the old version of FSI and they are truly like night and day. At first I did not mind the Platiquemos version of FSI; that was until I heard the full speed of the original. At first I was blown away by how fast the speakers were conversing. After taking one lesson and listening to it once a day over the course of a week I found that I developed an ear for hearing Spanish spoken at a natural pace. I think this is perhaps the greatest benefit of the original course.
FSI Spanish programmatic: jeez I just cannot say enough great things about this wonderful course. I will admit that it did take a few lessons before I developed a liking for it, but now I am totally addicted. I am currently on lesson nine. I have been completing one lesson once a day and repeating the same lesson for five consecutive days. By the fifth day I can do the practice dialogue perfectly and without hesitation. I also enjoy how thorough the program is in constantly reviewing past lessons before continuing on with the new dialogue. The other great thing I love about Spanish programmatic is how it starts off with the past tense. I think it really does feel more natural.
As I complete more and more lessons I plan on updating the forum on how thorough I feel the program is and how much progress I am making toward my fluency. So far I love the Programmatic series and I can’t wait to study the subjunctive mood (something that supposedly FSI Programmatic excels in). I know Spanish basic will take me further, but I have heard that the Programmatic series does a better job teaching the subjunctive, so I am going to do them both.
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