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 FSI Language Courses Forum : Learning Languages : General Discussion
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raincrowlee
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Quote raincrowlee Replybullet Topic: Discussion for List of FSI Courses
    Posted: 15 November 2006 at 10:15pm
Since I haven't been able to find a complete list of FSI course on the internet, I decided that we should start one. I did the first logical thing, which was go to NTIS and make a list of what they are offering. They have 40 languages listed, though only 38 have the book and tapes courses like those on this site. I've posted that in another thread, and marked which ones are already on this site.

I know that list isn't complete, though. First, they don't list either German Basic or Purtuguese Programmatic Vol. 2, both of which are already on the site. Furthermore, I saw a government paper that claimed that FSI has produced programs for more than 60 languages. Unfortunately, they didn't say whether those were complete programs, or even if they have been printed. I guess it's possible to have a program that never got printed and was only used in the classroom.

If 'more than 60' is the number of courses created, then there are at least twenty languages out there that are not on my list. If that's the number of Basic Courses, then there could be more than 30, because only 30 of that languages listed at NTIS had Basic Courses or some equivalent thereof. Then again, the rest of the programs could all be Headstart or FAST programs. We won't know until we find them.

I would also like to add notes to the list, saying which of the programs are currently being digitized. Chung posted a list of titles gleaned from this forum, but I don't know how accurate or current the list actually is. That way, people would know what's being worked on, and won't have to keep asking when things will appear.

What other programs have people heard of? I know there's an Indonesian Reader, though I don't know the details of that program. Also, NTIS lists a Hungarian, Vol. 3 on CD-ROM with the other two, but I don't know if that's really additional information or just breaking up the old program in a new way. And information would be appreciated.
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Malcolm
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Quote Malcolm Replybullet Posted: 15 November 2006 at 11:12pm
I think it's important to get a current list of who is working on what. For example, I wouldn't want to start scanning in Thai only to find out that someone else has already done it. Similarly, I wouldn't want to buy the Thai tapes from the NTIS if someone else had already bought and started digitizing them. Perhaps Glen should consider re-adding the status section, but this time including courses that he doesn't have, but other are working on. This would also give new users an idea of what to expect in the near to far future. It would also give potential contributors an idea of what materials are in demand. Chung's list is good, but it's ever so slightly out of date.
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gdfellows
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Quote gdfellows Replybullet Posted: 16 November 2006 at 7:50pm
I have copied raincrowlee's list and will develop a status page.  It will be on the new web site, since the new software provides much better tools for tables.
 
 
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Malcolm
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Quote Malcolm Replybullet Posted: 16 November 2006 at 8:34pm
Nice list. Programmatic Portuguese 2 is available at the NTIS on 22 cassettes and on an mp3/pdf CD.

cassette
http://www.ntis.gov/search/product.asp?ABBR=AVA03377AE00

mp3/pdf CD
http://www.ntis.gov/search/product.asp?ABBR=AVA21346CDRM

Edited by Malcolm - 16 November 2006 at 8:36pm
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gdfellows
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Quote gdfellows Replybullet Posted: 16 November 2006 at 9:38pm
Check out http://fsilanguagecourses.com/Status/tabid/67/Default.aspx.  Let me know any suggestions, what's not clear, rewording, etc.
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Chung
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Quote Chung Replybullet Posted: 16 November 2006 at 10:12pm
Looks good so far.
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Malcolm
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Quote Malcolm Replybullet Posted: 16 November 2006 at 10:41pm
The only suggestion I would make is that the "who" column indicate which part of the course (i.e. text or audio) that the contributor is working one. For example, I'm only doing the books for Modern Written Arabic, so:

Arabic     Modern Written Volume 1     25 cassettes      Malcolm (text)     Digitizing text; need cassettes
Arabic     Modern Written Volume 2     8 cassettes      Malcolm (text)     Digitizing text; need cassettes

The user "braveb" on the HTLAL forum has the cassettes and has digitized the first lesson, but it is unclear whether he intends to digitize the rest of it. If he is doing the audio, then it would look like this:

Arabic     Modern Written Volume 1     25 cassettes      Malcolm (text), braveb (audio)     Digitizing
Arabic     Modern Written Volume 2     8 cassettes      Malcolm (text), braveb (audio)     Digitizing
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raincrowlee
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Quote raincrowlee Replybullet Posted: 17 November 2006 at 8:01am
Something occurred to me. I was searching the web, still looking for a complete list and I ran into some papers that referenced the FSI courses. The figure "more than 60" kept popping up, like I mentioned in my first post. Then I ran across one of those charts that list the difficulties of the languages, and realized that there were 61 languages on the chart.

Could these languages be on the list because they are the ones that FSI have developed and taught? They know how long it takes to teach them because they have experience? Could it be that this is the list I've been looking for all along?

Of course, even if my intuition is correct, it doesn't say what sort of courses they developed for the various languages. We don't know if they were all worthy of a Basic Course, or if they all got shorter introductory lessons. I wonder if anyone at FSI knows the answer.
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unzum
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Quote unzum Replybullet Posted: 26 November 2008 at 8:09am
I know this is a bit late but it looks like there's a FSI Moroccan Arabic.
http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/Home.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=ERICSearchResult&_urlType=action&newSearch=true&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=au&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=%22Smith+Harlie+L.+Jr.%22
It's not available to download but they have details about it.


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