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Author | Message |
jwcthev
Newbie ![]() Joined: 04 March 2006 Online Status: Offline Posts: 3 |
![]() ![]() ![]() Posted: 09 October 2006 at 11:30pm |
Glen,
Just as one suggestion (take it with a grain of salt as you receive many mutually exclusive requests), I would recommend adding Programmatic Spanish Volume 2 before continuing with Basic Spanish.
Programmatic Spanish is a great course. It does not take one as far as Basic Spanish, but it definitely goes farther than Barron's 1 & 2 with grammar (heavy drilling in subjunctive and conditional phrases).
I believe it provides a more thorough grounding in the "introduction" to Spanish, with heavy drilling in pronunciation that really helps to lose the gringo accent (it is a Spanish phonetics course combined with grammar). FSI claims it goes beyond the grammar taught in most 1st year college Spanish classes.
The words are spoken more slowly, and I have found the combination with pronunciation exercises has made it easier for me to learn to trill my r's and work on consonent clusters, whereas I have had problems moving at the spoken speed of Basic Spanish without developing a slower but still somewhat natural speed that emphasizes better pronunciation.
The weakness of course is that Programmatic Spanish does not cover all the grammar taught in Basic Spanish 1 - 4, and teaches only 1400 words (heavy emphasis over syntax/grammar rather than vocabulary acquisition). But that is the perfect reason to complete Programmatic Spanish and then have an easy move to Basic Spanish, tear through the grammar going through Basic Spanish 1, 2, and parts of 3 (in terms of grammar) with rapid vocabulary acquisition (Basic Spanish being more vocabulary intensive). And then of course Basic Spanish would take one farther ultimately in points of grammar by Level 4.
I think someone who has already taken a substantial amount of Spanish would want to simply go with Basic Levels 1-4, but proceeding with Programmatic Spanish 1 & 2 then moving on to Basic Spanish (rushing through it until encountering new grammar somewhere in Level 3) is an excellent way to get a thorough grounding in grammar.
Finally, Programmatic Spanish is not as easily available. With the first half of FSI Basic Spanish available at most libraries (Barrons 1 & 2), the crunch is not felt until level three. Plus, with Platiquemos and Learning Spanish Like Crazy, one can purchase Basic Spanish 3 & 4 at a comparitively reasonable price.
All of this is just a plug for the sequencing of posting files, not whether Basic Spanish (an excellent, more thorough course by Level 4) should be made available.
I suspect one who started with Programmatic Spanish 1 & 2 and then moved to Basic Spanish 1 - 4 could potentially finish sooner than a novice who started only with Basic 1 and tried to move through to Basic 4 (many conceptual barriers barring progress with more truncated grammar explanations and fast speech to the point of sloppiness before a proper foundation in accurate pronunciation).
To summarize, as a language student I'd pick Basic over Programmatic Spanish if I were forced to make a choice in the "only" course to complete, but I'd choose completing Programmatic Spanish 1 & 2 first before completing Basic 1 - 4 (at an accelerated pace with a thorough PS grammatical foundation). Therefore, my suggestion would be to post PS Vol. 2 first before moving on to Basic 1 - 30.
Again, take it with a grain of salt as you prioritize competing demands. Regardless of the course sequencing order, Your web page is bringing encouragement to a number of language students who could never afford a fraction of the material being posted.
--John
P.S. to anyone browsing the PS material, don't get discusted with the initial pronunciation exercises. You will hear a voice bleating "PaPA, PaPA" "PApa, PApa", etc. in the first chapter or two. The pronunciation exercises are good but can be skipped, and by Level 10 you can say a surprising number of things.
By about unit 15 I was able to hire a nanny for my children who speaks no English, using a small vocabulary but a more functional chunk of grammar than I would have had under my command for Basic Spanish unit 15.
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lelemds
Newbie ![]() Joined: 11 September 2006 Online Status: Offline Posts: 15 |
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Hi man! Listen, I already speak spanish (a lil) but would like to brush it up... But the first exercise is too boring, just like you said, papa, papa, papa, papa... lol
In what unit does the pronunciation exercise finish?! I'd like to take the course, but I think I dont need this kindda exercise... Thanks in advance, if you need any help on spanish or portuguese, let me know, ok?! |
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jwcthev
Newbie ![]() Joined: 04 March 2006 Online Status: Offline Posts: 3 |
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On where to start, Unit 2 has a very small dialogue.
By Unit 4, one starts to learn grammar. I believe than Unit 10 or 11 through Unit 25 omits the pronunciation section entirely (just introduction of grammar followed by dialogue and drills). At Unit 26 of Volume 2, there are some new pronunciation sections that taper off later in Volume 2, from what I recall.
With PS, here is what I would recommend for someone who does not need the pronunciation work. Print out the instructor's manual (tape transcript) and the student manual (course textbook) on a unit by unit basis, so you have the transcript and course manual side by side.
Skip through the course textbook until you pass the pronunciation exercises. Fast forward for each Unit the mp3 until you reach the non-pronunciation section.
Using the course textbook and tape transcript side by side, write down the grammar points and vocabulary as they are introduced. Write down the grammar exercises (PS leads you inductively through grammar concepts, a step before the drills that is missing from Basic Spanish and in my opinion a real strength of PS).
Then, you are ready for the dialogue and drills which functions much like Basic Spanish but is not quite as extensive (each chapter is shorter in comparison after the presentation of grammar concludes, compared to Basic spanish).
The inductive component of PS (i.e., leading you, step by step, through a process of understanding grammar) should not be skipped for a beginner to Spanish. I have a good deal of language training in other languages but did PS Volume 1 using all of the grammar exercises and felt that it gave me a more instinctive sense of basic syntax. I then went through Platiquemos Units 2-14 at a fairly fast pace and found the combination of good grammatical foundation with fast and thorough Platiquemos (Basic Spanish) dialogue and drills was a great combination.
One other difference between PS and Basic Spanish--PS starts with the preterite almost from the beginning, then has numerous drills in the imperative and subjunctive moods, as well as extensive work with connecting clauses (lo que, etc.). In Volume 2, the work with subjunctive and conditional phrases continues in detail.
Volume 1 also works with a lot of I - you constructions. "Did you do this, Yes I did that", etc. This was the aspect I found most practical, as I was able to have basic conversations very early on with Spanish speaking Houstonians with this sequencing of grammar (though of course more limited vocabulary than I would have had from Basic Spanish).
So to round it back to your original question, you might try working from Unit 4 on (referring back to the dialogue sections for Units 2 & 3 which should be in the transcript/student manual text rather than the coursebook), not skipping the grammar and observation sections (unless you need no review) but skipping the pronunciation section. By Units 10 or 11 through 25, you don't have to worry about skipping anything.
--John
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