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 FSI Language Courses Forum : Learning Languages : General Discussion
Message Icon Topic: How to start using FSI ? Post Reply Post New Topic
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Fio_M
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Quote Fio_M Replybullet Topic: How to start using FSI ?
    Posted: 28 August 2007 at 5:20pm
Sorry for the dumb topic but I have to ask it.
I downloaded the French FSI Course, but I can't figure out how to use it.
In the first tape the narrator starts showing a dialogue, OK. But what I have to do with it ? Just hear and memorize ? Do I have understand what is spoken ? Do I have to hear and read the book simultaneously ?
What are these drills ? What is the diference among them ?

I would really apreciate if someone reply these questions, I didn't find explanations enough just lurking the forum.

Thanks.
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manny
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Quote manny Replybullet Posted: 29 August 2007 at 6:55pm

The ones that I use require simultaneous use of the audio and text material. This is probably explained in the rather long intro of the text.

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DemiPuppet
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Quote DemiPuppet Replybullet Posted: 29 August 2007 at 9:09pm
The courses were developed to be used in a class. To really do it right you'll need to practice with at least one other person.  Based on my old college Japanese classes (non-FSI), here's an example of how it works:

A typical unit will have:
  1. New grammar
  2. One or two dialogs using the new grammar
  3. New vocabulary
  4. Substitution drills using the grammar and vocabulary (The drills reinforce the connection between grammar rules and the vocabulary)
The student activities are:
  1. Read the grammar notes
  2. Memorize the dialogs. Use the tapes to perfect the phrasing and pronunciation.
  3. Memorize the new vocabulary (again with tapes)
  4. Practice the substitution drills
Then in class, you would perform both sides of the dialog with another student while the teacher corrected any pronunciation errors.  After that comes the interesting part where you modify the conversation using the new vocabulary.

Lets say the grammar concerned the use of "this" and "that" as well as how to use numbers. The original dialog went something like this:

A: Hello, I want to buy a pen, Do you have any?
B: Yes, I have pens here and over there.
A: How much is this blue pen?
B: It's 1000 yen.
A: Wow, that expensive! do you have any cheaper pens?
B: Yes, those black pens are 500 yen.
A: OK, I'll buy those 3 black pens and this notebook.
B: That will be 1800 yen.

Now the instructor puts out several other items from the new vocabulary with price tags (pencils, books, folders, etc) ; some physically near and some further away. You and he other student use the new items to modify the original dialog. This is where the substitution drills come in handy. Instead of saying "How much is this blue pen?", you might say "How much is that large yellow notebook and this pencil?".  Now you're going beyond memorization and really using the language. Person B needs to recognize the new vocabulary and calculate the new price -- all while the instructor and the rest of the class is watching.

I don't know what it is, but the added pressure of performing in front of the class really seems to make the grammar and vocabulary stick in one's memory. Memorizing the dialogs is critical so that you and the other person have a common framework to use with the new vocabulary.


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