Cortina Method Audio

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PeterMollenburg
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Re: Cortina Method Audio

Postby PeterMollenburg » Sun Mar 05, 2017 10:38 am

Ericounet wrote:hi,

FLAC is compressed, so half the size of the wav format

easier to upload on a server.

I'm used to tar.xz .... I work on Linux/Debian.. it works the same as zip, just more recent and better compression.


Thanks to you too Eric! I didnt see this reply of yours until after I read Cainntear's. Thanks peoples
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Speakeasy
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Re: Cortina Method Audio

Postby Speakeasy » Wed Mar 08, 2017 1:42 am

The problems that ericounet reported concerning the playability of the Cortina Italian mp3 files that I had sent to him are almost certainly due to my having segmented them using the "Mp3 Knife" file splitter, which is known for its ease of use as well as its occasional instability. To remedy the problems, I have prepared a new set of mp3 files for Cortina Italian from the CDs using the "Hoo Technologies" file converter and have sent them to ericounet as replacement files.

In addition to the above, I prepared and sent PDF versions of the "Cortina Comprehension Tests" for the German and Italian courses. As a reminder, the last two CDs-worth of audio recordings correspond to these test sheets. As far as I can tell from reviewing the mp3 audio recordings, some of which I inherited and did not prepare myself, there should be "Cortina Comprehension Tests" for the Greek, Portuguese and Spanish courses. Should anyone have a copy of these, could you please either (a) send them directly to ericounet or (b) contact me via the Private Message function so that we might arrange a file transfer?
Last edited by Speakeasy on Wed Mar 08, 2017 10:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
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datsunking1
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Re: Cortina Method Audio

Postby datsunking1 » Wed Mar 08, 2017 10:32 am

This is awesome!

The Cortina methods are a great way to get you speaking and conversing very quickly, and for very cheap (I got my Brazilian Portuguese copy for $0.75)

Thank you so much for doing this!
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tractor
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Re: Cortina Method Audio

Postby tractor » Wed Mar 08, 2017 4:42 pm

Thank you!
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Daristani
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Re: Cortina Method Audio

Postby Daristani » Wed Mar 08, 2017 4:51 pm

As things now stand, only the "archive downloads" for the Cortina courses seem to function; the separate PDFs and audio files aren't operational at the moment.
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Cainntear
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Re: Cortina Method Audio

Postby Cainntear » Wed Mar 08, 2017 10:07 pm

Speakeasy wrote:The problems that ericounet reported concerning the playability of the Cortina Italian mp3 files that I had sent to him are almost certainly due to my having segmented them using the "Mp3 Knife" file splitter, which is known for its ease of use as well as its occasional instability. To remedy the problems, I have prepared a new set of mp3 files for Cortina Italian from the CDs using the "Hoo Technologies" file converter and have sent them to ericounet as replacement files.

Can I repeat my earlier call for the use of FLAC? If all that Eric has in the archive is a collection of MP3 files, then it reduces the opportunities for editing and cleaning up the files at a later date. Even if Eric doesn't make the files available on the download page, if he has a copy, then if someone comes along who's ready and willing to clean them up, having the copy to hand rather than having to come back to you would make things smoother.
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Speakeasy
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Re: Cortina Method Audio

Postby Speakeasy » Wed Mar 08, 2017 11:00 pm

Cainntear wrote: Can I repeat my earlier call for the use of FLAC? ...
From a purely technical point of view, I find that your comment is quite valid. Nevertheless, from a logistical point of view, I feel obliged to assume the role of "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" and respectfully decline your invitation to prepare a second set of audio files in FLAC format. I know, it's not a perfect world...

The vast majority of the files available via the FSI-Languages-Courses website are presently in MP3 format. There may very well exist enthusiasm amongst the members who originally submitted these files for a second project involving the preparation of FLAC versions. Should you wish to pilot such a project, I suggest that you work with ericounet.

As to the Cortina language courses, the original Russian audio files were prepared from vinyl long-play records by jpazzz, who also provided a re-recorded set of audio files that he had received in mp3 format. He also prepared the Japanese audio files from cassettes that he had received on loan from a university. I leave it to you to communicate directly with jpazzz concerning your project. If I recall correctly, and I could be wrong, the remaining Cortina audio files were submitted by n_j_f whom you may wish to contact concerning your project. I have CDs for the German, Italian and Vietnamese courses; I have submitted my work in mp3 format and I consider it complete.

EDITED: Typos
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datsunking1
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Re: Cortina Method Audio

Postby datsunking1 » Thu Mar 09, 2017 11:11 am

just checked the FSI course site. I just wanted to say thank you again for all of your work. These resources are fantastic and completes my little library of Cortina. Thanks again!!
Last edited by datsunking1 on Sun Mar 12, 2017 2:38 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Cainntear
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Re: Cortina Method Audio

Postby Cainntear » Thu Mar 09, 2017 7:37 pm

Speakeasy wrote:
Cainntear wrote: Can I repeat my earlier call for the use of FLAC? ...
From a purely technical point of view, I find that your comment is quite valid. Nevertheless, from a logistical point of view, I feel obliged to assume the role of "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" and respectfully decline your invitation to prepare a second set of audio files in FLAC format. I know, it's not a perfect world...

And yet, it could be. The point about digital files is that they can be maintained in perpetuity with no loss of quality. At present, you have an exact digital copy in your hands -- Eric doesn't, and I don't. I don't see what's difficult about slipping them back into your computer and reripping as FLAC. Most likely your computer will even remember any track names and other metadata you entered, but even if it doesn't, none of that is strictly required for an archive version. You're free not to do it, but I'm baffled by your use of the word "logistical" for this.

As for the others, well records no longer in their possession aren't available for reripping, are they?

The problem we currently face is that 15 years ago MP3 was the only logistically feasible format (due to internet speeds and storage costs) and we've now created a culture that sees MP3 as the default archive format when it is not truly archive quality -- hence why jpazzz and n_j_f used it. We in the language learning community are losing assets to that (none of the FSI or DLI files on both Eric and Darren's sites can be reliably digitally improved because they only exist in MP3), and this is a problem that affects wider society with other cultural artifacts (for example out-of-copyright musical recordings that have lots of gramophone crackle that can't be edited out because they were only made available in a heavily compressed MP3 format).

Change here is simple, and you obviously care about preserving this material, otherwise you wouldn't have gone to all the trouble you have done, so why not go one more step
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Speakeasy
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Re: Cortina Method Audio

Postby Speakeasy » Thu Mar 09, 2017 8:08 pm

Cainntear, I will not take the time to respond fully your well-reasoned post. However, I will say that I would not presume to make any assumptions concerning your present situation: your age, the state of your health, your level of energy, the resources available to you, prior commitments that you might have made to other people and what these represent to you, any other interests that you might have and the inevitable sundry demands on your time. I will offer no explanation concerning my situation other than to say that the small contribution that I have made towards this project has absorbed all of the time that I am prepared to devote to it. There exist several means for realizing your project that do not requirement my involvement; I encourage you to seek them out and I wish you success.
Last edited by Speakeasy on Wed Jul 12, 2017 10:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
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