Do you recommend FSI Basic Spanish or DLI Spanish?

[lunallena]

Hello! I am currently around A2-B1 in Spanish, and judging from my recent exposure to some of the FSI and DLI courses, I think I'm in the right place to jump in and begin learning with these courses. The problem is, I have no idea if I should use the FSI Basic Spanish course or the DLI Spanish Modular Basic Course! I've seen FSI talked about a lot more than DLI in terms of Spanish learning, but I was curious: does anyone have experience with both courses? Or if you've done DLI, does it have any qualities that you think make it a better use of learning time than FSI? Any responses would be very much appreciated!

[Speakeasy]

Your question suggests to me that you are interested in using audio-lingual materials, which were designed for use in a classroom setting, for learning Spanish in an independent-learning environment. Although this type of question has been posed, and debated without final resolution, several times in the HTLAL, as well as in this forum, you might find the following discussion thread of some interest, particularly the information provided by member Daristani on page 3. From my perspective, his additional comments in support of FSI German Basic, on page 5, are also worth the detour.

DLI vs FSI – HTLAL, July, 2009
http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=15966&PN=22&TPN=1

I have used the FSI/DLI audio-lingual and programmatic materials, or their civilian equivalents, in a self-study programme for all of the languages that I have studied (Dutch, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish) and I have looked very closely at the materials for French. It is my opinion that the presence of military jargon in the DLI courses is often over-stated; that is, the basics of the target language predominate as is the case for the FSI courses.

Now then, as it happens, following an absence of more than five years (wanderlust), I am presently in the process of reacquainting myself with the Spanish language and I am doing so via the FSI Spanish Basic course. I had tried working through the DLI Spanish Basic course, but my attempts were defeated by my own low tolerance for the manner in which these legacy materials have been organized. That is, one has to dig around too much in order to match the audio to the texts and, given the easier alternative of using the FSI materials, I have taken the route of least resistance. Obviously, this is not a comment on the quality and effectiveness of the two sets of materials. Although I have a slight preference for the FSI courses, I must admit that the DLI courses are very well-conceived. However, as is the case for many civilian language courses, I have found that they are both author-dependent. So then, my suggestion would be that you try them both for about the first 10 units and then choose whichever one suits you the most. By the way, in my opinion, it wouldn’t hurt to keep a “simple” grammar close at hand when using either course.

BIG ADDENDUM!!
I apologize, I just noticed that your level of Spanish is already in the A2-B1 range. In this case, I would recommend that you forgo the FSI/DLI basic courses and that you launch head-long into native materials. Otherwise, you might wish to consider materials which have been specifically designed for Intermediate students such as the "second stage" courses by Assimil, Linguaphone, and Living Language Ultimate. Do one only, not all three. Amongst the three, my preference would be for Assimil afterwhich, unless you're going to attend Intermediate classes, you simply MUST get going on native materials.

EDITED:
Typos, of course.

[lunallena]

Hi Speakeasy,

Thank you for your detailed response! This is exactly what I was looking for - I don't want to rely too much on the course textbook while listening, so it seems that FSI would be the way to go for me. I will definitely make use of other grammar books as I proceed through the course, thank you for the tip!

I've been using native materials for a couple of months now, mostly in the form of TV series and music. I've also recently started reading some middle-grade books from Spain. Although these materials have improved my listening and reading comprehension by leaps and bounds, I find that my spoken/written skills are lagging in comparison. For this reason, I wanted to do an FSI/DLI course to improve automaticity. As you noted, I will definitely look for intermediate Assimil courses as well after I complete FSI.

I will now peruse the link you have provided. Once again, thank you for your detailed and thorough response!