BBC Language Courses

All about language programs, courses, websites and other learning resources
Speakeasy
x 7658

BBC Language Courses

Postby Speakeasy » Wed Jul 03, 2019 5:52 pm

BBC Language Courses
The British Broadcasting Corporation, abbreviated BBC, was established 1922 under a Royal Charter. It is the world's oldest national broadcasting organization and the largest broadcaster in the world by number of employees. As part of its broad mandate, which includes providing educational services to the public, the corporation has delivered, since at least the mid-1930’s, introductory self-instructional programmes covering a broad range of languages through several media: radio, television, the internet, printed books, vinyl records, audio cassettes, compact discs, VHS tapes, and others. I have been unable to locate a complete repertory of the BBC language courses and, given the corporation’s output, listing them all would be an impossible task. Nevertheless, although these materials are seldom mentioned on this language forum and its predecessor, I thought that some members might appreciate the presentation of a partial listing as well as the opportunity to submit their own contributions and comments.

The Groovy Sixties and Seventies
The British Invasion, long hair, bell-bottom pants, flower power, the VW Camper, weed, the "we" generation, disco, platform shoes, hot pants, shag carpeting, and some pretty darned good BBC language courses. I have reposted comments by “Elexi” from the HTLAL (with a slight modification to the line covering Deutsch Direct and the addition of Russian materials). Although I was already somewhat interested in acquiring a few of the vintage BBC German courses, the information that Elexi provided pushed me over the edge; my collection now includes a copy of all them. Vielen Dank, Elexi!

“Over the past few years I have been going through charity shops and ebay amassing LPs for the BBC courses from the 1960s to 1980s. I have an ageing record player and the wires to covert the LPs to MP3, so these old courses can live again.

The old BBC courses are little mentioned here - but for general language learning up to CEFR B1 they are excellent. They generally come with 2 or 3 LPs (sometimes 5 LPs) all in the target language - that makes between one and half to two and quarter hours of very useful comprehensible input.

Up until about 1975 the BBC courses contained dramas comparable to the 1970s Linguaphone courses. After about 1975 until the 1980s the BBC changed its tack and produced courses based around interviews with native speakers. Although the LPs are sometimes hard to come by, the booklets (generally A5 in size and about 150-200 pages long) are available on Amazon for next to nothing - 1p plus postage (so £2.81) in most cases. The booklets contain the transcripts, word lists, grammar explanations and exercises.

Here is a summary of the courses I have got:

German

German for Beginners, vol. 1,2 / Es geht weiter (inserted by Speakeasy)
Published in 1962 and 1965, respectively, to accompany BBC Radio weekly broadcasts of some 20 minutes duration. Engaging dialogues with sparse but well-conceived notes on grammar. The courses spanned the A0-B1 range. LP recordings were available for separate purchase (sadly, no longer available).

Komm mit! Wir sprechen Deutsch
3 LPs and a books following a visitor around a German city - its quite old fashioned and the audio is - sentence - gap for repeating - sentence, etc style, but I am sure it would be more useful if the gaps were cut down. A1-2 level.

Riesebüro Atlas / Wiedersehen in Ansburg
These 2 courses are essentially one course. Riesebüro Atlas has 3 LPs and 3 booklets and Wiedersehen in Ansburg has a book and 2 LPS - so that is a whooping 3 hours and 45 minutes of German comprehensible input. This is a nice course that, whilst a little old fashioned, provides an amusing soap opera set in a travel agency. A1-B1 level.

Wie Bitte?
This is a 3 LP course that follows the tenants (a journalist, doctor and a pop star pretending to be a student) of an apartment in swinging 60s Hamburg. It develops in record 3 into a crime story. Like Riesebüro Atlas it is an amusing soap opera that provides a good wack of comprehensible input. A1-B1 level.

Kontakte
This 70s course represents the BBC’s shift to interviews rather than stories. Kontakte has 3 LPs and 3 books that starts with pronunciation exercises and moves on to dialogues (which are a bit like the FSI FAST courses in content). Every lesson has an interview at the appropriate level and a text/monologue ('liesen und verstehen') that
is set just above the appropriate level to provide a listening/reading challenge .

Wegweiser
2 LPs and 2 books - this course follows Kontakte but is structured around interviews.

Kein Problem
2 Lps and 1 books - is a A2-B1 course that follows Wegweiser.

Deutsch Direkt / Deutsch Express / Ganz Spontan! (modified by Speakeasy)
A series of three 1980’s-era courses of increasing difficulty. Each course comprises a manual and 3 cassettes. A challenging programme with the potential of bringing the student within the B1-B2 range.

Deutsch Plus (1 and 2)
- is a more glossy late 1980s course that is still available - it is a step down from its predecessors - but the core of the course is the storyline - available on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lk9rS7n-4Q

French

Starting French
- a 1964 course consisting of 4 LPs, 1 book of 40 progressively more complicated dialogues. A1-2 level.

Bonjour Francoise
- 3 LPs, 3 booklets following the career of a model and her entourage around Paris - Like Komm Mit! the audio is of the sentence - gap for repeating - sentence, etc style. A1-2 level.

Répondez s'il vous plaît
- 1969 - 3 LPs and 3 booklets - The story in the booklets was a TV series following a detective on holiday in a French village. The LPs are two and a quarter hours of FSI like drill exercises - written by the same person that did the Linguaphone French course - A1-A2 level.

Vient de paraître
- this course is a series of dialogues that follows the staff of a Paris newspaper. It is a more advanced course than the others (designed for people in their 3rd year of French). It has 2 LPs and a book. I have the first LP but have never seen the second one. Probably A2-B1.

Suivez la piste
- 2 LPs and a book. This roman policier follows a young couple as they investigate a crime cartel in Paris and Geneva. Suivez la piste was used in the 70s and 80s in language schools and so is quite well known. The audio is available here: http://ruevavin.tumblr.com/page/2. I would class it as A2.

Ensemble
- this 2 LP, 2 booklet course from the 1970s marks the BBC’s transition to interview based courses. The LPs for Ensemble have interviews and also follow little comedy skits exemplifying the language, including the adventures of Reynard the Fox. Truncated versions of the TV programmes that accompanied it can be found on YouTube -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vYH8g0yN1I. I would reckon its A1.

Sur le Vif
- is a 2 LP, 2 booklet course that follows on from Ensemble. It is structured entirely around interviews which highlight the grammatical points taught. Moves into the A2 range.

Allez France
- a more complicated (A2-B1) course following on from Sur le Vif structured around interviews - it consisting of 2 LPS and a book.

A Vous La France/BBC French Master
- A 80s course that is largely based on interviews and learning phrases. This is a beginners course. The French Master course is a self-teaching version of A Vous La France that has a lot more English in it and 4 VHS videos.

France Extra
- is a 3 cassette, 1 book course that carries on from A Vous La France. It contains interviews, pronunciation practice and grammar and speaking drills.

Spanish
I don’t speak Spanish, so I don’t really have many of the courses. I have picked up these:

Starting Spanish, 1967 (inserted by Speakeasy)
Book with 2 vinyl LPs for beginners. Forty short dialogues accompanied by an English translation and cursory notes. Level upon completion within the CEFR A1-A2 range. Quite nice, really!

Zarabanda
- This is a 1 book and 2 LP course for beginners. At its core is a soap opera. The soap opera part of the TV series can be found on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/user/ccopenhagen1. It is probably A1-2

Tal Como Es
- this is the follow on course from Zarabanda - 2 LPs and a book. A2

Digame (inserted by Speakeasy)
Introduced in 1978 as a 246-page Student Workbook, including a 56-page Teacher’s Manual, plus 3 audio cassettes, to be used in conjunction with a weekly BBC Radio broadcast: a highly-appreciated introduction to the Spanish language.

Espana Viva
- This beginners course is still available - although it originates from the 80s and is in the same style - The BBC brought out BBC Spanish Master which was the same thing with self teaching elements and had 4 VHS videos with it.

Italian
- again I don’t speak Italian so I can’t fully describe the courses.

Avventura
- early 1970s beginners course consisting of 2 LPs and a book following (as far as I can tell) the exploits of a business man.

Italianissimo
- This beginners course is still available - it was also released as Italian Master with lots of English tuition to aid self-learning.

Welsh

Welsh For Beginners
- 1966. This course is made up of 3 LPs and a pamphlet. I don’t speak Welsh, so can’t really rate it but the LPs are all in Welsh.

Dewch I Siard - Lets Speak Welsh
- 1970s - This has 2 LPs and 2 booklets and follows Alun and Gwen through Welsh domestic life.”

Russian (appended by Speakeasy)
I have some, but not all, of these materials. Some of the information below is an extrapolation based on similar BBC materials for other languages.

BBC Radio: Russian for Beginners, by Ronald Hingley, 1959
Broadcast of forty 20-minute lessons on basic Russian supported by a 72-page booklet and, presumably, LP vinyl audio recordings although this is not certain. Target would mostly likely have been A0 tourist-level communications.

BBC Radio: First Year Russian, by L.M. O'Toole, 1966, and then again in 1972
BBC Radio: Second Year Russian, by L.M. O'Toole, 1968, and then again in 1974
A pair of basic Russian courses delivered by BBC Radio, based on a series of scripted dialogues between friends who are living in, or visiting, Moscow. Supplemental materials were available for purchase in the form of a 40-page booklet and one 12-inch x 33-1/3 rpm vinyl LP record per course. Although elementary, the dialogues were charming. While mastery of the materials would have been difficult, a level of approximately A1, or perhaps a little higher, would have been feasible upon completion of both courses.

BBC Radio: Let's Go! A BBC Radio Course in Russian, by Vaughan James, 1966
BBC Radio: Let's Go! A Follow-up Russian Course, by Vaughan James, 1966
Not much information on these courses other than the titles of the circa 100-page course booklets which were available for accompanying the radio broadcasts.

BBC Radio: Passport to Moscow First Year Russian Course, by L.M. O'Toole and P.T. Culhane, 1972
Radio broadcast of a series of lectures having a very similar in scope, approach, and targeted level to the “First Year Russian” course of 1966. Similar materials were available: 136 page booklet and a 12-inch x 33-1/3 rpm vinyl LP record per course.

BBC Radio: Ochen' Priyatno: A Radio Course for Beginners in Russian, 1974
BBC Radio: Svidaniye Y Moskvye: Second year Russian, 1974
A pair of basic Russian courses delivered by BBC Radio, based on a story about an American journalist being guided around Russia by a beautiful Russian woman; a romance develops between the two. Supplemental materials were available for purchase in the form of a 150-page manual and two 12-inch x 33-1/3 rpm vinyl LP records, or two audio cassettes, per course. Although the second level course was billed as intermediate, I believe that, upon completion of both courses, a level of approximately A1+ would have been more reasonable. But then again, I am a little more harsh on this matter than many other members.

Related Discussion Threads

Groovy BBC 60s Course - HTLAL - May 2013
http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=35935&PN=21

Old BBC Courses Review - HTLAL - March 2014
http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=38423&PN=13

Audio - Video for old BBC Courses - LLORG - June 2018
https://forum.language-learners.org/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=8346

Excerpts of BBC TV courses - LLORG - July 2018
https://forum.language-learners.org/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=8782

Release of the Vintage BBC Language Course Materials?
In October 2015, Elexi and I had a brief exchange concerning the release of the older BBC language courses.

Elexi: "… It would be great if the BBC would agree to release some of these courses in the way Speakeasy has negotiated with Cortina - for example the Reisebüro Atlas/Wiedersehen in Ansburg series alone has 3 and half hours of German comprehensible input to practice with, even if it is a bit dated…"

Speakeasy: "… I remember some of these BBC programmes, as well as others. Yes, they were very well-conceived and quite enjoyable. Most of these materials, despite their age and the "campy" fashions displayed on the video series, are still quite useful. A couple of years ago, I requested that the BBC release some of the audio/video materials and, much to my surprise, they replied that they did not hold the copyrights to the materials. I made a few attempts at tracking down the organisations that held the copyrights. In most cases, the organisations had changed names, had been absorbed by conglomerates, or had ceased to exist and I never did come in contact with the current holder of the copyrights. I would imagine that these older programmes are of little commercial value and that the holder of the copyrights would agree to release them. The problem is, how does one contact them?"

Eighties and Nineties: Glam
Rebellious, punkish, street-level reactions to “corporate” rock ’n roll, Hair Metal, garish fashions that made me groan and then weep, glam, the kids were no longer alright, the “me” generation supplanted the “we” generation, the condominium became a viable option, the digital revolution moved forward from its beachhead, the BBC courses took a new direction … and then another. I am presently preparing a list of materials from this glamorous era. Feel free to pre-empt me!

EDITED:
Typos.
Addition of "Related Discussion Threads"
More typos.
Addition of "Russian" courses.
Addition of "Release of the Vintage BBC Language Course Materials?"
Addition of "German for Beginners / Es geht weiter"
Addition of "Starting Spanish"
Addition of "Digame"
Last edited by Speakeasy on Tue Nov 19, 2019 1:17 am, edited 12 times in total.
9 x

Daristani
Orange Belt
Posts: 107
Joined: Wed Dec 02, 2015 3:43 pm
x 384

Re: BBC Language Courses

Postby Daristani » Wed Jul 03, 2019 6:49 pm

Many thanks to both Elexi and Speakeasy for compiling this info!

By the way, although I haven't checked for all of them, audio and/or video to some others in addition to those cited seems to be available on YouTube, such as:

Sur le vif: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ez7UyJ5l88

Espana Viva: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90Dup1Z ... SeP8vZA85e

Avventura: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSMZ3r4 ... 4qkmmMpusZ

Italianissimo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_VBxRQpE68

A number of different BBC courses in different languages are available here: https://www.youtube.com/user/JudasLundy/videos

So I'd advise anyone interested in these to search on YouTube for the courses of interest; a fair number of the audio/video files seem to have been uploaded.
6 x

AnthonyLauder
Orange Belt
Posts: 101
Joined: Wed May 04, 2016 6:29 am
Location: Prague, Czech republic
Languages: English (N), Everything Else (A0)
x 622
Contact:

Re: BBC Language Courses

Postby AnthonyLauder » Mon Jul 08, 2019 6:37 pm

The BBC also produced language learning box sets, such as this one for French, which is currently for sale on ebay:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BBC-Language ... 3725350455
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
1 x

Speakeasy
x 7658

Re: BBC Language Courses

Postby Speakeasy » Mon Jul 08, 2019 9:38 pm

BBC Master Series
AnthonyLauder wrote:The BBC also produced language learning box sets, such as this one for French …
@ AnthonyLauder, great catch and what a coincidence! As it happens, I received delivery of the Spanish course in this series earlier today. The series included a German course, for which my bid on an eBay auction of about a year ago was unsuccessful, and perhaps and Italian course, as well. I have appended images of both the French and the Spanish courses. Although the packages in the photos seem to be of average dimensions, they are actually much larger: 21-1/2 inches x 12 inches x 5 inches.
BBC Master series.JPG

Quoting from Elexi, above, …

A Vous La France/BBC French Master
A 80s course that is largely based on interviews and learning phrases. This is a beginners course. The French Master course is a self-teaching version of A Vous La France that has a lot more English in it and 4 VHS videos.

Espana Viva/BBC Spanish Master
This beginners course is still available - although it originates from the 80s and is in the same style - The BBC brought out BBC Spanish Master which was the same thing with self-teaching elements and had 4 VHS videos with it.

I still have a VHS tape player and a VHS-DVD converter, but connecting these materials to my much newer audio-video system and digitizing the videos “sera du sport”, as the French say. ;)
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
2 x

Elexi
Green Belt
Posts: 271
Joined: Wed Aug 19, 2015 9:39 pm
Languages: English (N), French (B1), German (A2), Latin (eternal beginner), Dutch (Aspires to find the time).
x 645

Re: BBC Language Courses

Postby Elexi » Mon Jul 08, 2019 9:59 pm

The green 'Master' boxes were repackagings of all the components (text book, excercise book, video and audio) of the following BBC courses: A Vous La France, Espana Viva, Deutsch Direkt and Italianissimo 1.

Should you not wish to buy the big green boxes - the contents of the videos and tapes are available on YouTube - e.g. the French course is here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jf7Be5i ... AXgPYeJcX2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfryedZAUOk

The big green box 'Master' videos had the addition of a narrator giving explanation of the language used in each video clip. They also have 4 extra cassettes that have more exercises on them as well as a book on how to teach yourself a second language.
3 x

Speakeasy
x 7658

Re: BBC Language Courses

Postby Speakeasy » Mon Jul 08, 2019 10:20 pm

Elexi wrote:The green 'Master' boxes were repackagings of all the components (text book, excercise book, video and audio) of the following BBC courses: ... Deutsch Direkt ... 4 extra cassettes ...
Thank you very much for this additional information. As I already have (grace à vous) all of the components of the three-part BBC German series Deutsch Direkt, Deutsch Express, Ganz Spontan, should another copy of BBC German Master ever be offered for sale, I might ... I just might ... hesitate before placing my order.

EDITED:
Typos, wie immer.
3 x

Gomaith
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Aug 19, 2019 12:24 am
Languages: English N
x 12

Re: BBC Language Courses

Postby Gomaith » Mon Aug 19, 2019 10:44 pm

BBC also released the 'BBC French Kit', based on 'Ensemble' and 'BBC German Kit', based on 'Kontakte'. Both kits contained a course book, a magazine and 8 cassettes.
The French one is quite easy to find, the German one extremely rare.

Does 'BBC German Master' definitely exist ? I have never seen one.
1 x

dlw28
White Belt
Posts: 14
Joined: Sun Nov 10, 2019 3:02 am
Languages: English (N), German (B1), French (B1), Russian (A2), Farsi (beginner)
x 7

Re: BBC Language Courses

Postby dlw28 » Fri Nov 15, 2019 3:03 am

Just found this page. I studied a lot of these courses back in the day. I remember getting up early on Saturday and Sunday mornings to catch the TV broadcasts of Komm Mit! and Bonjour Françoise! Here are a few more that you've missed:

Der Arme Millionär 1967. A second level radio course based on a dramatisation of Erich Kästner's novel Drei Männer im Schnee. I would guess the level is A2. I really love this course! I used to have the LP's back in the 60's and I re-purchased them recently, although I see that the audio is now on the web site mentioned earlier: https://www.youtube.com/user/JudasLundy/playlists

Deux Enquêtes du Commissaire Maigret. 1969. A radio course based on dramatisations of two Maigret stories. I'm guessing the level is around A2 again. I must have missed this when it was broadcast. There is a book available, but unfortunately no LP's. If anyone knows of a location for recordings of the radio broadcast, I would love to know.

Franc Parler 1987. A third level radio course to follow on from À Vous la France and France Extra. I would guess the level is the same as Allez France, so A2-B1.

Digame! 1978. Beginners' Spanish. This was a combined radio and TV course. The audios are on the web site mentioned above, but unfortunately no video. Again, if anyone knows of a source for the video, I would love to know. I used to have a Betamax recording of the TV programmes from the 1985 re-broadcast, but that is long gone.

Bongiorno Italia 1982. Beginners' Italian. TV and radio.
Greek Language and People 1983. Beginners' Greek, TV and radio.
Russian Language and People 1980. Beginners' Russian, TV and radio.

The TV programmes from the original series are on the web site mentioned above, but all three of these courses have been re-issued for the Euro and post-Soviet eras respectively, and are available as CD/books from BBC books.

Regarding Svidaniye Y Moskvye: Second year Russian, 1974, I studied this at night school around 7-8 years after taking a UK GCE 'O'-level in Russian (supposedly A2) and found the level comparable, or even more advanced, so I would probably put this course at A2 level.
3 x

Elexi
Green Belt
Posts: 271
Joined: Wed Aug 19, 2015 9:39 pm
Languages: English (N), French (B1), German (A2), Latin (eternal beginner), Dutch (Aspires to find the time).
x 645

Re: BBC Language Courses

Postby Elexi » Fri Nov 15, 2019 8:21 pm

There are a few bits of Digame on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYys0_05qrQ

But unfortunately the rest of it is probably lost
1 x

dlw28
White Belt
Posts: 14
Joined: Sun Nov 10, 2019 3:02 am
Languages: English (N), German (B1), French (B1), Russian (A2), Farsi (beginner)
x 7

Re: BBC Language Courses

Postby dlw28 » Fri Nov 15, 2019 9:14 pm

Thanks. That's very little of Digame! isn't it? Maybe someone will see these posts and it will jog their memory of a recording somewhere.

That reminds me, Digame! was followed by Por Aqui in 1979. A second level radio course. Again, the audios are currently on the web site above.
0 x


Return to “Language Programs and Resources”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google [Bot] and 2 guests