FSI Spanish Basic Course for iBooks

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ilmari
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FSI Spanish Basic Course for iBooks

Postby ilmari » Wed Apr 20, 2016 1:44 am

I have already published this information on HTLAL http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=38714, but Rhian is telling me I can also do it here, so here it is.

I am currently working on a new edition of FSI Spanish Basic Course to be used on Mac and iPad with the iBooks app (you can also use it on iPhone and iPod Touch if you don't mind the small screen, but the books are optimized for bigger screens - and yes, they are only for Apple devices). Level 1 is available as one book and as separate units, and Level 2 as separate units up to, as for today, Unit 28. Once I reach Unit 30, a one-book edition of Level 2 will also be available.

A lot of work is going into these books. I am correcting typos, updating the spelling, splitting the audio and cleaning it (a bit), adding "Listen" tracks to Level 2, splitting the drills into short sections, getting rid of the English audio instructions, streamlining grammar tables and explanations, modernizing or expliciting the FSI grammatical terminology, etc. I also keep updating the already published books and improving them.

Up to now, I have got only positive feedback (you can read some of the public comments on the old HTLAL post), but I would be most interested in getting more feedback from this forum, which I joined only recently. I would also be happy to answer any questions you may have.

I also intend in the future to enlarge the range of publications with more FSI courses, and also original material.

You can find more information here: http://www.dicendipublishing.com

Thanks for your support!
7 x

Zjf_ict
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Languages: English (N), Spanish (Int)

Re: FSI Spanish Basic Course for iBooks

Postby Zjf_ict » Tue May 31, 2016 5:42 pm

Your FSI Basic Spanish iBook is first rate! I will provide a more detailed review in the near future.
0 x

garyb
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Re: FSI Spanish Basic Course for iBooks

Postby garyb » Wed Jun 01, 2016 9:56 am

I'm working through FSI Basic at the moment, and this looks excellent, a big improvement over the original PDF. Unfortunately I don't have an Apple device; is it possible to open them on a Windows PC? I've done some searching about iBooks on Windows but I haven't found any definitive answers, and it seems to depend on the books themselves and whether they have DRM etc.
0 x

ilmari
Orange Belt
Posts: 187
Joined: Sun Apr 17, 2016 10:12 am
Languages: Fluent - French (N), English, Hebrew, Japanese.
Intermediate - Korean, Finnish, Spanish, Russian.
Studying (now) - Russian, Spanish
Dabbling - Italian, Polish, Yiddish, Mandarin Chinese, Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Urdu, Indonesian, Māori, Latin, Esperanto, Swahili
Would love to study - Norwegian, Swedish, Ancient Greek, and so many more.
x 461

Re: FSI Spanish Basic Course for iBooks

Postby ilmari » Wed Jun 01, 2016 10:17 am

I am sorry, but these books are only for Apple devices (Mac, iPad, even iPhone or iPod touch if you don't mind the smaller screen). These books are "made for iBooks", which means they are built using Apple software, and take advantage of iBooks app built-in features. So no, they won't run on Windows PC. I am really sorry about that.

Enjoy FSI Spanish!
2 x

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mercutio
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Re: FSI Spanish Basic Course for iBooks

Postby mercutio » Thu Jun 02, 2016 11:15 am

ilmari wrote:I have already published this information on HTLAL http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=38714, but Rhian is telling me I can also do it here, so here it is.

I am currently working on a new edition of FSI Spanish Basic Course to be used on Mac and iPad with the iBooks app (you can also use it on iPhone and iPod Touch if you don't mind the small screen, but the books are optimized for bigger screens - and yes, they are only for Apple devices). Level 1 is available as one book and as separate units, and Level 2 as separate units up to, as for today, Unit 28. Once I reach Unit 30, a one-book edition of Level 2 will also be available.

A lot of work is going into these books. I am correcting typos, updating the spelling, splitting the audio and cleaning it (a bit), adding "Listen" tracks to Level 2, splitting the drills into short sections, getting rid of the English audio instructions, streamlining grammar tables and explanations, modernizing or expliciting the FSI grammatical terminology, etc. I also keep updating the already published books and improving them.

Up to now, I have got only positive feedback (you can read some of the public comments on the old HTLAL post), but I would be most interested in getting more feedback from this forum, which I joined only recently. I would also be happy to answer any questions you may have.

I also intend in the future to enlarge the range of publications with more FSI courses, and also original material.

You can find more information here: http://www.dicendipublishing.com

Thanks for your support!



I've never used fsi cos I find thematic unit really make me annoyed and I lose motivation but any way to make the course more accessible and user friendly like this I think is great
1 x
: 5 / 5 language transfer total Spanish :
: 5 / 5 paul noble Spanish :
: 5 / 5 M. Thomas foundation and advanced spanish:
: 5 / 5 Duolingo Spanish :


www.thelanguagequest.com

ilmari
Orange Belt
Posts: 187
Joined: Sun Apr 17, 2016 10:12 am
Languages: Fluent - French (N), English, Hebrew, Japanese.
Intermediate - Korean, Finnish, Spanish, Russian.
Studying (now) - Russian, Spanish
Dabbling - Italian, Polish, Yiddish, Mandarin Chinese, Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Urdu, Indonesian, Māori, Latin, Esperanto, Swahili
Would love to study - Norwegian, Swedish, Ancient Greek, and so many more.
x 461

Re: FSI Spanish Basic Course for iBooks

Postby ilmari » Thu Jun 02, 2016 11:41 am

I've never used fsi cos I find thematic unit really make me annoyed and I lose motivation but any way to make the course more accessible and user friendly like this I think is great


Indeed, to each his own. I personally do like the FSI audio-lingual way of learning. I find it efficient and relaxing. You internalize grammatical structures and vocabulary without really noticing it. I also like the Assimil approach of learning through repetitions a chunk of real living language. I find the combination of these two approaches the best way to master a language, but again - we are all different. This is the fun part.
2 x

garyb
Black Belt - 1st Dan
Posts: 1572
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2015 12:35 pm
Location: Scotland
Languages: Native: English
Advanced: Italian, French
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Beginner: German, Japanese
Language Log: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1855
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Contact:

Re: FSI Spanish Basic Course for iBooks

Postby garyb » Thu Jun 02, 2016 11:42 am

ilmari wrote:I am sorry, but these books are only for Apple devices (Mac, iPad, even iPhone or iPod touch if you don't mind the smaller screen). These books are "made for iBooks", which means they are built using Apple software, and take advantage of iBooks app built-in features. So no, they won't run on Windows PC. I am really sorry about that.

Enjoy FSI Spanish!


No worries, just thought I'd check. I very nearly bought a MacBook Pro last year, and now I'm kinda wishing I had ;).
0 x

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mercutio
Orange Belt
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Re: FSI Spanish Basic Course for iBooks

Postby mercutio » Thu Jun 02, 2016 12:55 pm

ilmari wrote:
I've never used fsi cos I find thematic unit really make me annoyed and I lose motivation but any way to make the course more accessible and user friendly like this I think is great


Indeed, to each his own. I personally do like the FSI audio-lingual way of learning. I find it efficient and relaxing. You internalize grammatical structures and vocabulary without really noticing it. I also like the Assimil approach of learning through repetitions a chunk of real living language. I find the combination of these two approaches the best way to master a language, but again - we are all different. This is the fun part.


The technique which seems to suit me is the audio style of Michel Thomas and language transfer so far

I just get so frustrated with "thematic" stuff

I don't want to pretend I'm in a hotel hehe
0 x
: 5 / 5 language transfer total Spanish :
: 5 / 5 paul noble Spanish :
: 5 / 5 M. Thomas foundation and advanced spanish:
: 5 / 5 Duolingo Spanish :


www.thelanguagequest.com

ilmari
Orange Belt
Posts: 187
Joined: Sun Apr 17, 2016 10:12 am
Languages: Fluent - French (N), English, Hebrew, Japanese.
Intermediate - Korean, Finnish, Spanish, Russian.
Studying (now) - Russian, Spanish
Dabbling - Italian, Polish, Yiddish, Mandarin Chinese, Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Urdu, Indonesian, Māori, Latin, Esperanto, Swahili
Would love to study - Norwegian, Swedish, Ancient Greek, and so many more.
x 461

Re: FSI Spanish Basic Course for iBooks

Postby ilmari » Tue Jun 07, 2016 2:05 pm

I know that some of you were waiting for it, so here it is: the one book edition of FSI Spanish Basic Course Level 2 (units 16-30) for iBooks is finally out. More information is available here: http://www.dicendipublishing.com/whats-new

Heartful thanks for your patience and support.
Last edited by ilmari on Tue Jun 07, 2016 6:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
2 x

Tomás
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Languages: English (N). Currently studying Spanish (intermediate), French (false beginner).
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Re: FSI Spanish Basic Course for iBooks

Postby Tomás » Tue Jun 07, 2016 6:55 pm

Good luck with your business. If I had an Apple device I would buy your product. But I don't have one.
1 x


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