FSI Basic Courses “Updated”: Dr. Brians Languages
Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2017 2:55 pm
New Audio-Lingual (Guided Imitation) Language Course
In the mid-to-late 1970’s, the audio-lingual method was gradually abandoned in favour of other methods of language instruction. Since that time, the publication of new works in the genre has become an increasingly rare event. This review discusses the revival and adaptation of the original method and the publication of just such a new language course.
As it is highly unlikely that the supporters of the audio-lingual method will convince the detractors of its merits and of its continued “usefulness”, or that the detractors will have any success in convincing its supporters of the method’s weaknesses, thereby allowing either side to “win the latest debate”, I would respectfully call upon both parties to resist the temptation of turning this discussion thread into yet an opportunity of “having a go at it, just one more time.”
The usual disclaimers apply here. That is, I have no association whatsoever with the publisher of these courses and, beyond the satisfaction of performing what-I-believe-to-be a public service, I derive absolutely no benefit from publishing this review.
Never Leave Any Stone Unturned
Recently, while conducting an internet search for language-learning materials, I happened upon what-I-initially-suspected-were yet two more well-intentioned, but ultimately doomed, entries into the crowded marketplace for low-priced German and French courses; I hope that I was wrong! Intrigued by the description on Amazon – “Dr. Brians Languages is based on the highly acclaimed language learning program developed by the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) for U.S. Government personnel in the 1940's … The FSI inspired Guided Imitation drills facilitate staged conversations.” -- I visited the publisher’s website, downloaded the audio samples and the transcripts, and took them for a test drive. Shortly thereafter, I exchanged a couple of Emails with the creator of this series, Scott Brians. Here is my report:
FSI Basic Courses “Updated”
I suggest that interested readers visit the company’s website, paying particular attention to the sections dealing with the French and German language courses; here is the LINK (http://www.drbrianslanguages.com/index.html). It might be worthwhile downloading one of the transcripts along with the corresponding audio samples. For those of us who are already familiar with the FSI Basic and DLI Basic language courses, or similar courses from the era when the latter were published, it is fairly clear from reading the description on the website that this publisher has chosen to adopt the audio-lingual method of language instruction. Scott Brains, the creator of these courses, confirmed as much in an Email to me: “From a historical standpoint, when I started studying German in college two decades ago, a friend introduced me to the FSI program. I loved the approach, but the execution was very poor (sound quality made understanding very difficult, speaking was much too fast for beginners, pauses for answers were too short, vocabulary was not up-to-date). It was then that I had the idea: rewrite, modernize, re-record. It has only been recent that the average Joe had relatively affordable access to the equipment required to pull this off, and an easy way to deliver the product. And so … here we are.” While I will not respond to Mr. Brians’ (to my mind) disparaging (sniff, sniff)remarks of my cherished, untarnishable, and unassailable FSI Basic German course, I think that even supporters of the audio-lingual method would agree with at least a few of his observations, while many others would admit to having wished for just such an update.
Languages, State of Advancement, Number of Modules
To date, two courses have been published: “Mastering German Conversation” and “Mastering French Conversation”, both of which are available for sale via Amazon (Audible) or via iTunes (please note very carefully the publisher’s cautions with respect to the performance of their products via iTunes downloads). In response to my questions concerning the state of advancement of these courses, which I would estimate to be approximately CEFR A1, and concerning the prospects of additional language courses being published, Mr. Brians advised me that the German and French courses are presently works-in-progress and that the plan is to complete these before considering any new projects: “As far as our development plans, both German and French are under development. We will cover all the grammar - what you have listed below and more - required to converse at an educated level in the target languages. I envision about 15 more modules for each language.” These additional modules would bring the total to about 20 per course. If one can use the information available on the website as a guide (e.g., the number of hours per module), this suggests that a remarkable amount of material will be available once these two courses have been fully deployed.
A Well-Known Approach: Drill-Drill-Drill
As noted above, the author of these courses has chosen to re-introduce the audio-lingual method of language instruction (the author prefers the term “Guided Imitation”) and, in doing so, to correct the deficiencies of the original FSI Basic French and FSI Basic German courses. I would note that the German course is not a derivation or a modification of the original courses as was the case for the “Platequemos” course and the corresponding “FSI Basic Spanish” course; that is, the materials are new. Nevertheless, in the case of the French course, a good portion of the original materials has been retained. Again, I would suggest that interested parties download one of the transcripts along with the accompanying sample audio files. Vocabulary has been updated and expanded; however, that is not the only change. These new courses begin with the introduction of individual words as opposed to phrases or complete sentences. The build-up from words, to sentences, to dialogues is much slower than in the FSI courses. The accompanying audio recordings are presented two speeds (“slow speed” and a “native speed”) and include more generous pauses for the student’s participation/response than did the originals. In the initial modules, the cadence of speech has been deliberately reduced for the benefit of the absolute beginner. The publisher expects that, in the more advanced modules, the cadence will achieve that of the normal speech. As was the case for the original audio-lingual method, the authors of these new versions stress that repetition of the model sentences (guided imitation) is important to assimilation of the structural patterns and other aspects of the target language. While I would not ask the creator of these courses to predict exactly, or even approximately, how many hours of audio recordings will eventually be incorporated into these courses, based on the modules presently available, along with the projection of a total of some 20 modules per course, I suspect that they will exceed those of the original FSI Basic courses.
Objectives: Current and Future
This is somewhat of a repetition of a point that I introduced above. In my second Email to Mr. Brians, I suggested that the modules presently available seemed to fall ever-so-slightly below the CEFR A1 Level, I asked him if he agreed with my assessment, and I asked him if there were plans to expand the courses. In the sincere hope of doing justice to his replies, I have copied/collated/pasted his comments as follows: “Our modules are ‘practical' oriented, and therefore we speak of 'level of conversation' in that context. At the end of the first French Set (units 1-6), the student should be able to get through travel encounters pretty well without resorting to English. For German: if someone works through Set 1 (gender, case, adjective), Set 2 (prepositions), Set 3 (modal verbs) and Set 4 (present perfect tense), that student will be able to navigate travel encounters (airport, hotel, restaurant, train, etc.). Once all the modules are done (20 or so), the student will be able to work in a professional environment, assuming the student knows the vocabulary for that environment.” I interpret this to mean that the present modules would take the student within the CEFR A1 range whereas that the full courses, once available, will aim for the CEFR B1-B2 range.
Conclusion and Prognosis
I am a strong supporter of the audio-lingual method of language instruction, particularly at the Beginner-to-Intermediate stages. I respond well to sentence-pattern exercises and, assuming that these are well-designed, I do not experience boredom. However, not everyone reacts this way. In support of the detractors of this method, I would add that I have a small collection of these types of courses, published for use in American High Schools in the 1960’s and, in stark contrast to the FSI Basic courses of the period, I would describe the sentence-pattern exercises of these civilian versions as crushingly mind-numbing, so much so that even I would not have reacted well to the learning experience.
I welcome the present offerings by “Dr. Brians Languages” and their revitalisation of the audio-lingual (guided imitation) method and I eagerly look forward to the successful completion of these projects. While few people have the patience to “slug it out” with these types of materials, from the “testimonials” that are available on the publisher’s website, I am not alone in being drawn to these new courses. As to the prognosis, I predict that the success of these courses, once completed, will hinge on the author’s ability to craft genuinely interesting dialogues and sentence-pattern exercises; you know, the little works of prose that populate the original FSI Basic German course.
Comments/Opinions?
I invite all members to visit the website of this publisher, to download a transcript of one of the modules along with the samples of the accompanying audio, to try these materials on for size, and to submit their own comments/opinions. Je vous remercie de votre attention.
EDITED:
Tinkering, typos, formatting.
Additional tinkering.
In the mid-to-late 1970’s, the audio-lingual method was gradually abandoned in favour of other methods of language instruction. Since that time, the publication of new works in the genre has become an increasingly rare event. This review discusses the revival and adaptation of the original method and the publication of just such a new language course.
As it is highly unlikely that the supporters of the audio-lingual method will convince the detractors of its merits and of its continued “usefulness”, or that the detractors will have any success in convincing its supporters of the method’s weaknesses, thereby allowing either side to “win the latest debate”, I would respectfully call upon both parties to resist the temptation of turning this discussion thread into yet an opportunity of “having a go at it, just one more time.”
The usual disclaimers apply here. That is, I have no association whatsoever with the publisher of these courses and, beyond the satisfaction of performing what-I-believe-to-be a public service, I derive absolutely no benefit from publishing this review.
Never Leave Any Stone Unturned
Recently, while conducting an internet search for language-learning materials, I happened upon what-I-initially-suspected-were yet two more well-intentioned, but ultimately doomed, entries into the crowded marketplace for low-priced German and French courses; I hope that I was wrong! Intrigued by the description on Amazon – “Dr. Brians Languages is based on the highly acclaimed language learning program developed by the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) for U.S. Government personnel in the 1940's … The FSI inspired Guided Imitation drills facilitate staged conversations.” -- I visited the publisher’s website, downloaded the audio samples and the transcripts, and took them for a test drive. Shortly thereafter, I exchanged a couple of Emails with the creator of this series, Scott Brians. Here is my report:
FSI Basic Courses “Updated”
I suggest that interested readers visit the company’s website, paying particular attention to the sections dealing with the French and German language courses; here is the LINK (http://www.drbrianslanguages.com/index.html). It might be worthwhile downloading one of the transcripts along with the corresponding audio samples. For those of us who are already familiar with the FSI Basic and DLI Basic language courses, or similar courses from the era when the latter were published, it is fairly clear from reading the description on the website that this publisher has chosen to adopt the audio-lingual method of language instruction. Scott Brains, the creator of these courses, confirmed as much in an Email to me: “From a historical standpoint, when I started studying German in college two decades ago, a friend introduced me to the FSI program. I loved the approach, but the execution was very poor (sound quality made understanding very difficult, speaking was much too fast for beginners, pauses for answers were too short, vocabulary was not up-to-date). It was then that I had the idea: rewrite, modernize, re-record. It has only been recent that the average Joe had relatively affordable access to the equipment required to pull this off, and an easy way to deliver the product. And so … here we are.” While I will not respond to Mr. Brians’ (to my mind) disparaging (sniff, sniff)remarks of my cherished, untarnishable, and unassailable FSI Basic German course, I think that even supporters of the audio-lingual method would agree with at least a few of his observations, while many others would admit to having wished for just such an update.
Languages, State of Advancement, Number of Modules
To date, two courses have been published: “Mastering German Conversation” and “Mastering French Conversation”, both of which are available for sale via Amazon (Audible) or via iTunes (please note very carefully the publisher’s cautions with respect to the performance of their products via iTunes downloads). In response to my questions concerning the state of advancement of these courses, which I would estimate to be approximately CEFR A1, and concerning the prospects of additional language courses being published, Mr. Brians advised me that the German and French courses are presently works-in-progress and that the plan is to complete these before considering any new projects: “As far as our development plans, both German and French are under development. We will cover all the grammar - what you have listed below and more - required to converse at an educated level in the target languages. I envision about 15 more modules for each language.” These additional modules would bring the total to about 20 per course. If one can use the information available on the website as a guide (e.g., the number of hours per module), this suggests that a remarkable amount of material will be available once these two courses have been fully deployed.
A Well-Known Approach: Drill-Drill-Drill
As noted above, the author of these courses has chosen to re-introduce the audio-lingual method of language instruction (the author prefers the term “Guided Imitation”) and, in doing so, to correct the deficiencies of the original FSI Basic French and FSI Basic German courses. I would note that the German course is not a derivation or a modification of the original courses as was the case for the “Platequemos” course and the corresponding “FSI Basic Spanish” course; that is, the materials are new. Nevertheless, in the case of the French course, a good portion of the original materials has been retained. Again, I would suggest that interested parties download one of the transcripts along with the accompanying sample audio files. Vocabulary has been updated and expanded; however, that is not the only change. These new courses begin with the introduction of individual words as opposed to phrases or complete sentences. The build-up from words, to sentences, to dialogues is much slower than in the FSI courses. The accompanying audio recordings are presented two speeds (“slow speed” and a “native speed”) and include more generous pauses for the student’s participation/response than did the originals. In the initial modules, the cadence of speech has been deliberately reduced for the benefit of the absolute beginner. The publisher expects that, in the more advanced modules, the cadence will achieve that of the normal speech. As was the case for the original audio-lingual method, the authors of these new versions stress that repetition of the model sentences (guided imitation) is important to assimilation of the structural patterns and other aspects of the target language. While I would not ask the creator of these courses to predict exactly, or even approximately, how many hours of audio recordings will eventually be incorporated into these courses, based on the modules presently available, along with the projection of a total of some 20 modules per course, I suspect that they will exceed those of the original FSI Basic courses.
Objectives: Current and Future
This is somewhat of a repetition of a point that I introduced above. In my second Email to Mr. Brians, I suggested that the modules presently available seemed to fall ever-so-slightly below the CEFR A1 Level, I asked him if he agreed with my assessment, and I asked him if there were plans to expand the courses. In the sincere hope of doing justice to his replies, I have copied/collated/pasted his comments as follows: “Our modules are ‘practical' oriented, and therefore we speak of 'level of conversation' in that context. At the end of the first French Set (units 1-6), the student should be able to get through travel encounters pretty well without resorting to English. For German: if someone works through Set 1 (gender, case, adjective), Set 2 (prepositions), Set 3 (modal verbs) and Set 4 (present perfect tense), that student will be able to navigate travel encounters (airport, hotel, restaurant, train, etc.). Once all the modules are done (20 or so), the student will be able to work in a professional environment, assuming the student knows the vocabulary for that environment.” I interpret this to mean that the present modules would take the student within the CEFR A1 range whereas that the full courses, once available, will aim for the CEFR B1-B2 range.
Conclusion and Prognosis
I am a strong supporter of the audio-lingual method of language instruction, particularly at the Beginner-to-Intermediate stages. I respond well to sentence-pattern exercises and, assuming that these are well-designed, I do not experience boredom. However, not everyone reacts this way. In support of the detractors of this method, I would add that I have a small collection of these types of courses, published for use in American High Schools in the 1960’s and, in stark contrast to the FSI Basic courses of the period, I would describe the sentence-pattern exercises of these civilian versions as crushingly mind-numbing, so much so that even I would not have reacted well to the learning experience.
I welcome the present offerings by “Dr. Brians Languages” and their revitalisation of the audio-lingual (guided imitation) method and I eagerly look forward to the successful completion of these projects. While few people have the patience to “slug it out” with these types of materials, from the “testimonials” that are available on the publisher’s website, I am not alone in being drawn to these new courses. As to the prognosis, I predict that the success of these courses, once completed, will hinge on the author’s ability to craft genuinely interesting dialogues and sentence-pattern exercises; you know, the little works of prose that populate the original FSI Basic German course.
Comments/Opinions?
I invite all members to visit the website of this publisher, to download a transcript of one of the modules along with the samples of the accompanying audio, to try these materials on for size, and to submit their own comments/opinions. Je vous remercie de votre attention.
EDITED:
Tinkering, typos, formatting.
Additional tinkering.