by Neal Walters
As the web and bandwidth have multiplied, learning Spanish online has advanced to new levels. My first experience learning a language outside of a formal school setting was with Foreign Service Institute (FSI) tapes ordered by mail in the 80s. After that, I discovered Pimsleur which was a big step ahead. FSI had more tapes, more lessons, and more grammar, but it required the book and was hard to learn in the car. Pimsleur is more of a “book-less” system, perfect for learning in the car.
Just a few years ago, it was difficult to view audios and videos online. The technology was new, and many companies hadn’t quite mastered it yet. Furthermore, the internet was formerly too slow to deliver the large files required by both video and audio. With wireless internet, DSL, satellite and cable, most homes now have high-speed internet, making new types of lessons available.
Some companies are offering connections with live teachers, often with 2 to 4 students onlien with the same teacher. These classes tend to be more expensive, because they obviously have to find, interview, select, and pay the instructors. Personal one-on-one tutors are even more expensive. Scheduling is another difficulty with these classes; you typically have to meet at the same time, once or twice per week. If you travel, or have a job that keeps you late, you wouldn’t want to miss your classes.
With an online class, another possibility is the ability to click on a word to hear it pronounced. The computer with patiently play the sound file over and over again, as many times as the students like. The student can also skip around, and click on words that are interesting or troublesome to him. This is a big advantage over tapes and CDs which both lacked true “random” access.
In 2008, I set out to build my own Spanish course, using primarily video and audio. The lessons were written around typically conversations you might have when meeting someone. Even after taking three levels of other popular courses, there are so many typical conversational elements I found lacking. The course I created includes talking about your job, where you are from, where you have lived, your flight, family (number of brothers, sisters, children, and status of parents), and lunching while on a diet.
Each lesson begins with a short video, well under two minutes. At first, you wouldn’t expect to understand it, But then, you listen to the teaching audio, which is typically 45 minutes long. The audio builds your vocabulary, and teaches you to actually think and construct hundreds of Spanish sentences with your new vocabulary. The audio focuses on the phrases and sentences in the video, but also combines the phrases with other words that might be related.
Another feature, often requested by students, is the ability to print out the dialogs and even the entire audio lesson. Students often want to study the material offline, and even highlight it. It’s fun to learn at the computer, good to practice reading skills and review when not connected.
Learning Spanish Online With Videos (and Audios)
As the web and bandwidth have multiplied, learning Spanish online has advanced to new levels. My first experience learning a language outside of a formal school setting was with Foreign Service Institute (FSI) tapes ordered by mail in the 80s. After that, I discovered Pimsleur which was a big step ahead. FSI had more tapes, more lessons, and more grammar, but it required the book and was hard to learn in the car. Pimsleur is more of a “book-less” system, perfect for learning in the car.
Just a few years ago, it was difficult to view audios and videos online. The technology was new, and many companies hadn’t quite mastered it yet. Furthermore, the internet was formerly too slow to deliver the large files required by both video and audio. With wireless internet, DSL, satellite and cable, most homes now have high-speed internet, making new types of lessons available.
Some companies are offering connections with live teachers, often with 2 to 4 students onlien with the same teacher. These classes tend to be more expensive, because they obviously have to find, interview, select, and pay the instructors. Personal one-on-one tutors are even more expensive. Scheduling is another difficulty with these classes; you typically have to meet at the same time, once or twice per week. If you travel, or have a job that keeps you late, you wouldn’t want to miss your classes.
With an online class, another possibility is the ability to click on a word to hear it pronounced. The computer with patiently play the sound file over and over again, as many times as the students like. The student can also skip around, and click on words that are interesting or troublesome to him. This is a big advantage over tapes and CDs which both lacked true “random” access.
In 2008, I set out to build my own Spanish course, using primarily video and audio. The lessons were written around typically conversations you might have when meeting someone. Even after taking three levels of other popular courses, there are so many typical conversational elements I found lacking. The course I created includes talking about your job, where you are from, where you have lived, your flight, family (number of brothers, sisters, children, and status of parents), and lunching while on a diet.
Each lesson begins with a short video, well under two minutes. At first, you wouldn’t expect to understand it, But then, you listen to the teaching audio, which is typically 45 minutes long. The audio builds your vocabulary, and teaches you to actually think and construct hundreds of Spanish sentences with your new vocabulary. The audio focuses on the phrases and sentences in the video, but also combines the phrases with other words that might be related.
Another feature, often requested by students, is the ability to print out the dialogs and even the entire audio lesson. Students often want to study the material offline, and even highlight it. It’s fun to learn at the computer, good to practice reading skills and review when not connected.
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