Question about the FSI Program...

[PinYin55]

First off, I'm new here. I just began my quest to learn Mandarin, and I just wanted to thank you all, as you all have helped me get set up. This forum is very very helpful to the new learner.

Anywho, I have been borderline obsessed with Asian food, culture, entertainment (I have an arguably worrisome amount of Asian DVDs), etc, but have only recently REALLY trying to learn Mandarin.

At the moment, I am using Rosetta stone AND the pimsleur method, along with a few other tools I found lying around the internet.

I am just a little bit worried about both methods, having read the opinions here. I would like to eventually be fluent in the language. Im not trying to learn travel speak.

I saw someone here post the FSI method, stating it is the best method available.

http://fsi-language-courses.com/Chinese.aspx

I havent gotten too far in it, but it seems really awesome.

My main fear is that, well, it was created in the 70's. Ive heard some say there is some outdated material, learning how to talk about old technology and such, but mainly I just want to make sure the program as a whole isn't outdated.

I don't want to use this program for months only to find out I have learned outdated Mandarin.

So, I guess my question is this: Besides the small technology bits, is it still safe to use this program? Also, any opinions on it?

I plan on stopping by Barnes and Noble tomorrow to pick up a phrase book or work book or something of the like. I am going to scour these forums looking for recommendations, but if you want to post some here, I would be grateful.

Thanks it advance for any answers, opinions, or comments. Plan to see a lot of me form now on.

[character]

First off, I'm new here. I just began my quest to learn Mandarin[...]

[...]

So, I guess my question is this: Besides the small technology bits, is it still safe to use this program? Also, any opinions on it?

[...]

Thanks it advance for any answers, opinions, or comments. Plan to see a lot of me form now on.

I can offer some advice and info based on my experiences. The FSI course is a little dated (don't call people 'comrade') but is still a great place to start. I'd suggest starting with the pronunciation and romanization section.

I would suggest that one spend a week working hard on whatever Chinese material one already has for each hour spent on a forum such as this or looking for new learning material. Unfortunately, there's no magic or easy way to learn Chinese; one just has to put in the time and effort. Otherwise one could end up with a box of how to learn Chinese stuff, a lot of wasted time, and not as much progress as one would like.

You mentioned you have a lot of Asian DVDs. I've found some listening comprehension improvement by watching Mandarin-language films. Keep in mind that there are a lot of different Mandarin accents (often in the same film) and that subtitles can be very loose translations, so don't get frustrated.

[thph2006]

My advice would be to pick one program and put all your energy into it until you've completed it. Then, after you've gotten one under your belt you can think about working on more than one at a time. Otherwise you risk what happened to me, thrashing back and forth between programs, never giving any of them sufficient attention and in the long run slowing progress.

I've been through the entire Pimsleur series and think it's a very good starting point. The program focuses solely on speech with no support for reading or writing but there are lots of sources of text transcriptions of the Pimsleur audio if you need them. I found with my bad hearing it was helpful to use the transcripts to check my pronunciation. Listen to each lesson carefully multiple times and try to pay attention to what's similar and different between them. I found there's a lot of subtle information you can easily miss if you just casually repeat the speech.

FSI doesn't have the CD audio quality of Pimsleur (it's old tapes converted to MP3) but the audio's perfectly usable and the course is just packed with excellent insights, tips, and practical usage. It was designed by a lot of very smart language experts to be the most efficient way to give the US and Canadian diplomatic corps practical language skills. It also has the benefit of alternating the dialogs between Taiwan and Beijing so you get to hear and understand the differences between them. I personally think it's a fantastic course.

To your question about the FSI course being dated, consider the fact that although the course is 30 yrs old the language is thousands of years old (or to be fair, the modern language is hundreds of years old) so I doubt it'll create any problems for you.

[PinYin55]

Thanks for the help guys!

I think I am going to continue with the FSI program, because even from the very beginning, I found their explanation of tones to be the best of any program Ive seen by FAR.

I'll probably still use pimsleur, as there are times I need a audio only course. In the car, working out, etc.

Also, I like listening to a lesson on my iPod before I go to sleep. It fights to problems at once (not being able to speak Chinese, and insomnia )

Also, whether there is any truth to it or not I have no idea, but I feel like studying DIRECTLY before falling asleep helps you to memorize things.

Thanks again everyone.

[thph2006]

Best of luck on your learning journey. I chuckled to myself a bit when I saw your suggestion about listening to a lesson before falling asleep. I do the same thing. I also found if I both listen and respond I absorb more and have less of a tendency to treat the lesson as background noise (which I started doing until I forced myself to actively participate).

Cheers, Tom

[anticks]

im going to use FSI after pimsleur. Im on lesson 8/pimsleur II

Anyone know how many words FSI teaches around-about?

I heard pimsleur 1,2,3 is around about 500 only total.

[thph2006]

I did a quick count of the vocab in the Personal Welfare optional module and it has around 500 words. Given there are 9 regular modules and 6 optional modules I'd say it's a good bet the course total is at least 2000 words and probably a lot more.

[anticks]

nice! thanks bud

[Rrina]

I would suggest that one spend a week working hard on whatever Chinese material one already has for each hour spent on a forum such as this or looking for new learning material. Unfortunately, there's no magic or easy way to learn Chinese; one just has to put in the time and effort. Otherwise one could end up with a box of how to learn Chinese stuff, a lot of wasted time, and not as much progress as one would like.

I have to confess I'm one of those collectors of 'how to learn Chinese' things. Great suggestion, I'll take it to heart.

I'm very much a newbie with less than a year of studies but I've completed the first module of FSI and I've found it very enjoyable and challenging. I think I'll never forget how to say 'comrade' but with this course you always feel like you're studying seriously. I wish I could have thanked the developers personally - but it was created so long ago I guess that's impossible.

[CheukMo]

I have to confess I'm one of those collectors of 'how to learn Chinese' things. Great suggestion, I'll take it to heart.

I'm very much a newbie with less than a year of studies but I've completed the first module of FSI and I've found it very enjoyable and challenging. I think I'll never forget how to say 'comrade' but with this course you always feel like you're studying seriously. I wish I could have thanked the developers personally - but it was created so long ago I guess that's impossible.

I am also a person with "how to learn Chinese" things. A couple of boxes in fact. I didn't have time for a while but now I find myself watching something I've seen on TV three times already. I really need to start studying. Good luck with your studies!

卓武