Contents of Platiquemos Program
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Kindling
the new fire for a new century. The fire had to be kindled inside a sacrificial
victim's chest. |
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The original FSI Basic Course in Spanish consists of 55 Units, divided into four volumes with accompanying audio-cassettes. In order to make the program more manageable, we have further divided it into eight levels, each corresponding in time requirement to a college semester; re-formatted the original for clarity and simplicity; and modified the text to make it more relevant to students in every walk of life. This also gave us the opportunity to include some cultural information and some [we hope] interesting illustrations (Platiquemos contains over 500 culturally authentic illustrations). The complete program contains over 1500 pages of text, and over 50 hours of audio on compact disks or in mp3 format (see our unique way to obtain the complete program on cd--one per level--below. Also, we have recently been able to support download purchases, at huge savings).
About the audio. The purpose of the audio is to provide students the opportunity to practice almost anywhere (car, gym, waiting to see the doctor, etc.), and to internalize and master the lessons so that real proficiency can be obtained. In addition to outdated content, the original audio was also of uneven quality, and contained almost no female voices. We have tried to remedy these problems by extensive re-recording, much of it done in Mexico with the staff of Mexico's oldest language school. We also significantly expanded the English prompts on the audio to make it more easily useable without constantly referring to the text.
We are making units 1 and 3 available as a FREE download to give you a taste of how the program operates. The text requires Adobe Acrobat Reader to view. If you don't have it, you can get it here. The audio and music require an MP3 player or software. There are many different programs that will play MP3 files, and newer computers come with a player already installed. If you need one, you can get one here. The files are compressed (ZIP) for quick download. Once you have downloaded the file, run the file and it will extract itself. Make sure to note which directory or folder the files are extracted to. Information about using the program is here.
New computer technology makes it possible for us to offer the Platiquemos program in adobe acrobat and mp3 audio format. This means that an entire level can be purchased on one compact disk, at a saving of almost 50%! The text can be printed on any computer printer (or read on the computer), and the audio can likewise be used with a computer or "burned" onto normal compact disks. Information about purchasing the program in this format is on each of the Level description pages (see below), or on our catalogue page.
NEW We have just (October 2004) been able to offer the program in a downloable version, at a cost about half that of the digital version, and about a quarter of the hard copy version. Details are here.
There are eight Levels of the Platiquemos course. You may read about each level by clicking on the links below.
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The First President of Paraguay |