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14 August 2009

Open University Spanish Course L194

Open University

The Open University (OU) has been the backbone of my strategy this year. I am following the entry level Spanish course L194 Portales. I chose this course because I wanted some structure to my study and having studied French L120 a few years ago I knew roughly what to expect.

The course arrived in a box last November. It is made up of 6 course books and 6 CDs, one for each book. You also get various booklets about admin and a study calendar. Roughly once a month for the first 6 months you have to submit assignments for marking, to a tutor. The tutor returns your work with a mark and comments and at the end of the year you have a written and spoken assessment with your tutor. There are 7 or 8 regular meetings with the tutor at study centres, in my case University of Canterbury, about once a month on Saturday mornings for 2 hours. We had an additional day school in Tunbridge Wells which was very good I thought and it was nice to meet fellow students from adjacent regions for the first time.


OU Spanish Course Book 1
OU Spanish Course Book 2

OU Spanish Course Book 3
OU Spanish Course Book 4

OU Spanish Course Book 5
OU Spanish Course Book 6

The Open University material is good, it is mainly self study I would have liked more face to face tutorials as that is the only time OU provide a chance to have conversations in Spanish while a tutor is in the same room to give guidance and instant feedback.

The pace of study gets rather intense around the end of June and July when suddenly a couple of new tenses are introduced along with quite a lot of special vocabulary, and there is a study day; all within a short time. In August there is a chance to catch up during a two week academic holiday.

Success in L194 lets you continue to the second level, a separate course called En Rumbo and if you succeed in passing this as well you get a Certificate in Spanish. For more details see the OU website.

The cost for L194 was over £400 and I think that is a fair price for such good quality teaching material. Apart from the course books and CDs mentioned above, there are three recommended books to buy separately – Collins Easy Learning Grammar, Collins Easy Learning Dictionary and Success in Languages

Tags: , | Category: Foreign Language Courses, Open University

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Author

Bill Ferguson
Bill Ferguson

Spanish Teaching Resources

Getting good quality teaching and resources

The information I am going to share is an honest account of what I have tried over the past year and my opinions are just that, opinions. I will share my likes and dislikes, what works for me and what doesn't. This is a personal experience, I am not an expert but if you share my ambition of learning to communicate in a third, foreign language, then maybe we can help each other along the way.

According to Friedrich Nietzsche: "One who speaks a foreign language just a little takes more pleasure in it than one who speaks it well. Enjoyment belongs to those who know things halfway."

I think he is right. Its hard to define halfway but I think the fun starts when you know enough of a language to be able to make yourself understood, given sufficient time to think. At this stage you are not merely tolerated but treated as an honoured guest in a foreign country. People see you bravely struggling to speak and understand, and give you credit for trying. They are nearly always kind and supportive.

Go beyond this to fluency and its like a toddler growing up, you are no longer cute and vulnerable. You are competing for resources, in the adolescence of language acquisition unless you have a definite role you are treated with suspicion. Maybe that is the stage to consider moving on to another new language ...

Getting good quality teaching and resources is vital to success: encouraged by an influential book by Harry Ferber I now view language acquisition as a military campaign, I need to use my resources efficiently to overcome all resistance, I need to capture vocabulary and not let it escape. I need to wear down the opposition by attacking daily and not allowing it time to regroup. I need to learn the predictable tricks that the new language will play on me and be ready for them (this means learning grammar). Like any military campaign good quality intelligence is vital.

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