Mini Review: FSI Language Courses

FSI Language Courses: An online platform including language courses originally designed for U.S. diplomats; offers courses tailored for groups like the Foreign Language Institute, the Defense Language Institute, and the Peace Corps

• Slay: Offers 150+ language courses

• Slay: Can be completely free, but also offers cheap all-inclusive options, with the All-In-One Language Mastery Pack, which includes all available languages, only costing $39.99 one time for lifetime access

• Slay: Includes a helpful introductory summary of each language, including how many speakers the language claims, where the language is primarily spoken, and how difficult the language is

• Slay: Many courses include audio that corresponds to the text.

• Slay: Depending on the language, there are courses of different depth/breadth which can correspond to what you want to learn, whether you want to start with the basics and get a grasp of grammar first or you want to head straight into "effective communication" for travel purposes.

• Slay: Offers a resource blog of language-learning articles that feature a minimalist design and a few visual elements to help make the text engaging without being overwhelming

• Slay: Reddit users say they are very good and effective.

• Nay: Some courses are very outdated (e.g., one Latin American Spanish textbook is from the eighties, and in an audio example, the English speaker had a distinct transatlantic accent), so you may be learning outdated phrasing and will miss out on up-to-date vernacular/slang (some are more updated, it just takes filtering through the available courses).

• Nay: The texts are typically in PDF form and are quite dry and visually under-stimulating. They include a high volume of information, which can be overwhelming.

• Nay: Entirely self-directed, offering no assistance other than an "AI study assistant," which can of course be faulty

Recommendation:

• FSI language courses are structured according to effective learning methods used by U.S. linguists, and if you have the patience and attention span, they can likely get you where you want to go. I would recommend them for those who can stick with one method/medium for long periods of time or those who enjoy the simple method of textbook learning rather than apps, videos, etc., which can be overstimulating.

• For a more thorough analysis, check out the FSI Language Courses review from StoryLearning.

• To understand how to use FSI Language Courses effectively, check out FluentU's guide.