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FAQs - Frequently
Asked Questions
This FAQ answers the
most frequently questions which we receive concerning Fluency
Today programs - organized under:
1. Self Study Options and
2. Live Tutor Options
One/Two.
Please wait for the
entire FAQ to load
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1 Self Study
Option FAQs
 Why buy language programs online?
Which
languages/levels are available now/ will there be others?
What
does a program actually consist of?
How
long does it take?
What can I say with "just a few words"?
How
can I remember the words?
How
do I understand when people answer?
How
does it work technically?
What
does it cost?
Will my credit card details be safe online?
Do you have any other ordering/payment methods?
2. Live Tutor
Option One FAQs
What are the advantages of live online learning?
How
much language can I learn in 90 minutes?
What
uses are there for "just a few words" of a language?
Which
languages are available?
What
will I actually be able to say?
How
do I understand others and reply?
Would
the programs have any other uses?
How
are the programs organized?
How
does it work technically?
What
about costs?
How do I get the program ?
When
could I have an online program?
Live Tutor
Option Two FAQs
What
is the difference between the two Live Tutor Options?
1. Self Study
Option FAQs
Why
buy language programs online?
The traditional ways of learning
languages - phrase books, course books, cassettes, evening classes
etc. all take ages and are not realistic if you just wish to
learn a few words before going off for a quick trip because the
language is not selected and presented to you in a focused manner.
We want you to work smart, - not hard and we have done most of
the work for you by choosing useful material for you to learn.
We also want you to get the information in our programs today
- and the only way to do that is via the Web. Our programs are
therefore only available on-line.
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Which languages/levels
are available now/will there be others?
French and German for now, but
we shall be adding more languages soon. These Self Study programs
are for complete beginners - or for you if you feel you may have
forgotten most of what you learned at school for example.
If you have some language knowledge and may be at low intermediate,
intermediate or even advanced level you should check out our
Live Tutor Option Two below where, because we give you a free
trial lesson, we are able to find out your language ability level
and arrange the program content to suit not only your level,
but your needs for vocabulary and the actual context in which
you want to use the language.
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What does a program
consist of?
A program text containing the English
and foreign language versions and a pronunciation guide of every
word in the program together with two practice exercises to make
sure that you can memorize every word.
All this material is also included in an sound file lasting between
15 -20 minutes according to program. The sound file has built
in pauses so that you may interact with it and check out your
pronunciation and memory.
These files are zipped for you to download in easy self-extracting
.exe format from a URL which you will be given as you order.
See our Free evaluation page
for a sample of a program and our Holiday,
Business and backpackers
pages for program descriptions.
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How long does
it take?
You can study the program at your
leisure following our simple guide. The record so far for a complete
beginner has been 90 minutes to become fairly confident in pronouncing
all the program material. Then another 55 minutes to listen to
the sound file three times and memorize all the language by repeating
the French equivalents during the pauses we have left in the
sound recording.
The learner in this case was tested on the following morning
after she had worked through the materials and when given the
English language phrases and words she was able to give 95% correct
answers in perfectly understandable French.
Of course, we all learn at different speeds and the person doing
the test was a gifted linguist who had learned other languages
before and we would not expect many people be able to memorize
all the material in our program as fast as that. However, you
are likely to take a four or five hours - not days, weeks or
months - purely because you are working efficiently and we have
targeted your learning.
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What will
I be able to say in "just a few words"?
That's a very good question. After
all, there's not much point in targeting your learning so much
that your are fluent in saying next to nothing!
We have to admit that it took us some time to find the right
compromise. The first programs we tested out contained about
two-thirds of the content of our final programs. We underestimated
what people could learn in "hours rather than days".
The final programs also contain additional language themes -
for example we didn't include any "language for use in an
emergency" in the original versions.
The "quantity" of language of course effects your ability
to learn it all, but the "quality" of the language
selected effects your ability to use it effectively. We therefore
put much effort into selecting the "functions" of the
selections - so that you will get the maximum effect from the
minimum of material.
Finally, as a bonus, you will find we have included some extra
free material in our exe file - giving worked examples of how
you, yourself, can build upon the basic foundation which our
programs provide and be able to express many hundreds of ideas.
The actual content of our various programs is described on the
Holiday, Business
and backpacker pages and a good
idea can also be obtained from the Free
evaluation page.
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How can I remember
the words?
Follow the method given at the
top of your actual program text. Learn formulations in groups
of five. Practise speaking in the gaps provided on the audio
file and also do the written practice tests in the text file.
Normally, if you can write a formulation on your own and without
help in the foreign language you will be able to remember and
say it as well.
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How do I understand
when people answer?
Glad you asked.
Most of the phrases in our programs have been designed to complete
a desired function in their own right, or to make people act
- rather than go into long-winded replies. What you will find
sometimes is that after you have said something you may get "a
supplementary question" from the person you are speaking
with.
There will naturally be times when you don't understand this
question or their reply and you will be forced back on to the
old standby of "I don't understand". It may just be
that they were impressed with your pronunciation and delivery
and over-estimated your ability. Most people will then be prepared
to help out and re-phrase what they said - especially as they
see you have made an effort to start with.
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How does it
work technically?
Full information is given on our
Technical Information and Order
Desk pages. If you have any enquiries which are not dealt
with here or an these two pages or any other problems do please
contact our Online
technical help desk.
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What does it
cost?
Full details are on our Costs
and Programs page.
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Will my credit
card details be safe On-line?
Security is paramount and that's
why we have partnered with Atlantic Coast Corporation which runs
Soft Shop - the world's oldest online store, who operate a state
of the art Secure Server to offer maximum protection to your
credit card details. See the little padlock at the bottom RHS
of your screen when you are in the secure area.
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Do you have
any other ordering/ payment methods?
Yes we do - full details are on
our Order Desk
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2. Live Tutor
Option One FAQs
What are
the advantages of live On-line learning?
Live training with your own tutor gives
you the opportunity to check that your intonation and pronunciation
are correct. It also means that you can ask for additional material
specific to your needs which is not included in the standard
Self Study Option One programs.
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How much
language can I learn in 90 minutes?
Two points here.
1. You are not learning "a whole language"
but a selection containing useful ideas suited to your particular
interests. Choosing the program - "A Few Words of Welcome
at Home" for example, means you select language relevant
to your needs in that situation and exclude language relating
to other situations. Targeting knowledge in this way is far more
effective than whole language learning.
2. It is not just 90 minutes. You will
have received our text and audio practice
materials and need to spend more time, at your leisure, polishing
pronunciation and memorizing words.
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What uses
are there for "just a few words" of a language?
You create goodwill right from the outset
of learning a language, that is, as soon as you can really say
something. The problem with traditional "whole language
learning" is that you can study for a year or more, learn
vocabulary & grammar, but find you cannot say very much.
We teach no grammar, but you can put everything in our programs
to immediate use by speaking confidently and comfortably.
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Which languages
are available?
At present French and German - the most
usual languages taught in language training schools. We shall
be adding others later - notably Spanish.
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What will
I actually be able to say?
This is described on each of the Holiday
language,
backpackers
language and Business language pages.
There are simple phrases on each topic asking questions, making
statements, using both positive & negative formulations.
Depending upon program chosen there are a minimum of 32 and a
maximum of 54 language selections containing between 175 and
200 words, including numbers and the days of the week.
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How do I
understand others and reply?
The language we have chosen is formulated
to invite action from the person you are speaking to - not long
replies which are difficult to understand. The intentions behind
the phrases vary: to give greetings, make requests, express satisfaction
or dissatisfaction, ask for help etc. They are designed to not
be overtly open-ended and concentrate on completing communication
tasks in one go.
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Would the
programs have any other uses?
Yes. You can treat them as "tasters"
and maybe decide to learn more of the language later. We have
in fact been incorporating some these programs into our business
language training courses over the last two years and have found
that they are brilliant in helping people to say something useful
right from the beginning. They also give people an early "feel"
for a language.
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How are the
programs organized?
You decide which program you would like
and then simply click Costs and Programs.
Fill in the short on-line form and we will contact you.
We check the availability of our tutor for
your program and agree/confirm the program time with you.
Ten minutes before the appointed time you
contact us through NetMeeting so that we both have a few minutes
to make sure all is working OK and we transfer the program text
to your NetMeeting white board.
You then have the session with the tutor.
You can have a 10 minute break in the middle, or indeed any time,
because we allow approx. two hours in all to ensure you get at
least a full 90 minutes training.
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How does
it actually work technically?
Click our Technical
information page for full details.
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What about
costs?
Click our Costs and
Programs page for full details.
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When could
I have an On-line program?
At the moment it is possible to choose
a time that suits you at most times between 08.00 and 22.00 hours
GMT during the next 7 days. It does vary a little depending upon
the availability of tutors and language involved. Simply click
here and complete our On-line Costs and Programs
form and E-mail it to us and we'll agree a time with you.
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How do I get
a program ?
Go to our Costs
and Programs page and send us an e-mail to arrange a FREE
evaluation session.
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Live Tutor
Option Two FAQs
What is the
difference between the two Live Tutor Options?
Live Tutor Option Two programs are tailored to your own needs
and to your existing ability in the language. The sessions are
for a fixed time of 90 minutes with an online tutor, but the
content is decided after we have had a free trial session with
you to find out what your needs actually are. Otherwise, the
two Live Tutor Options are organized in a similar manner, except
that the Live Tutor Option One programs follow the fixed program
content of our Self Study Option programs at beginners level
and Live Tutor Option Two programs are for learners at post beginner,
Intermediate or advanced levels .
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This Web site and all Fluency Today programs
are © 1999 Business Language Services, Owl House, Runnington,
Wellington, Somerset TA21 OQW, United Kingdom. phone and fax
: (+44) (0) 1823 662 727 info@fluency.force9.co.uk
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