FSI Spanish Basic Course

The Spanish Language

If you’re looking to learn a language that’s sure to come in useful, as the fourth most spoken language in the world as well as the one with the second-highest number of native speakers, Spanish should be near the top of your list.

The official language of Spain, as well as much of Latin America, Spanish is a global language that’s important for both travel and business – and for speakers of English, it’s also one of the easiest to master.

So for anyone looking to smarten up their rusty, half-forgotten school Spanish, or even for anyone starting from scratch, this FSI Spanish course is an invaluable resource.

What is the FSI Spanish Basic course?

Originally developed in the late 1950s to give US diplomats a firm grounding in the language before being sent on missions to Spanish-speaking countries, FSI Spanish Basic is arguably the most comprehensive Spanish course ever created.

It consists of four volumes comprising a total of 55 units that include hundreds of drills, speaking exercises, texts for reading practice, and many hours of audio recordings for perfecting your pronunciation.

In short, it contains everything you need to start communicating confidently and effectively in Spanish in a wide range of situations.

This completely free online Spanish course is available here in its entirety, allowing you to start improving your Spanish today.

How was FSI Spanish Basic originally used?

This course was designed for full-time students who attended six hours of class per day.

On top of this, they were expected to spend at least two hours a day studying outside of class, and even when they weren’t in lessons, they were supposed to speak only Spanish among themselves.

This created the perfect conditions for them to make rapid progress, and within only six months, the students would already have acquired a high level of proficiency.

How can you use FSI Spanish Basic?

For most people, recreating these conditions is not a realistic prospect, but the wealth of material contained in this free Spanish course can still be used to aid you in achieving your learning goals.

When studying any language, one of the keys is to use a variety of materials, and if you already have a coursebook, you can use the materials found here to supplement your learning.

For example, making smart use of the innumerable drills contained within this course could be a great way to give your fluency a boost.

On the other hand, if you’re looking for a primary resource, which will then be supplemented by other materials, you could also adapt FSI Spanish Basic for this purpose.

Taking it further

As anyone who has successfully mastered a foreign language will tell you, you can’t become fluent through books alone, and as soon as possible, we also encourage you to get out into the real world and start using your Spanish.

Fortunately, with such a large number of speakers, this is not a language you should have trouble finding partners to practice with. And once you begin using it in real situations, that’s when you will see your Spanish ability truly start to grow.

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Course Contents

Unit	Dialog Topic	Key Grammar
Volume 1 — Units 1–15	Student Text (PDF)	12+ hrs audio · 30 files · 700 pages
Unit 1	Useful Phrases & Pronunciation I	Vowel contrasts, stress system, intonation
Unit 2	Useful Phrases & Pronunciation II	Voiced stops, vibrants /r/ /rr/, voiceless stops, nasals
Unit 3	White’s Arrival in Surlandia	Demonstratives
Unit 4	White Meets Molina at the Embassy	Gender of nouns & adjectives, irregular verb estar
Unit 5	White’s First Day at Work	Number in nouns & adjectives, irregular verb ser
Unit 6	White & Molina Have Lunch	Present tense regular -ar verbs, articles with titles
Unit 7	Looking for an Apartment	Present tense regular -er verbs, ser vs. estar
Unit 8	Neighbors’ Apartment	Present tense regular -ir verbs, contractions
Unit 9	White Goes to Molina’s	Haber & present perfect, full-form possessives
Unit 10	Sending Laundry	Personal a, direct clitic pronouns
Unit 11	Interviewing a Maid	Shortened possessives, negative particle
Unit 12	No Water in the Apartment	Subject pronouns, statement intonation
Unit 13	Going to a Party	Present progressive (-ndo), possessives with de
Unit 14	Harris Family’s Arrival	Irregular verbs ir, dar, ver, periphrastic future
Unit 15	Mrs. Harris at Customs	Indirect clitic pronouns, question intonation
Volume 2 — Units 16–30	Student Text (PDF)	16+ hrs audio · 36 files · 717 pages
Unit 16	Sightseeing	Indirect clitic pronouns, question patterns
Unit 17	Social Life in Surlandia	Past I (preterite) of regular verbs
Unit 18	Discussing Carmen’s Work	Past II (imperfect) of regular & irregular verbs
Unit 19	Visit to Air Mission	Past I & Past II in the same construction
Unit 20	Visit to Air Mission (cont.)	Direct & indirect clitics together, exclamatory qué
Unit 21	The Weather	Irregular Past I forms (extended, modified, suppleted stems)
Unit 22	Going to the Market	Present tense stem-vowel changing verbs
Unit 23	Shopping at the Market	Velar stem extensions, irregular verbs (caer, oír, saber…)
Unit 24	Shopping in the Stores	Reflexive clitic pronouns, time of day
Unit 25	A Visa Interview	Reflexive & indirect clitics together
Unit 26	A Visa Interview (cont.)	Command forms of regular verbs
Unit 27	At the Doctor’s	Command forms of irregular verbs
Unit 28	Discussing a Party	Comparatives, superlatives, diminutives
Unit 29	Getting a Haircut	Relative clauses, present subjunctive intro
Unit 30	Renting a Car	Subjunctive in adverbial & adjective clauses
Volume 3 — Units 31–45	Student Text (PDF)	14+ hrs audio · 31 files · 615 pages
Unit 31	Dinner at Mrs. Molina’s	Past progressive, nominalized verb forms
Unit 32	Conversation After Dinner	Numbers, days, months; saber vs. conocer
Unit 33	Saying Goodbye to Mrs. Molina	Ordinal numbers, articles with days & time
Unit 34	Economist from Point IV	Por vs. para, colors
Unit 35	Barbecue on Columbus Day	Nominalization of articles, clitics in commands
Unit 36	Carmen Phones the Harrises	Subjunctive after ojalá, infinitive for -ing
Unit 37	Cocktail Party at the Harrises’	Subjunctive in noun clauses (object of verb)
Unit 38	Giving Up Smoking to Buy a Car	Subjunctive in noun clauses (subject of verb)
Unit 39	Looking for a New House	Subjunctive in adjective clauses
Unit 40	Moving to a New House	Subjunctive in adverbial clauses, conditionals
Unit 41	Talking About the Elections	Subjunctive with emotions & impersonal expressions
Unit 42	At the Barber Shop	Past subjunctive, sequence of tenses
Unit 43	A Diplomatic Reception	Conditional tense & conditional perfect
Unit 44	Planning a Trip to the Interior	Conditional sentences with subjunctive
Unit 45	The Trip Home	Future tense & future perfect
Volume 4 — Units 46–55	Student Text (PDF)	13+ hrs audio · 140 files · 464 pages
Unit 46	Jose Gets Sick	Comparisons of identity & similarity, word order
Unit 47	Juan & Jose Discuss Language	Past subjunctive, perfect subjunctives
Unit 48	The Binational Centers	Conditional perfect, neuter article lo
Unit 49	Carmen’s Cousin Runs for Congress	Future perfect, conditional sentences
Unit 50	Adaptation of Americans	Past subjunctive after ojalá/aunque/como si
Unit 51	An Accident	Future/conditional of probability, passive voice
Unit 52	Jose Sets the Date	Pero vs. sino, desde/hace constructions
Unit 53	A Dinner at the Whites’	Subjunctive in time, purpose & concessive clauses
Unit 54	The Wedding	Subjunctive in conditional clauses, full review
Unit 55	Farewell Parties	Comprehensive review of tenses & moods