Answers
May 31, 2014 - 06:18 PM
I agree. Although I am sympathetic with the goal of making these distinctions understandable to everyone, I think it is sometimes simpler to cut to the chase and just use the common grammatical terminology. I have thought a useful addition to Fluenz, as it evolves, is perhaps something like pop-ups you could activate for more detailed grammatical explanations. A case in point in French, (there might be something similar in Spanish, I forget) is the distinction between the use of que or qui to introduce a dependent clause. The rule Fluenz gives is quite convoluted, while in fact it is as simple as: use qui if it is the subject of the clause, que if it is the object.
May 31, 2014 - 06:41 PM
@James Putney.... I like your idea, James. Hopefully something like it will be incorporated into the Fluenz of the future. As to your first point, I feel that since these concepts are being introduced at the level of Four-12, we should all be pretty much at the same point of progress with the language. The concept of direct and indirect object pronouns is nothing that can't be found in a very basic grammar book. I'm just saying the course should use the terminology to define the concept, which, IMO, would make it more understandable to all.
Jun 18, 2014 - 08:18 PM
I guess it was worth waiting for. In Level 4-28 Sonia gives a wonderful explanation of direct and indirect object complements, and even uses their grammatical names in her tutorial. I don't know where I've ever heard these concepts explained more clearly.