FSI courses
Free FSI Language Courses, Ready to Learn Online
The Foreign Service Institute (FSI) is the US State Department’s language school. Its older courses, textbooks plus audio, are US government works and generally public domain in the United States, so they are free to use. Vento turns them into guided online lessons with audio repetition and pronunciation feedback in your browser (Chrome, Edge, Safari). Downloaded lesson text and audio play without a connection.
What are FSI courses?
They were written to take English-speaking diplomats to a professional working proficiency (ILR 3 in speaking and listening) in full-time class. The design is intensive: a dialogue, then a lot of repetition. Archives still host the PDFs and MP3s. Those files are the source. They do not tell you what to do on Tuesday.
Are FSI courses free and public domain?
Under 17 U.S.C. §105, a work of the United States Government — prepared by a federal employee as part of official duties — is not protected by US copyright. USA.gov describes the same limit for federal materials. That is why these courses are generally free to use in the United States. It does not cover every file a fan site has added, and it is not a worldwide licence. Vento is not affiliated with the State Department.
Free FSI courses by language
Hijazi Arabic
Saudi Arabic Basic Course (Urban Hijazi Dialect)
Margaret K. Omar, Foreign Service Institute, 1975. 50 lessons. The dialect of Jeddah, Mecca, Medina, and Taif.
2,200 class hours · 88 weeks
Start freeGerman
FSI German Basic Course
Foreign Service Institute German Basic Course, in 24 units on Vento.
828 class hours · about 36 weeks
Start freeFrench
FSI French Basic Course
Foreign Service Institute French Basic Course. Vento lists 24 units, starting with street conversation.
690 class hours · 30 weeks
Start freeSpanish
FSI Spanish course (15 units)
Vento lists 15 Spanish units. The full FSI Spanish Basic Course is longer, so this catalogue is not that entire book. The State Department still rates Spanish as Category I.
690 class hours · 30 weeks
Start freeGreek
FSI Greek Basic Course
Foreign Service Institute Greek Basic Course (first published 1967). This catalogue includes the units Vento has ingested, not a promise that every printed unit is present.
1,012 class hours · about 44 weeks
Start freeMandarin Chinese
FSI Standard Chinese: A Modular Approach
Foreign Service Institute Standard Chinese. Early modules cover orientation, biographic information, money, and directions.
2,200 class hours · 88 weeks
Start freeEgyptian Arabic
FSI Egyptian Arabic course
A Foreign Service Institute Egyptian Arabic course. The State Department lists “Arabic” as one Category IV language, not a separate dialect rating.
2,200 class hours · 88 weeks
Start freeHausa
FSI Hausa Basic Course
A Foreign Service Institute Hausa basic course. Hausa is not named on the current State Department difficulty page, so Vento does not assign it an official class-hour figure.
Not listed by FSI
Start freeHindi
FSI Hindi course
Foreign Service Institute Hindi. Category III on the current State Department list.
1,012 class hours · about 44 weeks
Start freeIgbo
FSI Igbo Basic Course
A Foreign Service Institute Igbo basic course. Igbo is not named on the current State Department difficulty page.
Not listed by FSI
Start freeItalian
FSI Italian course
Foreign Service Institute Italian. Listed at 24 weeks on the current State Department page.
552 class hours · 24 weeks
Start freeLevantine Arabic
FSI Levantine Arabic course
A Foreign Service Institute Levantine (Shami) course. Arabic as a whole is Category IV on the State Department page.
2,200 class hours · 88 weeks
Start freePortuguese
FSI Portuguese course
Foreign Service Institute Portuguese. Listed at 24 weeks, unlike French and Spanish at 30.
552 class hours · 24 weeks
Start freeTurkish
FSI Turkish course
Foreign Service Institute Turkish. Category III (“hard languages”), not Category II.
1,012 class hours · about 44 weeks
Start freeYoruba
FSI Yoruba Basic Course
A Foreign Service Institute Yoruba basic course. Yoruba is not named on the current State Department difficulty page.
Not listed by FSI
Start freeRussian
Russian is Category III on the State Department list (about 44 weeks, 1,012 class hours). Vento does not have an FSI Russian course yet, so there is no lesson page to index. The FSI Russian FAST and Basic courses exist as public-domain books elsewhere; they are not on this site.
How to use an FSI course
Do one dialogue until you can say it, then the drills, then the next unit. The step-by-step version is the FSI method page. The hour table is the difficulty ranking.
FSI, DLI, and Peace Corps
| School | Who it trained | What you can use |
|---|---|---|
| FSI | State Department | The courses on this page |
| DLI | Defense Language Institute, the Department of Defense school | Separate military courses. Not hosted here. |
| Peace Corps | Volunteer pre-departure training | Manuals of uneven length and rights. Not hosted here. |
Files, rebuilds, or a guided path
Archive sites and a few single-language rebuilds already put these books online. Live Lingua has a reader, and German, French, and Mandarin each have a dedicated site. Vento is one guided path across the languages in this catalogue: the dialogue, the drills, and pronunciation feedback. Use an archive when you want the original file.
Questions
Are FSI courses really free?
The older Foreign Service Institute courses were produced by the US government. Under 17 U.S.C. §105, works prepared by federal employees as part of their official duties are not protected by US copyright, so those courses are generally in the public domain in the United States. Vento teaches from those texts at no cost. Some files elsewhere on the web include third-party material or newer recordings, which that statute does not cover. This is not a claim of worldwide public domain.
Are FSI courses public domain?
Generally, in the United States, yes, when the work was prepared by federal employees as part of their official duties (17 U.S.C. §105). Contractor-produced works, third-party inserts, and modern re-recordings are not automatically included. Vento uses the original government course texts.
Which FSI course is best for beginners?
Start with the language you will actually use. If you want the gentlest category for an English speaker, French or Spanish is Category I. If you want a course almost nobody else teaches for free, start with Hijazi Arabic. The method is the same: one dialogue, then drills.
Do FSI courses still work in 2026?
The drill pattern still works: listen, repeat, substitute, review. Some vocabulary is dated, especially in courses from the 1960s and 1970s. Learners on forums often say the material is effective and dry. It is a course, not a conversation partner.
What is the difference between FSI Basic, FAST, and Programmatic?
Basic courses are the long dialogue-and-drill books. FAST courses are shorter introductions. Programmatic courses are tightly sequenced drills. Vento’s Spanish catalogue has 15 units, which is shorter than the full Spanish Basic Course, so it should not be described as that entire book. German, French, Greek, and the Hijazi course follow the basic-course shape.
Is Vento affiliated with the State Department?
No. Vento is an independent app. It is not the Foreign Service Institute, not the State Department, and not an official training site.