I'm a beginner too.  I don't really know what's going on here.  But I must say this is one of the best language courses I've ever taken.  The stories, plays and cartoons are great!  The only thing that would really make it more helpful, at least for people like me who learn best with an audio component included, is if there was a pronunciation tape where all the paradigms, stories, etc. are read aloud by an expert with proper pronunciation, as far as that is possible.