When I took my PADI OW, I really really felt that I was going to fail.
It wasn't the material, but the way PADI chose to present it. I think I was given the International ESL CD-version. There was no textbook & all the videos and text were on this CD I would play on my computer.
A sample page would be 5 sentences & a short 30-second video of Amanda and Hiroshi deciding to take a PADI OW course at their LDS. The next page would be the next 5 sentences and another 20-second video of Ahmed and Ian sitting side by side by a pool. The page after that would be 45-seconds of Mei-Ling and Antonio buddying up while Marie-Chantal and Jesus did the buddy check....etc etc & they talked soooo s l o w l y . . . .
If it wasn't for that adrenaline pumping techno-step-aerobics music PADI likes to set their videos too, I would have fallen asleep.
I looked at some older PADI manuals at a used bookstore and they at least had more than 5 sentences per age. Was it just that CD version I got? Or is PADI dumbing it down to the point where is borders on prescription insomnia therapy?