Resources for Learning Foreign Languages? 12
Mudhiker asks: "I'm tired of being a stupid American and knowing only two spoken languages, I wanna learn some more of 'em. The options at my local bookstore are overwhelming, so I ask Slashdot: What are some good (never mind the cost) books, tapes, packages...whatever...for learning foreign languages? Short of enrolling in college again or moving myself to another country, what are my options?" We did a similar Ask Slashdot focusing on
linguistic software for Linux back near the beginning of the year. What other resources would you suggest for someone looking to broaden their verbal skills beyond English?
Speak and listen to real people. (Score:2)
Do you know anyone, anywhere in the world, who speaks the language? Phone them.
Go on holiday there, and resist using any English. Go without rather than use English.
Immerse yourself, find radio stations on short wave radio or the net - especially news, which is usually very well spoken. Listen to talking books.
You could learn from courses in books and on tapes but it would probably end up costing more, with less useful results. Not much fun either. Only worth it if you are both incredibly shy and very self motivated.
Berlitz (Score:2)
http://www.berlitz.com/free_lesson/default.htm
They have a free lesson for newbies until June 30th.
Re:Berlitz (Score:2)
I had to point this out, or some ant-fucker would have called me on it.
People matter (Score:3)
Why? Well, there are so many small things which a more static learning resource won't cover. There are thousands of exceptions to grammar rules, pronunciations etc which aren't covered in textbooks. On top of that, you need someone you can ask questions.
With that aside, it's pretty difficult to give any tips for software without knowing which language someone is interested in. For Swedish, there are several learning programs for instance, though they are all Windows based as far as I know. On top of that there's a whole bunch of websites, but they mostly handle specific parts of the language. (Like this course in Swedish cursing for instance:
http://www.santesson.com/curshome.htm [santesson.com]
The final tip I would give is pick a language that you truly feel motivated to learn - like learning programming languages, it's difficult to learn something if you don't have particular goals for learning it. I mean I've never felt the need to learn OO languages so although I've looked into both Java and C++ I've never actually ended up making any progress with them. Similarly I was awful at French when I was in school, but picked up Swedish within a couple of years.
"Give the anarchist a cigarette"
Pronunciation is key. (Score:2)
I've found that getting pronunciation right from the start is one of the most important things that you can do -- I know people who've been studying Chinese for over 8 years, and they sound awful (people cringe when they hear them) -- because they did not start with good pronunciation.
The problem is, it's a pain in the ass to get good pronunciation, and nearly impossible to get it from "static resources" like books or tapes. My advice :
1. listen to the language a lot. You want to study Japanese? listen to Japanese music or sitcoms -- just so that you can get used to hearing the sounds.
2. don't go it alone -- books and tapes can get you a hamburger and lots of cheap compliments, but probably not "fluency" or skillz. Take a class (a good one) or get a tutor.
3. travel. study abroad (they have these for people over college age).
4. Make friends who speak the langauge. Also, although I don't recommend doing it on purpose, if you happen to go out with somebody who speaks the language (and if that's the only language you use) you'll learn very quickly.
5. Don't forget culture -- langauge is a lot more than just words and patterns. If you don't understand the history, literature, art, etc. you can't really understand the langauge.
(then again, I've got high standards for fluency -- I've still got a long way myself)
Good luck!
Trade, and teach someone else English too (Score:2)
Like I said, this might not work for you depending on where you live, but if there's an international students group near you it might be worth trying.
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Re:Berlitz (Score:1)
Barron's Mastering Spanish: U.S. Diplomatic Course (Score:2)
fluency (Score:1)
Save up $1500 or so, move to a country that speak the language you want to learn. Find a tourist pub and they'll hire you under the table as long as you speak English. They'll even give you a place to stay and everything... You won't make money, but you won't be spending any either...
As long as you're making an effort to learn, in *6* weeks you'll be able to hold down conversations with people. And, on top of that, you get a great experience living in a different country.
Learning out of books is, imo, usless. I spent 2 years doing French in school and had trouble getting around in France when I first got there. I spent a month working in a hostel on the French Rivera and now I'm - more or less - fluent.
The second best option - Find a girlfriend who's fluent in the language
For Japanese... (Score:1)
Also this site is a like a proxy that translates webpages and stuff, adding code for pop-up hints on kanji and words, plus more: Rikai [rikai.com]
And of course, the only way to really learn a language is to go live where they speak it... which would be good for a lot of Americans. And try not to hang-out with your English speaking friends all the time.
tapes (Score:1)
CD-roms (Score:1)
They have exercises, native speakers reading the conversations, word-by-word sound outs (and translations), and some even have voice pattern recognitions and can grade you on how well you say things. (Microphone required.)
I have Irish tapes (and the companion book) and never got anywhere. I have the Irish CD software and manage to do some regularly. Some of this is that I don't actually have a tape player anymore ... I haven't seen any CD versions of the tapes yet.
None of this is a substitute for interacting with real people, of course, but it still helps. And there are some languages for which there are no classes nearby.
Someone else commented on how the books and tapes were expensive, but honestly I found the software for $20 on sale. That's cheaper than the tapes.