Teaching yourself a language...

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What is the best way to do it? Buy a school book? Illegally download a linguaphone???

Or other suggestions....

― Ronan (Ronan), Thursday, 28 September 2006 08:52 (nineteen years ago)

Start to date a speaker of said language.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Thursday, 28 September 2006 08:59 (nineteen years ago)

I've got Teach Yourself German (book and CD pack, from Borders) and have found it really good for my purposes, but that's brushing up a rusty A Level. For learning from scratch it'd be good too, but it helps if you've already learned another language so you know what's what. If you haven't, there's no substitute for an evening class. Motivation is also a major factor because good intentions often die quickly. Knowing you've got a class in a couple of days is a really good pusher.

― Mädchen (Madchen), Thursday, 28 September 2006 09:01 (nineteen years ago)

Get thrown in jail in your country of choice.

― Leopold Boom! (noodle vague), Thursday, 28 September 2006 09:03 (nineteen years ago)

Also, watch as many films as you can in your chosen language, buy newspapers and magazines and listen to radio over the internet. Crappy music radio is really good because you get a three-minute break between talky bits and radio cliches like phone pranks are really easy to follow, as are the ads, because you know what's likely to be happening even if you don't understand the words.

― Mädchen (Madchen), Thursday, 28 September 2006 09:04 (nineteen years ago)

I have a book and CD combo type thing of Catalan that only cost me £12 or something and that I have found quite useful. I honed my spanish from reading novels and though this means I can basically read anything I want the lack of practice of speaking and hearing real people talking, especially spaniards who I sometimes find impossible to understand, is a real disadvantage in a real world situation. So spending time with speakers of the language and stuff like television and even music is really pretty indispensible.

― struttin' with some barbecue (jimnaseum), Thursday, 28 September 2006 09:17 (nineteen years ago)

and if it is a tonal language, don't bother, you need a native speaker

― Paul Kelly (kelly), Thursday, 28 September 2006 09:20 (nineteen years ago)

my friend reckons Pimsleur is useful.

― ken c (ken c), Thursday, 28 September 2006 09:27 (nineteen years ago)

speaking it is the only way, through participatory classes, all in the language you are going to learn.

eg, http://dublin.cervantes.es/ for spanish. or equivalents for others. it can be fairly intensive, but this means you do notice the progress you are making, and this is good for motivation. this is also good if you are...somewhat lazy

― -- (688), Thursday, 28 September 2006 09:27 (nineteen years ago)

i think i'm picking lots of japanese just by watching anime

― ken c (ken c), Thursday, 28 September 2006 09:29 (nineteen years ago)

I think iTunes has free downloads of teach yourself language podcasts.

― === temporary username === (Mark C), Thursday, 28 September 2006 09:31 (nineteen years ago)

Do an intensive course and then go to the country and get drunk, I never really learnt to speak italian until I started getting pissed with italians.

― Ed (dali), Thursday, 28 September 2006 09:34 (nineteen years ago)

I tried to learn piano by phone once. It might've worked, except I didn't own a piano.

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Thursday, 28 September 2006 09:35 (nineteen years ago)

Ah these are good ideas.....I want to learn German...obviously!

― Ronan (Ronan), Thursday, 28 September 2006 10:02 (nineteen years ago)

I never really learnt to speak italian until I started getting pissed with italians

Ha, me neither.

― Mädchen (Madchen), Thursday, 28 September 2006 10:21 (nineteen years ago)

I studied English by watching telly. So whenever someone tells me television is bad for children, I tell'em that if it wasn't for the BBC I would never be able to converse with'em. I would watch films with subtitles.

Maybe you can take a class at university. I did this: I went to Japanese class for a couple of years. Lots of fun. (Sadly the professor died. :-((((((()
I also had a Japanese friend who taught me Japanese. Not the best idea to learn the rules but you do manage to learn speaking the language.

Those language tapes are HORRENDOUS. Try watching German telly!

― Nathalie (stevie nixed), Thursday, 28 September 2006 10:26 (nineteen years ago)

I've got the Pimsleur German mp3/pdf which I've yet to digest, I'm sure I read that's what the FBI used when sending agents abroad (Pimsleur series). I'm also needing to brush up on my Higher German so I can ask how to get to der Fußball Stadium von Hertha when I'm over.

― JohnFoxxsJuno (JohnFoxxsJuno), Thursday, 28 September 2006 10:36 (nineteen years ago)

films in your native language with subtitles in the language you want to learn are pretty good for brushing up/learning extra vocab/colloquialisms. dunno how useful it is the other way around esp if you're not familiar with the language as it's hard to tell where one word ends and the next starts.

― emsk ( emsk), Thursday, 28 September 2006 10:47 (nineteen years ago)

Muzzy!

http://www.early-advantage.com/Images/about_muzzy/muzzy_characters.gif

http://www.muzzyonline.com/

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller 68), Thursday, 28 September 2006 10:55 (nineteen years ago)

Well, that's how I learned English! I was about 9 at the time I started doing this. But then I do learn languages quite easily. *shrug*

― Nathalie (stevie nixed), Thursday, 28 September 2006 11:31 (nineteen years ago)

oh my god is muzzy the monster who likes eating parking meters?

― ken c (ken c), Thursday, 28 September 2006 11:37 (nineteen years ago)

Are you actually doing Muzzy with Edith, PJ?

― Run Ruud Run (Ken L), Thursday, 28 September 2006 11:40 (nineteen years ago)

Yes, that is Muzzy.

No, I am not doing Muzzy with Edith.

But it is quite effective, I think.

The trouble with films is that you need a pretty good level before you can glean anything from them, and even then, they are not repetitive enough.

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller 68), Thursday, 28 September 2006 12:31 (nineteen years ago)

I have learned two words of Swedish just from watching Lukas Moodysson films: lesbisk and homosexuell.

― Mädchen (Madchen), Thursday, 28 September 2006 12:39 (nineteen years ago)

i've so far learnt how to say "the technique of..." in japanese from watching Naruto.. e.g. WATER ELEMENT: GRAND WATERFALL TECHNIQUE

― ken c (ken c), Thursday, 28 September 2006 12:41 (nineteen years ago)

Cool! What do they mean?

(xpost)

― StanM (StanM), Thursday, 28 September 2006 12:43 (nineteen years ago)

You can learn Welsh by watching S4C Digidol and filling in the gaps between the English language they are inevitably obliged to throw in every half dozen words or so.

― === temporary username === (Mark C), Thursday, 28 September 2006 12:47 (nineteen years ago)

llloidfisfdif llsdofisdfui deoderant ffion lldisifdsfhgogogoch

Like that, you mean?

― Mädchen (Madchen), Thursday, 28 September 2006 13:16 (nineteen years ago)

I've got the Pimsleur German mp3/pdf

YSI?

― dance dance counter-revolution (fandango), Thursday, 28 September 2006 13:27 (nineteen years ago)

(not a joke, been meaning to ask this myself re: audiobooks)

― dance dance counter-revolution (fandango), Thursday, 28 September 2006 13:28 (nineteen years ago)

dance dance - I shall try later on when I'm on my home computer. It's a biggee though - nearly 2gb.

― JohnFoxxsJuno (JohnFoxxsJuno), Thursday, 28 September 2006 13:31 (nineteen years ago)

When you're past beginner level and really want to work out your brain, there's these

― Run Ruud Run (Ken L), Thursday, 28 September 2006 13:35 (nineteen years ago)

You can learn Welsh
The bbc has lots of good free Welsh learning material.

― Run Ruud Run (Ken L), Thursday, 28 September 2006 13:38 (nineteen years ago)

The trouble with films is that you need a pretty good level before you can glean anything from them, and even then, they are not repetitive enough.

no, you don't. i knew nothing and managed to learn it quite easily. there was noone teaching me english aside from the movies i watched. if you can read, you can connect the words. that's basically how i did it. it was dead-easy cause you have the original language, the subtitles and IMAGES so you can derive a lot from that. this is of course easier if your language is of the same family (for example dutch/english or german/english) but, really, you CAN learn a language from movies.

i don't know, maybe it's easier when you're a kid.

― Nathalie (stevie nixed), Thursday, 28 September 2006 13:38 (nineteen years ago)

BBC Welsh materials here

― Run Ruud Run (Ken L), Thursday, 28 September 2006 13:39 (nineteen years ago)

I kind of agree with PJ about the films, you have to watch lots of them and/or watch them over and over to get something out of them. Of course, since Hollywood Is King, people learning English DO end up watching lots of them over and over!

― Run Ruud Run (Ken L), Thursday, 28 September 2006 13:42 (nineteen years ago)

Okay, I give up, I lied. I'm an alien and actually learned the language from sucking brains out of humans.

― Nathalie (stevie nixed), Thursday, 28 September 2006 13:50 (nineteen years ago)

Ahh, it all makes sense now....

― Laurel (Laurel), Thursday, 28 September 2006 13:51 (nineteen years ago)

these are all good suggestions

one cool thing you can do these days, which i've found REALLY helpful, is renting a DVD where the dialogue is in the language you want to learn - watch it once, with english subtitles turned on, and then watch it again, with the subtitles of the SAME language that it's in turned on (you can omit first step if you're feelin cocky)

― Euai Kapaui (tracerhand), Thursday, 28 September 2006 13:57 (nineteen years ago)

(that way you can catch all the mumbly bits, basically, and reinforce everything - and it's all conversational rather than that book larnin)

― Euai Kapaui (tracerhand), Thursday, 28 September 2006 13:58 (nineteen years ago)

Hollywood Is King
I mean, look at how many people post over at
De Subjectivisten, as compared to the other boards.

― Run Ruud Run (Ken L), Thursday, 28 September 2006 14:02 (nineteen years ago)

the only language courses i like are the ones called 'linkword'. actually, i think they might be called 'unforgettable languages' now. the whole idea is to associate the foreign words meaning and how it sounds phonetically with an image like:

The Italian for FULL is PIENO
Imagine being so FULL you have to rest on a PIANO

gay, right? still, i did the italian beginner course back in 2001 and still remember everything from it 5 years later.

what I also like is rather than learning 'useful phrases' you are taught grammar and how to construct a sentence which broadens your use of the language rather than limiting it to certain uses.

anyway, i found it easy peasey and much more fun than boring repetition type lessons.

― sunny successor (katharine), Thursday, 28 September 2006 14:09 (nineteen years ago)

i wonder if buying children's books in another language from amazon would be a good way to learn. thats how kids learn their first language, right?

― sunny successor (katharine), Thursday, 28 September 2006 14:11 (nineteen years ago)

Nah, it's a bit silly really. I did this with Japanese but you tend to learn *kiddie language*.

I mean, look at how many people post over at
De Subjectivisten, as compared to the other boards.

If only you had watched some dutch Paul Verhoeven films, you'd have known that they established a board somewhere else. ;-)

― Nathalie (stevie nixed), Thursday, 28 September 2006 14:13 (nineteen years ago)

thats how kids learn their first language, right?

er, don't they learn it from people around them talking to them?

― Sam: Screwed and Chopped (Molly Jones), Thursday, 28 September 2006 14:13 (nineteen years ago)

Oh yeah, Nieuw forum!, but I don't remember them saying those words in Spetters.

― Run Ruud Run (Ken L), Thursday, 28 September 2006 14:18 (nineteen years ago)

well, ok, the reading part. SUGGESTION WITHDRAWN!

― sunny successor (katharine), Thursday, 28 September 2006 14:22 (nineteen years ago)

Dunno if you're in London and Manchester, but for German, the Goethe Institut does courses for all levels. And of course, if you want to watch German films, try Good Bye Lenin and the Edukators (both with the gorgeous Daniel Bruehl) Best way is indeed to go to the country and either get drunk or work in a cake shop or both (worked for me!)

― Nobodys Prawn (Nobodysprawn), Thursday, 28 September 2006 14:36 (nineteen years ago)

Wait, you're advocating getting drunk in a cake shop as a way to learn German?

Entschuldigen Sie mich, Fräulein, aber dieser Kuchen ist ekelhaft.

― M. White (Miguelito), Thursday, 28 September 2006 14:40 (nineteen years ago)

Was? Was ist denn los? Was ist das für eine Frechheit?

― Ruud Comes To Haarvest (Ken L), Thursday, 28 September 2006 14:53 (nineteen years ago)

Das ist unglaublich!

― Ruud Comes To Haarvest (Ken L), Thursday, 28 September 2006 14:55 (nineteen years ago)

http://www.goethe.de/ins/ie/dub/enindex.htm

― Mädchen (Madchen), Thursday, 28 September 2006 15:11 (nineteen years ago)

But any university's lifelong learning centre will have courses too, which may (will probably) be cheaper.

― Mädchen (Madchen), Thursday, 28 September 2006 15:12 (nineteen years ago)

Oh yeah, Nieuw forum!, but I don't remember them saying those words in Spetters.
Or in Robocop either.

― Ruud Comes To Haarvest (Ken L), Thursday, 28 September 2006 16:39 (nineteen years ago)

four years pass...

My browser (Flock) does instant translation! I don't know if the others do. Of course it is imperfect but as a way of studying it is brilliant, I can just press a button and toggle back and forth. It is so dear reading people's news and blogs in translation!

― you're fired (u s steel), Wednesday, 6 October 2010 13:31 (fifteen years ago)

Google Translate is getting pretty good these days. Still the usual comedy phrasings, but it's generally comprehensible.

anyway I had been meaning to bump one of these threads myself - I'm looking to catch up on my French (really catch up - haven't spoken it in ten years, since age 15) with the eventual goal of being able to read complicated stuff well. Speaking is secondary, but no harm in it. Any recommendations? I understand Rosetta Stone doesn't have much in the way of nuts and bolts grammar and is way expensive (although I have no qualms about 'acquiring' it for 'free', if that's possible), but it'd probably be good to have something to actually immerse myself in rather than a bunch of books I'll have a glance at every now and then.

― Antoine Bugleboy (Merdeyeux), Wednesday, 6 October 2010 13:38 (fifteen years ago)

see i keep thinking you're french cos of the username thing

― i dont love everything, i love football (darraghmac), Wednesday, 6 October 2010 13:39 (fifteen years ago)

the username was my flummoxed attempt at a comeback as my fluent then-girlfriend unleashed a barrage of French insults in my direction, dumbed down just enough for me to understand and be oh so terribly offended. But I knew even then it was more true of me than her.

― Antoine Bugleboy (Merdeyeux), Wednesday, 6 October 2010 13:44 (fifteen years ago)

if you're looking to practice on your own and not take a class, you could do worse than livemocha

― The Great Jumanji, (La Lechera), Wednesday, 6 October 2010 13:49 (fifteen years ago)

xp oh that is classic

― i dont love everything, i love football (darraghmac), Wednesday, 6 October 2010 13:52 (fifteen years ago)

I agree that grammar is difficult but I have found it helpful to take a casual approach like American kids often do with Spanish, sometimes watching Spanish language tv for a couple of hours at a time teaches you the feel of the language in a way sitting in a classroom cannot.

― you're fired (u s steel), Wednesday, 6 October 2010 13:57 (fifteen years ago)

don't know if this is any good but: http://www.lingq.com/

― just1n3, Wednesday, 6 October 2010 14:19 (fifteen years ago)

I was on the site that was similar to that, but I was too antisocial to really participate.

There seem to be a lot more podcasts on iTunes these days, so I'm starting some intermediate Spanish podcasts to try to brush up.

― JuliaA, Wednesday, 6 October 2010 15:12 (fifteen years ago)

thank you folks, I'll give these things a go. I'm not very inclined to get into the social side of things either, but I'll see what I can take from it. I'll perhaps look into just taking a class once I've spent a few months brushing up; my main problem there is that with the level I'm currently at I'd have to take a very low-level class, but then it'd quickly come back to me (I hope) and the pace of the class would end up too slow.

― Antoine Bugleboy (Merdeyeux), Wednesday, 6 October 2010 20:31 (fifteen years ago)

merdeyeux - radio france podcasts are really great

― iatee, Wednesday, 6 October 2010 20:52 (fifteen years ago)

I learned a decent amount of beginner German pretty quickly from the free course at http://www.dw-world.de/dw/0,,9572,00.html

― buju_stanton (Hurting 2), Wednesday, 6 October 2010 20:54 (fifteen years ago)

Site has other resources as well, such as german radio programs.

― buju_stanton (Hurting 2), Wednesday, 6 October 2010 20:55 (fifteen years ago)

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