Need help learning a new language?

Question

What is the best way to learn a new language? I tried Berlitz and I do not have time for a private teacher.

Has anyone ever tried Rosetta Stone?
If so is it worth the money??

Answer 1

I agree with everyone who said it's best to practice speaking with others on a regular basis; language is, after all, just another means of communicating with someone

however, anything you can do on the side will help you get the most out of those interactions (engaging in a conversation gets boring really fast if all you know how to do is say that i's raining)

Other than talking, the best ways to study the language depends on what you have available, and what your learning style is

I watch DVDs with foreign language tracks, or at least subtitles when possible, to associate words and phrases with the appropriate context, and listen to audio courses when I'm driving around in my car to get accustomed to the sound of the language

I've also found it useful to think which situations I would be speaking the language(ie. a train station), try to imagine what I would say in English (ie. "Does this train go to the Eiffel Tower?") then learn how to say it in the other language.

That way you can use your time and brain space more efficiently

Two bits of advice I have heard and believe are that a little bit every day is better than cramming in a lot sporadically, and that the key is to learn to "think" in the foreign language, that is, not to associate the foreign words with english words, but learn to associate the foreign words with the things they represent (so it's more like how you learned your first language)

As for Rosetta Stone, I'm still waiting for the consensus on that myself

Answer 2

I love learning new languages and using them with natives, i travel a lot and i've learned kinda many, english, norwegian, swedish (they are almost same, and as i speak norwegian i understand also danish), french, spanish those are the ones i've studied. I'm native finnish speaker so that's not problem to me. I would love to learn more languages! I ain't no school learner i learn by action, best way is to move to country and live with locals and learn language and work there. Write something? What you want? I have Mercury Capricorn in 6th house. Other way i'm rising Leo. Wow Michael R, do you know Finnish!! So cool someone learns it!

Answer 3

I'm in the military, so I am allowed to use all Rosetta stone products for free. Judging from personal experience, it works best with languages that use our alphabet. I have no problem following along with the German and Spanish modules. I've also tried Arabic and Mandarin, but the RS approach doesn't seem to work as well.



Something all modules I've tried has taught me is that it takes a LOT of self discipline. It's tough to commit yourself to sitting in front of a computer for 2 hours a day for 2-5 years. For this reason I recommend taking normal classes at a college. I attended Defense Language Institute to learn Spanish. I definitely still sound like a gringo, but I became fluent in only 7 months. While I doubt any college could be as intense as DLI, I bet you'll pay attention when you're paying top dollar for every credit hour. (Join the Army!)



One last thought: to get really good, you need to have friends whose native tongue is your target language. You can use the internet all day for audio and written practice, but without conversing on a daily basis, your accent and ability to use slang and colloquialisms will never improve. I'm currently stationed in south Texas and dating a long haired dictionary. My Spanish gets better with each second we spend together!

Answer 4

The best way to learn a language is to learn basic grammar and then watch everyday, at least 2 hours a day, a movie or tv show or whatever in that language. Another way is to speak to a native speaker, but it's better to do that when you already know something... Trust me, I'm Italian and I did it with English; everyone I know who has really learnt another language did the same thing!

Answer 5

The best way to learn another language is studying hard and everyday. The more in contact with the language the better is your improvement. There is no secret, but people want to learn without putting a lot of effort, it is not the way things are, everything in life needs dedication and hard work to get accomplished.

Answer 6

Simplified, but fairly realistic audio conversations...



Chinesepod.com is fantastic for learning Mandarin. There must be plenty of websites with similar conversations in other languages.



To learn a language really efficiently and effectively, you need a combination of a lot of things - but if you want to break it down into the most effective single way, it's: listening, listening, listening (of course, the listening has to be fairly realistic, and understandable but slightly challenging).

Answer 7

The best way to learn a spoken language is to practise with other people. Many cities offer free language classes, especially if there's a group of whatever culture speaks it -- e.g. my city has free French, Vietnamese, and Arabic lessons, you just have to find the appropriate organization.

Answer 8

the best way is to speak with native speakers of whatever the language you want to learn is, try meeting people in chats or something like that and make friends, forget about books and go out there

Answer 9

u can take private classes here

www.himalayanlanguageinstitute.com



here u can take private classes in ur home. u dont need to go outside for learning a language.



TRY IT!



bye