Learning a foreign language.

[SimilarlyDifferent]

Right, so Mojingly posted that s/he is embarking on a quest to self teach his/herself linear algebra. This has completely inspired me to do something constructive with my wait time. I've always wanted to learn Japanese but I have never had the opportunity to do so. I want to start.

So, I'm wondering... does anyone know any books, websites, software, etc. that they would recommend? Has anyone else ever self-leaned a language in this way? If so, how did you do it, and what tips would you recommend? My limitations are that I can't break the bank (so no Rosetta Stone) and I can't go live in the country for a year

Thanks!

Edited March 1, 2011 by SimilarlyDifferent

[nessa]

check out http://fsi-language-courses.org/Content.php

they're old (no copyright, public domain) courses developed for American diplomats to use when they are stationed in other countries. not all the courses are complete, and some are embarrassingly ancient/neocolonial (60's era blantant sexism, anyone?) buuut they are good quality and free:) and they have at least some material for so many languages- ever wanted to learn Amharic? you've come to the right place!

I would also try to find local speakers in your area- maybe check up meetup.com?- to be able to speak it, since that's the quickest way to learn a language.

[nhyn]

I never learned Japanese through the Internet so I can't help you much re: online learning, but for starters try the Genki books. It's a popular Japanese book series for beginners. I'm quite sure you can find it cheap on ebay or amazon - everyone uses it.

Oh and one time I tried looking up websites because I had to look up something but didn't have my textbooks, and my initial impression was that the websites that teach Japanese can be hit or miss. You really want a book. Sometimes websites publish wrong info, and since you're a beginner, you wouldn't even know. Podcasts and such are good for listening - Genki must have a listening component too, but don't quote me on that (I jumped to third year Japanese and used a different textbook when studying with a tutor at home, but Genki is what my school and a lot of other schools use, judging from what people in my study abroad program said).

Another good way to learn is watching Japanese anime, dramas, etc. You might think it's silly but I know a guy at my school who has perfect pronunciation and sounds fluent, just by picking up from watching anime. Mind you he had to start from 101 still (for reading and writing), but speaking-wise he was able to keep up with third-years when he was in 101. The most difficult part in learning a language by yourself is the pronunciation (since you have no feedback), so if you can find someone to practice with, that'd be best.

This is from my experience learning 2 languages and teaching my native language to college students ^^

Oh, just remember: a good book to keep is A Dictionary for Basic Japanese Grammar (there's also Intermediate and Advanced). very clear, quite comprehensive, has (VERY IMPORTANT!) correct English explanations. As Japanese students we were all required to purchase the basic and intermediate, and advanced is optional. They don't differ in level of difficulty, IMO, it's just a matter of what phrases are used more often in daily speech (the more frequent the more "basic"), so if you want to buy all of them that's fine too. They are a tad expensive, though (~20,30 $, if $ is still shitty like when I bought these).

Edited March 2, 2011 by nhyn

[MoJingly]

Oh my goodness! Go YOU!

[omahairish]

Have you tried LiveMocha? It's similar to the Rosetta Stone process, but it's free. It's not the best because the lessons were set up to help people learn English. So for grammar and tricky phrases in more difficult foreign languages, it's not wonderful. I used it to get a start learning Polish, and it did help.

And nessa - that's an awesome link! I downloaded the Polish one for further review. They updated all the images in 2011, but the culture sections are very outdated. It's wonderful.

[Gunner24]

Best way to learn a new language = marry someone who speaks it.

Worked for me!

[Roccoriel]

Best way to learn a new language = marry someone who speaks it.

Worked for me!

I've been living with my French-speaking boyfriend for almost 3 years now, and so far, I can only order food, have basic "How are you?" "I'm good" convo, say a few simple sentences (including: "I don't understand anything", "I'm broke" and "I'm unemployed"...not the friendliest Phrase-A-Day calendar...) and say a few curse words LOL. But he speaks English with me, and I can understand a lot more French than I speak.

I'll try some of the suggestions here. I also have used a program called Tell Me More. If I were diligent (and not working on finishing my Master's Thesis and classes), I'd probably do better at it. It's about half the price of Rosetta Stone and in a lot of cases higher rated. The only problem I have with it is my Boyfriend has to help me cheat, because when you are speaking to it, if you don't have perfect pronunciation, it doesn't understand you. I also have "Painless French" which is a book designed for middle schoolers*. They have a few other languages, too.

*I'm a math and science person, not a language person

[HandsomeNerd]

what a motivator that OP is. makes me wonder if anyone has learning resources for native Chinese speakers to learn reading/writing?

[kittie]

Since mid-January, I've been studying Rosetta stone French twice a week.

While I don't consider it the best method to learn a language, it does teach a solid vocabulary and a non-grammar based introduction to verbs.

Also, I've been taking German class since August through my local university, which I definitely prefer over a rosetta stone program. The class does move at a ridiculously slow pace compared to my Latin and Greek classes, but I find the classroom environment fun, I like most of the students in my class, and it's forcing me to learn vocabulary and German culture, instead of just grammar.

I believe that the best thing to do is to study a language steadily for two years in a classroom format. After that, the student should participate in some type of immersion program where English is not allowed. There are schools like Middlebury that do this, but they come with a hefty price tag.

If I had a child of school age right now, I would want him learning Chinese because that's the language of the future!

[Amalia222]

Right, so Mojingly posted that s/he is embarking on a quest to self teach his/herself linear algebra. This has completely inspired me to do something constructive with my wait time. I've always wanted to learn Japanese but I have never had the opportunity to do so. I want to start.

So, I'm wondering... does anyone know any books, websites, software, etc. that they would recommend? Has anyone else ever self-leaned a language in this way? If so, how did you do it, and what tips would you recommend? My limitations are that I can't break the bank (so no Rosetta Stone) and I can't go live in the country for a year

Thanks!

By far, the "Japanese for Busy People" series is the best for teaching yourself japanese. I bought the book, with CDs and Workbook, and it helped me prepare for my trip to Japan with the JET program (2005-2007). I also went through Japanese for Busy People II while in Japan, and I was able to attain a moderate level of fluency prior to departing Japan. It's a great series, but you have to be self-motivated. When I got to Japan, I also hired a tutor to help me, and took a Japanese class once a week as well.

On a side note, though, Japanese is one monster of a language to learn. In two years of living in Japan, I was only able to attain a "conversational" level, without much in the way of reading and writing. If you want to be able to read and write, I would say it will take you 5-10 years.

Edited March 14, 2011 by Amalia222

[kotov]

Reading the news is good. It's usually written at a pretty low reading level and can help you learn a lot of common words. It's helped my Romanian skills a lot. (I did teach myself Romanian, but I already had some background in Spanish, so the grammar wasn't that difficult -- it is more complex than Spanish though).

[nhyn]

Reading the news is good. It's usually written at a pretty low reading level and can help you learn a lot of common words. It's helped my Romanian skills a lot. (I did teach myself Romanian, but I already had some background in Spanish, so the grammar wasn't that difficult -- it is more complex than Spanish though).

I really...don't think so. With Japanese at least there's a ton of kanji in the newspaper. We usually don't start reading news until 2nd/3rd year.