(Re)learning a Foreign Language

Nazbit

Nazbit

Nazbit

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Joined
11 Dec 2004
Posts
3,871
Hi

Have any of you studied a foreign language by yourself?

What sort of resources did you find useful?

I got an A in GCSE Spanish in school and also went on holiday to Spain for a few years around that time.

That was 11 years ago now and I'd like to get back in to it before I forget it all together.

I was thinking of buying the text books that I used in school as a starting point and looking for some audio tapes and then going from there.

Any thoughts?

Thanks
 
To refresh your memory and increase vocab make your own anki decks. Use pc software to create then sync to phone to study (always make reverse card also and learn to make cloze cards for grammar).

A gcse study guide is a good starting point.

Youtube or something like Yabla for practising listening.

Skype tutor or pick a language exchange site to practise speaking.
 
Michel Thomas method, Rosetta Stone, Pimsleur. Listen+watch Spanish TV channels, read Spanish news sites or whatever takes your fancy (with google translate open to find out what words mean, eventually you will start to remember commonly used words). Use Spanish subtitles on films or TV programs. Small amounts daily works much better than for example spending many hours on a weekend only.
 
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I used Babbel on my phone to learn Spanish as I was going to South America to meet my girlfriend's family who can only speak Spanish.

I used it for a few months to also re-learn the basics as I did learn a bit back in school.

I spent 9 days there and to be honest I learnt and remembered more in those 9 days, where I had to practice speaking it every day, as well as listen to it all day every day, then I did in about 3 months trying to learn it myself.
 
Chris1983 said:
Michel Thomas method, Rosetta Stone, Pimsleur. Listen+watch Spanish TV channels, read Spanish news sites or whatever takes your fancy (with google translate open to find out what words mean, eventually you will start to remember commonly used words). Use Spanish subtitles on films or TV programs. Small amounts daily works much better than for example spending many hours on a weekend only.
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I found Pimsleur very good to get up to speed quickly, however I found I also had a lower retention of what I leaned long term.
 
Thanks for the replies.

Plenty of suggestions for resources that I had not heard of, so there is plenty for me to look in to there.

I've heard good things about Pimsleur from other people too, the problem is that they only have a level one course for Castilian Spanish so there is limited progression there. They don't intend to develop any higher levels which is surprising.
 
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