Self improvment - Leaning a new language?

Slyboots

Slyboots

Slyboots

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In a fit of self improvement I've decided it would be a good idea to learn a new language (French to be exact)

But Im curious to find out from others who have done the same to see which of the different learning methods are available and which provide the best results..

I've heard the best method is "simply" move to an area of native speakers for a few months and learn it on the fly (Total immersion), but thats somewhat impractiable for a number of reasons.

So what are your opinions? So far all I can think of are:

Rosetta Stone (Bloody expencive)
Language School?
(Audio) books?

Any opinions?
 
Tbh I wouldn't know, but I decided to choose a language to take for my GCSE so at least i know one out of school... Which could be helpful. Especially because it is German :p
 
Whichever major language you learn you will find that the country in question have the infastructure already in place so that they already speak English as well if not better than you do. Sadly you are probably swimming against the tide!

I have a bit of French and i am of the opinion that if you go to France you shouldnt expect them to change their language for you as you are the visitor to their country.

I lasted half an hour before i realised they all spoke perfect English!!
 
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I lasted half an hour before i realised they all spoke perfect English!!
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If Im honest that was not my experiance in general, most of the major cities could speak English but once you leave Paris its something of a different story.

Plus its also a just fun to learn simply for the sake of learning, to expand your horizons and your world view :) And as a few people have mentioned its very fustrating when someone moves into your area with no grasp of english at all..

I dont want to be that person ;)
 
Slyboots said:
If Im honest that was not my experiance in general, most of the major cities could speak English but once you leave Paris its something of a different story.

Plus its also a just fun to learn simply for the sake of learning, to expand your horizons and your world view :) And as a few people have mentioned its very fustrating when someone moves into your area with no grasp of english at all..

I dont want to be that person ;)
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I was in Nice and the reason i dont do too much European travelling is because i dont speak the languages.

I found i could ask all the questions no bother at all, spoke like a native. The bit they dont teach you in school is that you tend to get answered like a native too! I fell on my arse!

Learning a language is always a good thing, its just that once you hit the fluent speakers its not so easy! I had a great time in Nice asking questions in French safe in the knowledge that when i didnt understand a word of the answer i could ask it again in English, its a poor reflection on me, but at least i was trying! I defaulted to English all too easily TBH.
 
The Linguaphone allTalk French course (approx 16 hours) is very good. It doesn't explain things particularly well if you're completely new to French but I imagine you won't be as everyone in the UK does it at secondary school (I think).

It's fun - like a soap opera and has great characters and actors voicing them. It uses a lot of idioms which you wouldn't normally learn and teaches you things you really can use in everyday situations rather than something like the Rosetta Stone which teaches rather pointless things such as "The men have a ladder."

Oh and make sure you download things like Radio France and France 24 apps for your iPhone so you can listen/watch native speakers. (Or visit their websites.)
 
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Why would you choose french? the language is dying out.



This is funny, in all languages the trranslator says "Bonjour".

Obviously the French dub had to be changed.

 
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Johnnytoxic said:
Why would you choose french? the language is dying out.
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LOL. I just love pain au chocolats. So much so after asking in Paris, I went to my local Sainsbury's in Northwich and said to the woman on the bakery counter "Je voudrais deux pain au chocolats" please. :cool:
 
ic1male said:
The Linguaphone allTalk French course (approx 16 hours) is very good. It doesn't explain things particularly well if you're completely new to French but I imagine you won't be as everyone in the UK does it at secondary school (I think).

It's fun - like a soap opera and has great characters and actors voicing them. It uses a lot of idioms which you wouldn't normally learn and teaches you things you really can use in everyday situations rather than something like the Rosetta Stone which teaches rather pointless things such as "The men have a ladder."

Oh and make sure you download things like Radio France and France 24 apps for your iPhone so you can listen/watch native speakers. (Or visit their websites.)
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Hahaha, I actually have Rosetta stone (On loan from the Liberary) and I can see what you mean about what it teaches you.. very odd system to say the least as I can guess answers but not tell you what Im saying :P

I'll check out the Linguaphone to see if they have it in stock, and your French apps (Im sure they'll exist for android) is an execlent idea!

Think there are some great tips here for any language actually lets keep em comming :)
 
I'm doing a Swedish course at a university evening class to learn it for my girlfriend (she is from Stockholm) and the course is really useful.

Also hope to live there someday.
 
Docaroo said:
I'm doing a Swedish course at a university evening class to learn it for my girlfriend (she is from Stockholm) and the course is really useful.
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What is Swedish like to learn? Is it hard? It sounds quite musical to me, nice to listen to.
 
Some really simple things:

Change your Facebook and phone language set ups to French.

This might mean you end up just knowing how to navigate without language, but hopefully you'll pick up some language on the way.

Find someone you can have the occasional conversation with in French (once you're slightly better)

Spend a couple of weeks out there. It's so much easier learning a language if you're in the country!

kd
 
The only way to really get fluent in the language is to live there and speak it every day up to the point that you start thinking in the language and even start dreaming in it. That is how I got fluent in English (native tongue Dutch, speaking French and a bit of German and Spanish) after studying it at university without really being able to speak it properly before I moved to the UK.
If that is not practical, as other people have said listening to the radio and reading proper newspapers will help a lot. Bonne chance avec la langue de l'amour...
 
Oh and dust off those old records of Brigitte Bardot and Vanessa Paradis. Listening to French songs will REALLY help. The brain remembers music and words together very well. You can easily Google the lyrics and translations to see what's being sung.

I think there's a girl on YouTube who became fluent in Japanese just by listening to J-POP all the time. You can pick up words, sentences and grammar in music lyrics.
 
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ic1male said:
What is Swedish like to learn? Is it hard? It sounds quite musical to me, nice to listen to.
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I'm finding it pretty nice and fairly easy going to learn actually! There's some little pronunciation things that are tricky... they have sounds that we don't ever make in English.

Aside from that, it's a lovely and fun language to speak! Can't wait until I can properly speak it, will be great! :) Definitely recommend it ... if only to impress the gorgeous Svensk women :)
 
Docaroo said:
I'm finding it [Swedish] pretty nice and fairly easy going to learn actually! There's some little pronunciation things that are tricky... they have sounds that we don't ever make in English.
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I see one of the big stumbling blocks is not present - the verbs don't change according to who's doing them. Big bonus! ;)
 
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