Foreign languages, anyone?

[alexb5784]

I'm moving to France for a few months later this year and I'm currently improving my French. I also speak a bit of German, though it's not very good.

Anyway, I use the Assimil and Pimsleur systems to learn my languages. I also listen to a French language podcast I found on iTunes that is quite fun. And of course I know people who live in France, so I speak French with them when we talk on the phone.

Any care to share how they learn their languages? Also what do you think of Barry Farber's book, if you have read it?

[John Wesley]

Alexb5784

I also use the Pimsleur lessons to study French in conjunction with books. I posted about my method not long ago on my blog: [URL] http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/how-to-teach-yourself-a-foreign-language/[URL].

I am so jealous that you get to live in France a while. I really need some immersion to improve my abilities. I'll look into the Podcast you mentioned. I've also started reading French blogs.

[alexb5784]

I reading this forum looking for SEO stuff for my job today, so I'm on here all day!

John, the podcast that I listen to on iTunes is called "Learn French by Podcast". The lessons are very basic, but I listen to it mainly to help with my accent.

Ok, I have to now go get some lunch...

[dgorila1]

I want to leanr several, Tagalog being the first. I have tried finding a formal class locally, but the local college stopped teaching the one they had and only offer it to groups of Special Forces Soldiers when requested by the military. I guess the best way will be to start reading the Tagalog-English dictionary my wife gave me. I would also like to learn Spanish, Chinese, and whatever else I could. I think the Tagalog will take me awhile though.

[Mann]

I have a great passion for RUSSIAN language. Even my yahoo ID is in Russian: tvoi_droog@yahoo.com ;-) (Donno, can I give here my email ID like this!?)

I know Hindi, Urdu, Telugu, English and Russian. Except Urdu, I can read, understand, write and speak all the 4 languages. (I can speak Urdu).

Now I want to refresh my Russian a little. I'll be glad if I find any Russian natives here so that we can talk on skype for a few minutes regularly! ;-)


Mann

[JoannaC]

I am so glad I found this thread! I have an ear for languages and in addition to English, I have passable Spanish and nearly fluent French (one of my current goals is to upgrade the French to full-on bilingual, partly for career benefits and partly because I think it is a worthy goal). I also was in a Hebrew day school as a kid. We did half the day in Hebrew. I came out of Grade 6 pretty much fluent but did not use it much since then. I am now teaching at the same sort of school I went to and lots of the teachers are Israeli, so it is all coming back. But, I never did regain my former ability to read without vowels. I need the nikud But I can read, write (although not as well as I can speak) and carry on decent conversation in French and Hebrew. And, I have a smattering of New Zealand Maori. It could have been more, but we had a lousy teacher and they weren't quite sure what their goal was with the course (i.e. did they want people who could speak it, or people who were culturally sensitive about it) so I did not get as far as I could have. Given my past experience with languages, I could have advanced far more than I did. I can count to ten, sing a few songs, and identify the river, mountain and ancestral canoe of the region where I stayed.

[Stephen]

I know a little Irish and Scots gaelic, a little more German and thats about it.

Does anyone have a few good links to blogs or websites that deal in language learning?

[norbert]

I am a native Hungarian speaker and I also speak English and German. Feel free to turn to me if you need Hungarian advice or resources.

[ManfredKo]

I have collected a few good and free language courses on my homepage. Currently there are courses for german, french and spanish. If anybody is interested, take a look :-)

[JoannaC]

I went to a French bookstore today to pick up some materials. Had a good conversation with the clerk. He had the following advice:

- Think about the way you learned your native language as a child: lots of reading and lots of listening. Not a lot of grammar drills A lot of dvd's have alternate language tracks and that can be good for adult learners.

- Reading kids books is okay for beginners, but he recommends you progress to real books as soon as possible. He said there was no reason to 'lower' myself just to learn.

- Best way to read in his veiw was to have a dictionary, a personal word book and a text. Go one page or paragraph at a time. Read once for an overview and write down any unfamiliar words in the word book. Do not stop to look them up, just note them down. Then at the end, look them up, write down a translation or explanation and try to make your own sentence. Then go back and read your page of text again. Skim over your personal word book every night and cross out words as you feel you master them.

For me, I feel like I do need a bit of a big picture grammar review before I read some more. But I do want to start reading normal texts as soon as possible. I am good with vocabulary, it is more verb tenses which give me problems

[jeff-wang]

You are all so lucky!
My mother tongue is Chinese, but I’m learning English now! Quite a lot of different between them!
But I think I’m luckier than people who speaks English but learn Chinese. Spelling a word is quite easier, compared with writing a character.

[Cassie]

I lived four years in Scandinavia; know fluent Danish, semi-fluent Swedish and Norwegian, learning French, would also enjoy learning Arabic ...

(I love reading Hans Christian Andersen in his proper language)

[Ladan]

I speak a little French and German, and am fluent in Persian.

[letsdance]

I have studied a number of languages. I was able to get several interesting jobs as a result of my linguistic abilities. I think that studying languages keeps me sharper mentally and improves my memory. "Use it or lose it."

[Kamma]

I am SOOOOOOO ashamed! I know tiny amounts of French and Spanish. Did a couple of years of German in school but have forgotten the majority.
I have purchased Spanish CDs but the motivation has not been there so far. Have decided now though that I'd probably prefer to tackle German first and so I think I will. I'm going to check out a few websites mentioned to see if I can get any help.
(Oh am Scottish by the way)

[Ibanez]

Originally Posted by letsdance

I have studied a number of languages. I was able to get several interesting jobs as a result of my linguistic abilities. I think that studying languages keeps me sharper mentally and improves my memory. "Use it or lose it."

Interesting Jobs? Please tell.

By studied you mean have fluency in or high proficiency? Or something else?

[letsdance]

I have a BA with a major in one language and a minor in another. I also have a diploma from a language school.

I worked for the government for years, and they are always happy to get a skilled linguist who can qualify for a security clearance. I loved my work and I had great co-workers.

[Bitsy]

Originally Posted by letsdance

I worked for the government for years, and they are always happy to get a skilled linguist who can qualify for a security clearance. I loved my work and I had great co-workers.

Perhaps you could advise me on how to find an interesting, untormenting job with my linguistic abilities (and one that doesn't pay so poorly that I am in one of the lowest tax brackets...). I am currently a translator of Finnish and Swedish into English and, while in the past this job, particularly having to decipher Finnish writing, has caused me hours of torment, my job has now withdrawn to the very background of my life, thanks to my not focusing on bad things I think.

Nevertheless, when other things are sorted out in my life, the job is the next thing to change.

I have an honours B.A. with a double major in German and Scandinavian languages and historical linguistics. Finnish is not one of the languages I ever studied, however. Imagine that they were so desperate for native English-speakers who can translate Finnish that I was just hired after 6 months in this country, with hardly any knowledge of Finnish and basically learned (to the extent that I have learned it) Finnish by translating. (I had to begin translating Swedish and German.)

French and Swedish are my best languages, German would be ok if I could brush up on it, and if I have to keep translating for a living, I am absolutely going to dump Finnish as one of my languages.

[Baldini]

I speak fluently in english, danish and semi-fluent in: italian, spanish, german, swedish, norweigian and I know some latin as well.

[letsdance]

If you are doing translation (written work), then I can't blame you for becoming bored. I did some of that, but not much.

I did interpretation (sequential and simultaneous), and so I got to work with diplomats and other high-level government folks. I was required to have a very high security clearance in order to do this sort of work.

But the most interesting work of all was in the area of law enforcement.

Good luck to you :-)

[GenkiRichard]

One of the nice things about translation work these days is that you can do it from the beach!

Rent a nice villa by the sea on Ko Samui, pop out for a swim when you need a break, have wi-fi for email and live on low prices with gorgeous food but earn a normal salary...

It makes boring work a whole more tolerable!

Be genki,

Richard
Learn to speak Japanese, learn katakana and the o-koto

[Jonathan]

What a great thread! I really enjoyed (and was quite successful in, even if I do say so myself ) French and Spanish A-levels (equivalent of high school graduate for non-Brits). I'm now at university studying a non-language subject, but have been meaning for a while to pick up where I left off with these languages. This thread is just the motivation I need!

The idea someone mentioned about watching DVDs in foreign language mode is great. Can anyone recommend any podcasts, intended for native speakers or not, that may be suitable for my level? Beginners ones are a bit simplistic, but proper French radio is still beyond me...

[Susie]

I'm currently living outside of the USA and it's not as much of an immersion experience as you'd think because everytime a clerk or pretty much anyone hears me speak their language (with a strong accent, I'm sure!) they immediately start speaking to me in English!

I've been studying majorly on my own lately-- basically I spend a few minutes on grammar review/learning, then I read and learn new vocabulary-- listening is pretty much taken care of living here, and I do speak with some people in the language. I'm going on a trip in 2 months and the guide only speaks the local language so that's revved my motivation to learn more, faster.

[Pilar M]

Hi,

I actually have created some podcasts for my Spanish Beginners class. Although they follow a book, I think they can be used without one as well.
It is meant for high beginners or intermediate students. In each podcast I talk about the lesson vocab and then I ask some questions. It is part of the grade for my students, but they really can be for anyone that wants to practice.

I am actually interested in seeing how people like them, as I am thinking of maybe developing more language podcasts as a side adventure to my college teaching.

Here is the link: SacredHeart University Spanish Podcasts

I hope it works. The people in IT at my school where the ones that post them on iTunes and added the music.

[elai]

One really amazing resource on learning languages it this one:

Learning Languages

The url might sound a little bit cheesy, but it's non commercial and gives a whole bunch of really good ways to learn languages. There are alot of people on there who know a ton of languages. They even contacted ziad fazah, the man who knows 52 languages!!

[Tasaio]

I want to learn Welsh, Japanese, Gaelic, German, Russian, Old English, Arabic, programming languages...(so many...)

If I were to start learning Japanese today, how long before I could understand childrens' anime like Dragonball? Or play the Japanese version of a final fantasy game?

[Que]

I married a Korean national. Its been a little over a year since I started learning their language, but to no luck so far. I guess I need more time and dedication. Any tips or suggestions for me will be valuable, anyone?

[starlet]

I'm learning Italian. Of course the stuff that is sticking is all the swear words my tutor has taught me. But its great, I love being able to insult people and with the beautiful language that is Italian, they think its a compliment!

[Susie]

Originally Posted by elai

One really amazing resource on learning languages it this one:

Learning Languages

The url might sound a little bit cheesy, but it's non commercial and gives a whole bunch of really good ways to learn languages. There are alot of people on there who know a ton of languages. They even contacted ziad fazah, the man who knows 52 languages!!

Thanks for the link-- I'd been to the site before but had never checked out the forums, they've really helped me to get my motivation revved because the people there are mostly studying on their own and are really trying to learn as much and as fast as they can, which is what I'm trying to do (finally). I'm trying to put my language learning into super high gear.

[rene_stpierre]

I was born and raised in a French-speaking enviroment (Quebec). English is my 2nd language.

I had a spanish course a few years back but lost most of it.

René