This short video shows you a simple trick I use to “practice” a new language. If you have any trouble watching the video above, it’s also available on YouTube
UPDATE:
Our favorite way to learn a new language is by using the all-audio courses from Pimsleur.
You listen to a 30 minute lesson each day, then do the practice trick I spoke of in the video. Of course, audio won’t teach you to read so you’ll need another program if you need that. Here are links to the specific Pimsleur Spanish
You can also see all the languages they offer and listen to a free lesson here.
What’s your favorite language learning program or trick? We’d love to hear your experiences.
I’ve been using Pimsleur, first for French and now for Italian. I’ve been able to check them out from my local library system, so that gets around the problem of the cost of buying the series.
Good tip Ken. I’ve also heard of private “travel groups” and clubs that share their club library of language tapes and guide books.
NOT AN ARTICLE.
IT is an AD!!!!!
I won’t waste time here again.
Hi Penny,
Sorry you felt that way. I certainly didn’t want to waste anyone’s time. I was wondering if you watched the video or just read the text? I originally posted the video, which makes no mention of any product. Later, I added the text after being asked by some readers what I thought was the best language course? Again, I’m sorry you felt “sold to”. I hate cheesy sales pitches too.
Best,
Michael
I’ve used pretty much every language product on the market and I agree that Pimsleur is by far the best out there! I’ve used their French and Eastern Arabic courses. A+
BTW Michael I appreciate you sharing your good product experiences. I didn’t think it sounded like a sales pitch.
Dear Michael,
Just the text.
Thanks for writing
Penny
p.s. If you REALLY want to learn a language ( I speak four fluently.), the
P-course is worthless. You need to learn the grammar etc. You need to
know how to
form the subjective and the imperfect and the passive etc. You need a
far greater
volcabuary than those P-courses introduce. There is NO substitute for
time,effort
and a good European university course level class. There is NO royal road.
For example, a friend of mine took a US foreign service course (
intensive several months) in Arabic. I said: “How was your Arabic?”,
and he replied, “About as good as a six year old native speaker.” He
said it took him FOUR years in Saudi Arabia to become
reasonably fluent–to, for example, read a newpaper without constant
use of a dictionary.
That said, I think the best courses are those prepared for European
students, because unlike America, a large percentage of Europeans are
actually fluent in three
or more languages. After ten or so years of hard work, they can speak
these languages and actually read them and actually write them–so
that, for example, the offical language
of CERN conferences is English.
p.s. After suffering through High School French and College French and
College German and College Italian–and after Berlitz intensives, I
spent several years as a researcher in Europe, and learned how to
speak these languages. It was HARD WORK, and I took
university courses in the languages there, as well.
And, if one just wants a few basic skills, one can buy a used Berlitz
self teacher book
for about a dollar on the net, and listen to some Foreign language
radio on the net for
the pronounciation. It will get you to the P-course level with
spending a few hundred dollars.
Penny
Hello Michael. I just wanted to point out that I agree with you. I am from Canada, and as such, was subjected to relentless ‘core French’ education in primary school. As such, many Canadians become bitter about the language learning since we don’t have the choice and the level of French education is very poor in mainly English areas. Learning a language in a classroom environment is about as useful as scuba-diving with an umbrella. When I learned French finally, it was from asking myself, constantly, how I would portray certain ideas on the other language… also taking two or three basic verbs and mastering all tenses. Some people are lucky enough to be linguistically empathic as I am, which helps immeasurably for developing fluency, but the basics, the words forms and grammar will come from doing as you did, the same way you taught yourself your first language. Asking yourself questions and practising. Very few people find success from learning a language without the ‘mental immersion’, else they are just translating everything loosely. Most people learning another language fall under the false assumption that words can be translated 1 for 1… simply not the case. Even thoughts and emotions are understood and conceptualised differently in other languages. The French verb ‘Aimer’ is a prime example.
Anyways, I’m intrigued by the website, much applause. Don’t worry about those negative comments, looks a little bit like intellectual high horsing to me.
the farther away i get from my critical period, the more i wonder how i will keep up with foreign languages as an adult. in school i had a definite knack for learning languages, but i discovered that didn’t get me very far once i really was in germany.
a useful thing to do if you have the time is to organize a conversation group with other people interested in learning the language and include a native speaker if you can. the dorm where i lived in college has weekly coffee chats for this purpose, and so does the goethe institute here in dc. jacob organized a german “stammtisch” when he was in law school.
it’s not the same as being in another country, but it is a chance to immerse yourself in the language briefly and try to have an everyday conversation.
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your experience. I really like your idea of mastering all the tenses of two or three basic verbs. Very smart!
Best,
Michael
i posted a comment last week but i think it was eaten? anyway, basically what it said was that it’s been useful for me to find a group of other people interested in learning the language, find a native speaker, and hold a regular conversation group. the goethe institute here in dc hosts one, and jacob organized one for german speakers when he was in law school. it’s informal, but it’s a fun challenge to stay in the language the whole time, and it’s the next best thing to actually going to a foreign country.
good post. the language nerd in me approves
Good idea Maria. Thanks for the comment.
Best,
Michael
Good stuff!
When I was living in Berlin and trying to add the final touches to German fluency, I was amazed at how much seemed to result from simply flipping on the radio to native-speaker German first thing in the morning, before my brain could start thinking in English. Turn on the TV, and there’s more rapid-fire German. Flip on the radio before bed, end things with colloquial German. Basically, immersing oneself in native speakers is the only way to develop an ear for it and to ingrain one’s own verbal sensibility.
We may be living in an all-but-exclusively English (and Spanish) language culture, but the Great Overlords of The Internet have given us a great boon here: THE PODCAST. Now it IS possible to wake up and go to bed with a foreign language in one’s ears. At my French teacher’s recommendation, I started downloading the simplified daily news ("Journal en français facile") from Radio France International. RFI also posts a transcript to aid comprehension; my current regimen is to listen to the 0930 cast with the transcript when I download it, then listen to it again on the iPod a couple times on my commute to and from work the next day. (I’ve also gotten hooked on one of RFI’s bilingual radio plays.) After a couple days, I’ve gone from being astounded that they consider this machine-gun patter "facile", to understanding nuances that I hadn’t picked up in US news sources. Not to mention that a quick listen before French class is an excellent way to get one’s head in the game and vice versa.
BBC Languages also has a good French site with audio news stories, quizzes, comprehension exercises, etc.
I’m not sure about other languages, but my favorite German radio station is Radio Multikulti. It’s not set up explicitly for German learners, but it features German news, comedy, etc geared to both Germans and non-native-speaker German residents. Other cool features: segments in a different language (from Serbo-Croatian to Vietnamese) every hour for much of the day, and groovy world music all night.
Jacob,
Thanks for the terrific links. I’m a huge fan of podcasts. Especially when they are as useful as these.
Best,
Michael