Languages!

[m5child]

I was mulling over this question for a few weeks now, and it occured to me that I should ask the ppl on UCP who'd actually know the answer:

What is the 'best, and most effective' way to learn a language w/o actually living in the country or having to take night classes (in essence, on your own)? I refer to books/tapes, and software, like the Rosetta Stone series...

I know this is very subjective, since most people learn languages in a variety of ways, but if you tried something like this, please let me know what worked for you and what didn't... i know a good deal of you here still live somewhere in Europe (england, netherlands, austria, etc.) and you had to learn languages at one point in time... i had to do that too when i used to live in hungary, but then i moved when i was 13 and hadn't had the chance since, and that was almost a decade ago!

Btw, German, Dutch, Spanish, and Portuguese are what i'm interested in at the moment, but that is liable to change... so please, share your stories...!

:D

[car_fiend]

actually an easy way, besides having books as guides, is to find people who speak that language, and engage in small conversations, after that is, studying a little bit so you can say some stuff. slowly, the language will catch on. its the same as learning how to speak the language you speak now. after constantly hearing and reading it... wala, you've learned to speak that language. that's how i got through highschool spanish, all the way through to AP/College spanish. just my $.02

[m5child]

yes i agree, and that is how i got through high school spanish (i still speak it somewhat)... but i need something more... ahh... intensive... basically a course that i can do at home, in addition to speaking with native speakers...

[QuattroMan]

yes i agree, and that is how i got through high school spanish (i still speak it somewhat)... but i need something more... ahh... intensive... basically a course that i can do at home, in addition to speaking with native speakers...
find your self an native girl,that way you can learn two things at same time,if you know what I mean!:)

[m5child]

lmao,

that shouldn't be too hard in new york... so question is:

do i prioritize,

-OR-

load up on as many 'courses' as i can handle...hehe

[QuattroMan]

lmao,

that shouldn't be too hard in new york... so question is:

do i prioritize,

-OR-

load up on as many 'courses' as i can handle...hehe
what language do you speek?

[matek]

yep after going on holiday to a country for instance poland i improve even though i know the language and i almost forget english words which is quite funny at times,

going to france after two weeks i could engage in conversations nearly fluently so if u go to the country of what language you want to learn you are practically forced to learn it and it does come alot faster and as the saying says practice makes perfect:p

[m5child]

what language do you speek?

I speak fluent Hungarian and English, broken spanish and minimal German... but I pick up languages fairly easily (i just dont practice them, therefore they go away fairly easily as well) :(

[NoOne]

I find it easiest to learn if it is kept fun , I'm not fluent in anything but English but I have a small working vocabulary in French, Italian and Tagalog (I work with many Phillipinos). I find that learning common phrases then substituting words to be easiest for me as sentence structure can be very different.