I am working on learning (or rather re-learning) Hebrew, 30 years after being at intermediate level. I am also studying a minor European language starting at advanced beginner level.
I was even going to attend an intensive summer school, but those have all been cancelled, so I thought what the heck, I can design an intensive program at home for a fraction of the price.
I’m interested in anyone else’s experiences or ambitions for language learning. What resources do you find useful?
I find the following all to be helpful and good value (some are free):
Pimsleur - oral only, 30 of 25 minute lessons in many languages, 90 or even 100 lessons in other languages. I think this is a key foundation. OK it is practically useless for an adult learner is used alone, but it complements every other resource. I bought them, but I think many libraries have them. Key daily habit until you finish all the lessons of your chosen language.
Duolingo - free, or you can choose to pay. This should be a daily habit. It improves reading and writing, and adds a decent level of vocabulary. In my view it isn't good if you are an absolute beginner in a non-Roman alphabet language. And it is very good if you have a basic foundation (from your mostly forgotten high school studies).
FSI and DLI are US government free resources with very disciplined methodical training for foreign service or military.
Anki flash cards - you can download flash cards with thousands of sentences, written and audio, or all the words from Duolingo, etc. and drill with them. Free!
Innovative Language Learning, many languages as XxxxPod100, e.g. HebrewPod101. Tremendous resources and not particularly expensive.
Rosetta Stone - one of the big players. Used to be very expensive, but now there is usually a $199 for all languages lifetime offer. From the free trial, I think it's pretty good for vocabulary building. But so far I have too much on my plate to need it.
All the above are for self-teaching, which of course is not enough. The really important extra piece is a live teacher:
iTalki - you can choose a teacher and schedule lessons through their site. There are reviews, pricing, and a short video where the teacher introduces themselve. The prices are pretty cheap, can be $6-10 per hour for a language from a mostly poor country, and $12-20 for a richer country.
My system is to piece together about 4 hours a day from the above, plus some extra preparation or practice time. I don’t expect to get back to work before September, so we’ll see …
Hoping to! I started French on Duolingo shortly after shelter in place orders went out. I’ve been doing it almost every day and have progressed pretty nicely! I did have some knowledge from high school and was surprised at how much I remembered. But I’m learning a lot of new material, and I do like the program. I may use it as an excuse to get back to France when travel opens up again
I knew Spanish, years in school plus a university study abroad and am using Duo for French. I think having a basic understanding of things like conjugating verbs and other foreign language stylistic elements are helpful. I have something like a 50 day streak, but I’ve done Duo French many times over the last several years, just always slacked after a while and had to start over again, and again, and again. I was already working on this the last few months as I had a trip to France planned for the summer, but have been more diligent.
Turned on some French shows with English subtitles, oh my, I can grab like one or two words in a paragraph. I am also noticing it is difficult to pick up on all the accents and fancy letters that are difficult to access on your phone. I’m trying to switch to my keyboard so I be less illiterate looking in typing.
I tried duo lingo Italian, but didn’t like it. I’ve studied/now a couple foreign languages and prefer a method that is more rooted in grammar than duo lingo is. I guess I’m old school and like to learn by practicing Je suis, tu es, il/elle est…
Weird thing is, when I study Italian, out of my mouth comes Spanish. It’s uncanny and unsettling. Who knew hablo espanol?
Check out your local public library website. Many, many of them have free language learning databases. Two to look for are Mango and Transparent Language.
I started Duolingo French a while back to brush up my long lost high school French in anticipation of a trip in March. The trip was cancelled but I am continuing with my daily French lessons.
Great thread! My husband is using Babbel to brush up on French and he’s really enjoying it a lot. We’ll use it either this summer or next, whenever we take our European trip. He’s not a big reader, so this works out great - he can work on Babeel on his phone when we get in bed, while I read.
My daughter suggests watching children shows in the language of choice. This has helped a lot. Plus she listens to music in the language she is trying to get down. She said it’s pretty amazing that one day you actually have a clue what their saying…
Am I going to emerge from the lockdown knowing a foreign language? I think I have done that in record speed. Everyday when I watch the Whitehouse press briefings, I find myself yelling multiple words at the TV, followed by “Excuse my French.” Does that count? ?
I’ve never been able to learn a foreign language without immersion. I spent a school year in France and was relatively fluent. Took a 19th c French novel course in college and wrote all my papers in French. Spent five years in Germany and realized I wasn’t nearly as fluent in French as I thought I was. When I got pregnant I realized there was a whole ocean of vocabulary I hadn’t learned yet! Took a semester of Italian while we were in Germany and used to practice in Italy. Also took a Mandarin class, but couldn’t every really produce or hear tones reliably. Spent several months in Hong Kong and of course they speak Cantonese so even if I’d remembered any Mandarin besides hello and thank you, it wouldn’t have been much use. I did work on recognizing more characters.
My German teacher in college was big on singing songs, it was fun.
Hubby has been learning Japanese for 4 months now. He impressed a lot of people apparently. He hopes to be good enough in Japanese by the time it’s okay to travel to Japan.
DD has been learning Italian for a couple of years now. Her BFF in Italy FTs her on a daily basic since Italy lockdown, and they speak Italian with each other. Her Italian is a little better than her Spanish and I thought her Spanish was quite good. She was our designated Spanish translator in a mission trip to El Salvador. I used to brag that I was the only one in the household who is bilingual. Now she beats me with 3 languages!
I’m pretty much a Duolingo addict – I’ve been doing it daily for several years and I’m currently rotating among seven different languages. I work on a different language each week. Keeps me from getting bored. But nowhere near “fluent” because there is no real exposure to conversation with Duolingo – it’s just provides a pretty good foundation in vocabulary and some exposure to grammar. This week is French for me – which is my favorite of all. I think I like the inherent logic in the language. But my French pronunciation is terrible – so I wouldn’t be comfortable speaking French beyond basic functional requests & pleasantries. But I like learning. In my work, I have to read a lot of email & some documents written in different languages – of course I rely mostly on Google translate, but I now can pretty much get the gist of an email before translating – plus I can get around the mistakes that machine translation typically makes.
I started studying Russian mostly because of a comment my daughter made – my DD studied Russian for many years and has lived, studied & traveled in Russia. My D told me she was impressed with how much vocabulary I picked up after only a week or two of exposure. So it does work - though I probably won’t stick with Russian because it is a pain to shift between keyboards on my smartphone and I think it would be even tougher on my laptop. The problem is that the format mixes things up — so you would need both keyboards to complete a lesson.
I like movies that have English + target language (dubbed) audio, and English + target language subtitles. Then you can watch in different combinations for listening and reading. For minor languages, this often means only children’s movies such as from Disney.
I’ve been stuck in high intermediate Spanish for yearsssss. During the lockdown, I’m Zooming 3x a week. Once I converse with a friend, another I discuss a short story with a group, and a third time I meet with a more formal class for conversation and grammar. I also listen to Pimsleur while walking, write a little to my friend, and watch some Spanish language TV. By the way, House of Flowers on Netflix is excellent! A real hoot.
I am with others about Pimsleur. Over the years I’ve found it’s the only real way to practice conversation on your own.
Hopefully I’ll come out of this a little more confident in my skills. The problem with learning a new language is that it doesn’t seem to get easier because you just become more aware of what you don’t know!
If you already speak a language fairly well you can also read books in that language that you have already read in English. I used to enjoy reading Georgette Heyer’s translated into French. You can start with children’s books like Barbar or The Little Prince for French.
My brother is a big fan of Pimsleur which he used regularly when he had a long commute.
@katliamom When I was in France with DH, some one said something to us on the street, he answered instantly in German (HS language studied) and I answered in Spanish (HS language of study.) It was like the brain knew, "oh! Gosh? Foreign language quick, but panicked and reverted to old info)
@MaineLonghorn French Village is on my list, currently on Balthazar.
@calmom when I spent two weeks in a tiny French Village, the proprietor of the nearby wine shop spoke English quite well. In talking with her it became obvious that to sound anywhere near French pronunciations, at least in that region, I had to exaggerate the sounds as if I was making fun of a French person. It felt very uncomfortable, but those were the times she said I was pronouncing properly. Yikes.
I totally know what you mean, and yes, it’s a weird but effective trick. Another fun trick with the French accent: don’t open your mouth very much and purse your lips as if for a kiss. That helps the sound too. (The things we Yanks do to please the finicky French ear )
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