<p>@fromUSA2Russia Hey! I would definitely recommend ordering “First Thousand Words in Russian!” It’s really cheap and is divided up into cutely illustrated different scenes like; “The Bathroom” and “The Party.” The phonetics are given under each word which helps with pronunciation but makes me lazy about reading the Cyrillic! </p>
<p>I think the acceptance rate of semi-finalists is around forty-seven percent
Just to add to the language convo here: I have french and spanish classes everyday, took a Portuguese class, trying to re-learn my first language, Tagalog(and then cantonese), and obviously learning Arabic! SO many languages my brain hurts XD</p>
<p>@fromUSA2Russia I am currently learning Latin in school and teaching myself Korean. Also, I have studied German pretty extensively (8 years, even though some of those I didn’t really learn much), Spanish (7-8th grades), and also dabbled in Swedish, Arabic, and a very small amount of French and Italian. I know its alot but I honestly am not good at any of them except for German and sort of Latin (because you can’t really speak it). Yeah so that’s the languages I have learned/am learning.</p>
<p>Cool! My dad learned Latin, and he thought that it was really helpful for his SAT/ACT. It seems like all of us on here are teaching ourselves a language (the one we applied for in NSLI-Y)! :)</p>
<p>@fromUSA2Russia I’ve studied Spanish the most (all the way through AP!), but I’ve also studied/am studying Japanese and German in school. Now that I got the semi notice I’m putting a little more effort into Korean self study </p>
<p>I had yet to comment on this thread, although I’ve been watching it. I’m a senior and this is my first (and last) time applying. I’m a semifinalist for the Russia summer!!! All of your language learning is intimidating! I’m on my third year of accelerated Spanish in school, and that’s it as far as languages go. I saw the “My first 1000 words in Russian” recommendation, and I’d love to hear any more Russian language learning suggestions, considering I’m starting from scratch. Also, I’m legally blind, so I’m curious if anyone else with disabilities has attended previously, and what their experience was like! I’ve lived independently before and whatnot, and I have plenty of functional vision to get by, but I’ve never even left the US. My dream job is definitely an FSO, so NSLI-Y would be a perfect experience for me. I’m just a little intimidated by the idea of living in a foreign country whose language I can’t speak, even if it is just for a summer. This page has been incredibly informative so far! Thanks everyone!</p>
<p>@jjtell11 I’ve found a bunch of textbook & workbook PDFs on the internet for Korean (including one published by the DPRK!) but I haven’t gotten far enough into any of them to recommend any particular one (but just let me know if you want to look through any of 'em). I know some other people here probably have a more helpful response than that, and I’d appreciate any recommendations as well :)</p>
<p>I am so with you! I have been studying Russian like crazy, ever since my semi-finalist notification! </p>
<p>@Kfiddle </p>
<p>THAT IS SO COOL!!! We might be able to meet in Russia (I am a semi-finalist for Russia summer also)!!! I have found a couple good websites and YouTube channels, you can P.M. me if you want a list! </p>
<p>@jjtell11<br>
I use TalktomeinKorean and also this app called Memrise.
For actual physical books and such I have the intergrated Korean beginner 1 textbook, McGraw-Hill’s illustrated dictionary, Berlitz Korean phrase book and dictionary.
I also use the Pimsleur Approach Basic Korean ( It is just audio and it is really good cause it is like engaging in a real conversation with different voices. ) I got this because my family can’t afford Rosetta stone, This was like $40 bucks but so worth it. There are so many other languages as well so I recommend it to everyone!!! </p>
<p>Hey anyone in this group got their interview date yet?</p>
<p>@lovinglife01<br>
It is really good! There are pros and cons just like with anything. With Pimsleur the pronunciation is by natives and that’s good because if you are learning of textbooks, it is hard to know if you are pronouncing a word correctly. The only bad thing is that you can learn all these things by listening, but if you are more of a visual learner, it is not that great. Plus, you have to go out of your way to figure out how to spell it because it is only an audio program. Besides that I think it is great and I’m definitely getting the next one in the series after I finish all the discs. </p>
</p>