Rosetta Stone

[Cardinal_Fang]

<p>

One key seems to be connecting physical actions to relevant language, or at least using the language in a purposeful fashion. Something along the lines of: if you need to communicate something important to you, or if you have a real need to understand what is being said to you, you’ll remember.

</p>

<p>Anecdotally, the best way for an adult to learn a language is “on the pillow,” from a, ahem, very close friend.</p>

[sorghum]

<p>It is often possible to get Rosetta Stone at much less than the full retail price.</p>

<p>It is a good system, but really not worth the money. If you can get it cheap, it is a useful tool that can be used in conjunction with other methods. I am a big fan of the Pimsleur audio-only system (which is weak on vocabulary, so Rosetta Stone fills a gap there).</p>

<p>Lessons, even just once or twice a week, are of course invaluable.</p>

<p>Most important is motivation and concentration. You have to really want to reach a goal.</p>

[HImom]

<p>My neighbor’s husband really wanted to learn Mandarin so he could communicate with his in-laws. He taught himself using “Twin Bridges” on floppy drives. His wife was fluent in Mandarin & Cantonese but they agree that he really taught himsefl using the program. He got so comfortable with the language that he has been able to use it in business and has clients in the orient because he can communicate well with them.</p>

<p>My D loved a German singer’s voice so much that she taught herself how to speak and read German. She taugh herself solely via the internet, She took two 6-week summer courses in the subject & placed into 3rd semester German where she did well enough to fulfill her language requirement. She’s not as fluent as she’d like but said it is not that difficult to learn if you really want it. She found it helpful to try to read all the comments posted in German on the blogs & listen to singing in German, sometimes with English subtitles & sometimes without.</p>

<p>Motivation & persistence cannot be overstated. Having a good ear helps as well. :)</p>

[milkandsugar]

<p>I think the key to effectively learn is the emotional tag placed on the learning as calmom explained.
Friend’s college aged daughter learned Italian very quickly being immersed in the culture as a nanny in Italy over last summer. She had no choice and had to negotiate the language in order to survive her stay there. She purposely took this job to learn the language. She also went to these very popular language exchange pubs at night in Rome and exchanged dialogue with native speakers in turn wanting to learn her language.
She returned from Italy very fluent and at ease with the language. A computer program would not have provided the results that were achieved.</p>