What is the best way to a learn foreign language?
Monkeys,
I want to learn Spanish and I would like to know which is the best way to learn a foreign language(besides traveling to that country or dating a woman from that country). Is it taking classes in college, or using an online platform like Duolingo or Rosetta Stone? I am looking to become conversational at the very least.
Learn the basics via a method that works for you (might be Rosetta Stone, might be one of the free apps) and then find someone who speaks the language fluently and converse with them. I had a buddy in IB who did this with Spanish. He learned the basics online and then would always speak a little bit each day with the janitor that would clean our office.
Immersion/Spanish Girlfriend that doesn't speak English
Glossika by far. Best language learning program
There is an app that has been highly lauded, I forget what it is called but it has over 100 million users. But the best way it to move to a place where that language is spoken and live there for a length of time. Also it helps to learn a language with a same base language as your native language.
Take Skype lessons with a native speaker. My Spanish instructors are Venezuelan so I pay them peanuts (a fortune in their own currency) for live conversation lessons. It's the closest thing to immersing yourself without being in a foreign country.
From reading the replies, looks like learning the basics online followed by traveling to that country when possible for immersion and further learning is the way to go. Thanks to everyone, that's the path I've decided to take.
Pimsleur for Mandarin for speaking. Spanish might be good, I never tried.
Same
Check out Tim Ferriss - he has a method that will get you by.
Will definitely look into it. On a side note, I'm enjoying his 4 Hour Work Week book(the title is obviously BS) and tips on efficiency. Thanks.
Be a self learner. Youtube is great medium to gain extra knowledge.
Self motivation is very important.
Check out language transfer the Spanish course. It's a free audio course that helps map the base, latin origins of Spanish and English. Instead of rote memorization it relies on reinterpretating and transfering the linguistic features and properties you've developed naturally in English. I've purchased several language programs and language transfer was by far the most effective-- enough so that I felt compelled to make a donation after.
One thing you could integrate into your general learning is a frequency dictionary. It lists words by order of frequency of usage. This can be helpful if you need to use your language for practical purposes quickly. It is not only nouns, adjectives, etc. that are listed but also the specific forms of verbs. It can take a while to learn every form of a verb, but the frequency dictionary will show you which forms pop up the most, so you can work on really memorising that form before the more obscure forms.
Here is what I recommend.
First, you will need discipline and motivation which should align with discipline. Don't wait to get motivated, integrate this in the language learning process. Also, youtube all the polyglots on how to learn a language. From Benny from the fluent in 3 months to Steve Kaufman, Olly from I will teach you a language, etc...
Expectations: You will not learn a language in three months and be prepared for a good five years. Anyone who said they learned a language in six months or a year is bullshitting.
Goals: There's a debate on what fluency is but the more you learn, the harder it gets and you get complacent. I have become super complacent with French which is very bad because I stopped improving and even began forgetting. Don't do that...
1.) The first stages of the language, podcasts. Podcasts every day. Then integrate a grammar book. I honestly would suggest an adult learning class and just do level one spanish in class while supplementing with podcasts. I think when you get to a certain level of something, you can easily learn on your own, but I have realized that it's beneficial to have a teacher in the beginning stages and then carry on yourself and get a teacher again for a month when you've hit the intermediate stages. Or better yet, make a friend who speaks the language.
Many recommend immersion which I strongly am for but if you are a beginner, go with podcasts, movies, music. Do not fly to a country and spend a week there under the banner of "immersion." As it is completely and utterly useless. You benefit from immersion largely if you can actually speak and understand the language because only then can you converse in it.
andddd then theres maintenance
if you don't use it, you lose it
Studying abroad can be a fun and engaging way to improve your language skills.
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Duolingo all day everyday
Michel Thomas hands down
https://www.michelthomas.com/
If you're a complete beginner start with DuoLingo, watch movies/youtube in English with Spanish subtitles, and watch movies in Spanish with English subtitles. I know foreigners that learned to speak fluent English with this and music.
Once you're confident start practicing with people. Use Omeegle (it's like chatroulette but has less people jerkin their dicks) and select Spanish as your language. It'll randomly pair you with a Spanish speaking person and you can learn from them and they'll more than likely want to practice English with you.
You need extra motivation first of all and you can take online classes with native speakers. I learn 5 foreign languages and it really helps, you can use any program or go to school, but without native speakers, you won't be able to learn any language
I have learned two languages (Afrikaans, Spanish) and I highly recommend "Fluent Forever" by Gabriel Weiner. I am a beta tester for his app that's about to come out and I highly recommend that too.
I'm by no means an expert on linguistics, but what worked for me (and wife who is just starting a new language) is that you really have to become obsessed. You need to start listening, reading, typing, writing, texting, chatting, etc. in your target language. I use italki and I speak with native speakers at a minimum once per week. I have podcasts in Afrikaans, I read Harry Potter in Afrikaans, I listen to the news, etc.
Grammar and vocabulary are straight forward - the information is in a book and you need to digest and internalize it. The real challenge is assembling the puzzle - that's why from the very beginning you need to be listening/reading/watching/speaking in your target language every day.
Good luck! I'm about to start learning Italian and will be back at square one with you.
Now there are many programs for learning a foreign language. If you do not want to study one can hire a tutor.
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