Now that we’re in Mexico, it’s time to up our Spanish game. Between studying, hanging out with our bilingual friends, spending plenty of time doing our daily life routines in shops, running into our neighbors, and trying to get our landlord to forget the mañana attitude and fix some things for us, we’ve had plenty of opportunity to get our learn on.
We spent many years in Chicago – and we are American – so we naturally speak some Spanish and do have a grasp of the language. I personally have been studying foreign languages since I was eight years old, when my parents thought it’d be a good idea to send me to a German class. I’ve loved languages ever since.
I’ve spoken French for most of my life, as well as a smattering of other languages. I’m the kid who studied language books as a child instead of doing whatever it is that eight-year-olds do. We moved to Germany and learned German; we moved to Montenegro and learned (some) Serbian.
None of that makes me or us better than anyone else out there who learns languages. I told you the above because I have a love for it. I get off on learning languages because they connect me to another culture in ways that nothing else can.
I believe you must have the desire, or you must teach yourself to like it. You have to be excited about it and you have to be excited about the possibilities that exist for you when you do learn it.
We have a zillion stories that we can tell, in which the central focus is something that never could have happened to us if we had not tried or learned some part of a language. Even a few words will get you places you never thought possible. That’s a fact, Jack.
Of course, we could – and should – always be doing more. And being that we unfortunately spent a lot of our short time in Seville working on our ridiculously huge “Fabric of America” project, we didn’t focus a whole lot on ameliorating our Spanish.
I metaphorically kick myself for that, and occasionally want to actually kick myself for that. Especially after hanging out with Cat from Sunshine and Siestas, who dedicated a great part of her immigrant life to being a master of Castellano, and whose skills and accent will either motivate you or make you intensely jealous with rage. (Hopefully the former.)
So with that, I want to tell you how we are upping our Spanish game, and ask you how you go about learning your new languages.
As you will see below, we’re using a variety of tools to accomplish our goals. I’m not 100% sure that I like using all of these things, or if all of these things are even a good thing to do together. I often wonder if doing one thing takes me backwards in comparison to another; but I have continued on, just because.
I do feel that it is absolutely essential that you use more than one method to learn a language. One of these things – or one of anything – just isn’t going to cut it. I can guarantee it.
Also of note: At the bottom of this post, you’ll find a list with links of everything discussed here, and a few more. Enjoy!
Click on any bold title to be taken to each website. We don’t do that whole affiliate thing, so no worries about disclaimers here.
I obtained a copy of this at the tail end of our “Fabric of America” tour. I started doing it in October, and have faithfully been doing one 30-minute lesson per day since. I just finished the first section of 30 lessons, and I’m not particularly sure I like it at all.
I get it. I totally comprehend the method and why it is how it is. I’m just not sure that it advances quickly enough for me, or for any of you. It’s painfully slow, and at the end of 30 lessons, I can tell you that I most certainly learned more in about one tenth of the time using the next method.
The basic concept is that it uses timed memorization techniques throughout an entire section, repeating things you’ve learned in earlier sections and adding new phrases and words as you go along. It’s centered around conversations between two people. Sometimes, you’ll be a businessman looking for a restaurant. Other times, you’re calling your mom or asking friends to go to the cinema.
I do like how it slowly introduces more complex phrases and occasionally explains them to you; but again, I just feel that it’s too slow. 30 days to get to the tú form just isn’t good enough for most people. It also leaves out explanations about verb tenses that I feel are highly important for every learner.
I also feel like, for the amount of money you must spend, you could get much more bang for your buck by hiring a teacher. Then again, I doubt you can take a teacher in the car, or to the gym, or put him or her on your iPod.
Ang is also starting the Michel Thomas Method, which is a competitor to Pimsleur. She used it in Germany and is just about to give it a shot in Spanish. You can click here to read about how that works. I may or may not switch to it to see if it’s a better fit for me, but I’m including it here because I may try it out.
Ah, I love this. Both of us love this. It’s simply amazing. You will not become fluent using it, but it will up your game like nothing else. It’s a free program that’s available for iOS and Android devices, and is even more comprehensive if you use the online version on your computer. Ang has switched to the latter full-time because of how much more information is available when you do it on the computer.
It’s set up like a game, so you should have fun with it. It provides a huge range of lessons for many languages – some are more in-depth than others – and varies beetween typing, translating, speaking, and listening.
You get points for doing well in your lessons, and you’ll find yourself cheering or cursing when you get something wrong.
You can also repeat lessons and do practice lessons over and over again, so you’re not forced to move forward if you don’t feel that you’re ready. Additionally, you can follow your friends and make it a sort of competition to get more points or be notified that you’re “on a streak.”
This program isn’t the end-all, be-all of language learning. But I do think it’s one of the best tools out there and most definitely needs to be in your arsenal. They’ve also just announced that they’ll be crowd-sourcing new languages, so expect it to expand rapidly within the next year.
Duolingo is literally the only computer- or app-based program that has kept me interested or active for more than one day. I’ve been on it every day since I signed up in mid-October.
The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) is a system designed to streamline language learning in the EU. It follows a structure of six levels – A1 to C2 – and is used for all languages in Europe in order to give a frame of reference – I know, shocker considering its name – as to how one learns and how well one knows a language.
If you take official classes in a European country, you also have the option of obtaining certificates that confirm your mastery of a level. This is apparently helpful when looking for a job, obtaining a degree, etc.
We first used these when we were learning German. These types of books are the default choice of language teachers, even if they’re not teaching in a school. I love them.
You can usually get them in pairs: One book to be used in class, and one exercise book for homework. They also come with CDs, but we didn’t them regularly in our German classes; and if they even came with our Spanish books, we threw them away. :)
When we arrived in Spain, we made our way to the local librería and scooped up A1-B2 books for Spanish. Even though we weren’t taking lessons, the books are relatively easy to understand on your own, and you should have no trouble slowly making your way through each chapter.
And this is my favorite part, although you will probably hate it: The books are only in the native language. (Well, the ones we have are, anyway.) This is the best way to learn. It’s a waste of time to use a book written in your native language, only to learn a couple words in your new language for every page you read in your own.
Sure, it makes learning that much more intensive. But wait, isn’t that the point? It’s not like our German teacher in Germany spoke to us in English. We learned German with a German and never spoke a lick of English. (That’s how I feel it should be in foreign-language classes in America, but that’s an argument for another time.)
I actually like to go through each chapter and try to read the lessons. I circle all the words I don’t know, and I look them up and then add them to my vocabulary list. Once I’ve made it through a lesson – they’re only usually one or two pages – I tackle the exercises that are in the same book. (I don’t have the additional book of exercises.)
In German class, we did all this during class time and then completed our homework at home. If you’re learning solo, you can just use the main book and do the exercises yourself. All of the answers are in the back, so you can check your work when you’re done.
One of the best online dictionaries there is. I’m always shocked and surprised to learn that people don’t know about it, especially Germans.
It was originally started as a German-English dictionary, so one would think that everyone would know. Well, they don’t. Instead, they’re stuck on dictionaries I hate. I love the format and layout of the dict.cc website, and how concise each definition or translation is.
And even though it was originally German-English, new languages are being added all the time and I use it every day for Spanish. It’s also available as both an iOS and Android app, one which you can download the dictionaries for, so you don’t need to use it online.
A couple of bonuses…
If you’re interested in contributing, you are welcome to. Most people I know – including myself – don’t want to make time for such things. But I shall appreciate and preach its greatness as it blows most other dictionaries out of the water.
People are constantly updating it, with audio samples and up/down-votes on what the “most correct” definition or translation is.
You can also sign up for an account on the website, and either add other people’s or create your own flash-card quizzes. I love this and I used it extensively on a daily basis when we were in Germany. I’m planning to convert my vocabulary notebook (see below) into online quizzes for myself.
I used to always use the 501 Verbs series of books. I had one for years as a French speaker/learner, and I purchased a German one when we lived in Berlin. Barron’s kills it with these books, and I cannot recommend them more.
However, if you’re a regular mover like we are, then it’s kind of a pain to carry around a 5-pound book. If you don’t travel all the time like we do, you can grab them for a variety of languages via Amazon.
Since it’s not really realistic for us to have such things, I have started using Wiktionary. You’d be amazed at what you can find here. If a word or phrase – slang included – appears in the language you are studying, it’s most likely here.
There is no reverse-translation like a dictionary; but if you know the word/phrase in your target language, you can look it up.
The best part, though, is that every verb is conjugated. Every one I’ve ever looked up, anyway. It’s totally brilliant. While it’s not a book you can peruse at your desk or on the couch, it’s a great resource available to you as long as you have an internet connection.
I always buy a small notebook when I’m learning a language. It has to be small enough to fit in my pants pocket, and I grab a pen to go with it. Every time I learn a word – or sometimes entire verb conjugations – I write it down in my notebook with the translation to English.
Not only is this a good resource to have, but it provides extra, default learning simply because you’re writing down the word. You can keep it with you at all times, and write down new words whenever you learn them or come upon them and need to translate them later.
In addition, you can use it as a study guide when you’re on public transport, sitting at a café, or whenever you have idle time.
You can go for a fancy Moleskine or Field Notes product, or simply pick up a pocket-size notebook for a buck at your local store. Just be sure it fits in your pocket and becomes something you take with you by habit!
You gotta have a dictionary. While there are obviously plenty of online resources, a dictionary is something you can always carry with you (if you want to), and something you can easily reference while you’re learning or studying. I’m not really a fan of using my tablet or whatever to look up a word on the internet if I’ve got my face in a book.
I recommend a pocket-size one. Even if it’s too darn thick to fit in your pocket – as the one I have by Langenscheidt is – it’s still much more handy than a massive Word Bible.
There are plenty of good brands out there. Just be sure that whatever you buy has genders for each noun. I’ve seen some that don’t, which is just flabbergasting to me.
Italki is completely new to me. I don’t even remember how I found it not too long ago, but it’s brilliant. I’ve seen plenty of teaching/tandem/etc. sites, and I’ve hated all of them. Italki is totally different. It’s easy to sign up, and offers three different, invaluable options.
All of them use Skype, and most people use video, which I find to always be better than just using audio to talk. Seeing a person, their demeanor, and the words actually come from them is much more helpful when learning than just using audio, which is one of the most difficult things to do in a foreign language (i.e. the telephone).
First, you can find a teacher of your language, and the search function provides easy and comprehensive results for you. Professional teachers must prove their qualifications, and many of them provide introduction videos so you can see how they operate before you even hire anyone.
In addition, there’s a very comprehensive feedback system so you can see what other students had to say about each teacher. On top of that, you can schedule trial lessons if the teacher offers them, which are usually 50% of the price of a regular lesson. That way, you can test a teacher out before committing to a full session.
Second, you can find tutors for your language. The search/results functions are the same, but tutors are not considered professionally qualified teachers and their prices are lower. The downside to this is that most seem to not have any lesson plans or structure, but I can’t comment for sure since I haven’t tried one. You can do trial lessons here as well.
Third, you can find tandem partners for your target language. Oftentimes, they are native speakers of the language you’re learning, and they want to practice your language and let you practice theirs. I think tandems are a wonderful idea, and they’re common in many international cities where students are eager to learn English. Ang did a tandem with a friend of ours in Berlin, and they can work really well if you find the right partner.
When done in person, this can lead to great friendships. Online, you probably won’t make in-person friends; but you never know, you might find a partner in your own city. I immediately had a handful of people message me to practice after I signed up. Oh, and tandems (language partners) are free!
I recently found a professional teacher whose intro video and reviews I liked. I talked to her on the site and scheduled a trial session. It went really well and I like her style, so I scheduled a full lesson with her. I plan to do 1-2 lessons a week for now and see how that goes. She also sent me tons of online flash cards to use and the link to a book that I bought for Kindle, which are just more weapons in my language-learning arsenal.
Not to worry: You can schedule one session at a time, so you don’t have to commit to a ton of lessons – or money – when you start. This could be a bad thing, though, if you’re not fully committed to learning and aren’t forced to keep going with your lessons. Prices are very reasonable as well, which makes this whole thing even better.
Talk to People
This is probably the number one thing that’s going to get you places. As previously noted, even a few words can change the course of your day – or your life. It’s a common misconception that people won’t have patience for you, and it’s very easy to fall back to your native tongue (especially if it’s English). You’d be surprised at how much more receptive people are when you try, even if you’re screwing up.
Don’t worry about how bad you might suck. It’s part of the process. What, do you think someone’s going to believe you’re an idiot for not being fluent? Puh-lease. They are way more concerned with thinking people who don’t even try are idiots.
You will be rewarded and respected. And you might even make some friends and find people who care much more than you think they would.
So then…that seems like a lot, right? Of course it does. You do not need to do all of these things. I like doing them and I want to further myself as quickly as possible (without going insane, anyway). As I said before, I love it. But, you can just do a couple of these things and you’ll be fine. Below are my recommendations for learning a new language.
- Have Fun: I said it before and I’ll say it again. This is the most important thing you can do. Want it and do it and enjoy it. If you don’t like it and don’t have the drive, then there’s no point.
- Find What Works For You and Give It a Chance: Try out different things. They could be all the things we do, or something entirely different. Nobody says you can’t flirt with a dozen different methods before sorting out what you like best and what helps you learn the most.
- Don’t Be Scared: Just do it. Study and learn. And most of all: Talk to people! It doesn’t matter if you’re in North Dakota or Nepal. You can find someone that speaks your language. And if you can’t, you can damn sure find them online. There’s no excuse anymore, so don’t make them.
- Ask Questions: Ask the people you’re not scared of. Ask me. Ask the internet. Ask someone. Asking questions is a key ingredient to learning, so do it already. When it comes to language learning, there is absolutely no such thing as a stupid question.
It’s important for me to reiterate that I do not necessarily think you have to do all of this. Overkill, maybe/probably. I just like it oh so very much. Start with one or two things, see how you like them, and then add on or try something new.
Every single new word you learn is progress. Every single time you try to say even one thing to one person is progress. Learning a language is about creating possibilities, not about how perfect you are before you head out into the world.
Resources
Here’s a roundup of what I just wrote about, along with a couple extras for good measure. Click on any one of them to be taken to their respective sites. There are many more options out there – these are simply what we’ve used. Now, go out there and have fun with it!
- Pimsleur Method
- Michel Thomas Method
- Deutsch – Warum Nicht? by Deutsche Welle (for German learners only)
- Duolingo
- European Framework Books
- Dict.cc
- Wiktionary
- 501 Verbs Series by Barron’s
- Vocabulary Notebook
- Dictionaries
- Italki
- Fluent in 3 Months
So then, what do you do? How do you learn a language, and what works best for you? I’d love to hear it as I’m always looking for critiques and suggestions.
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This is an excellent language learning blog. Thanks for the nice post about us! If there is anything you need or suggestions you have, let us know!
Thanks, Jim! So far, so good with italki. I’m really happy to have found it as it’s a key ingredient in how I like to learn.
Super-useful post Ryan! Thank you so much for pointing me towards Wictionary – I’d heard of it, but had no idea they had that full conjugation table. So helpful.
So I’m currently learning Spanish with Michel Thomas and Duolingo. I love Michel because not only does his method make total sense to me, but he’s hilariously grumpy. Duolingo is the only online app that has kept me interested too – and I agree, even though the mobile app is very nicely done, the desktop version is worth using where possible for the extra info.
Even though I still totally suck, I’ve enjoyed the learning process so much more since I paid attention to Benny Lewis’ advice to have fun, and focus on being understood rather than being perfect. I get better feedback and more patience from people when I seem relaxed rather than terrified.
One question: can you recommend any resources for listening comprehension? (Other than, y’know, talking to real people.) Parsing a rapid-fire string of Spanish is the hardest part for me right now. We’re trying watching Modern Family in Spanish, but it’s sooooooo quick I pick up very little.
Again, awesome post, thank you.
Hey Rob, nice to hear from you! I apparently have a novel for you below…
Wiktionary: I love it because I’m a super-nerd when it comes to things like the 501 Verbs books. If you look up a word on Wiktionary, just go to Spanish (e.g.) and you’ll see a clickable bar for “conjugation.” Hit that and it’ll give you the whole table.
Michel Thomas: Ang used it when we were learning German, and she just started using it yesterday afternoon for Spanish. She likes it much better than Pimsleur. I just finished the first session of Pimsleur (15 hours) and as far as I can tell, it’s not 15 hours of learning. I’m thinking I might switch to Michel Thomas as well. His voice is a trip, but he’s very good at what he does (or was, R.I.P.) and I think it’s probably better than Pimsleur or Rosetta Stone.
Duolingo: I can’t get enough of it! Email me your username and we can follow each other for battles of Spanish supremacy. :)
It definitely doesn’t matter if you suck, but definitely does matter if you have fun with it. No doubt about that, and Benny is 1000% correct. Even though we’ve only been here a few weeks and I still most certainly suck (!!!), the progress we’ve made in being able to have conversations with people is immense. Sure, I have trouble keeping up with the rapid-fire and the mumbling, but it’s more or less that way in every language. I agree that being relaxed is key. It’s really not something to stress over. Stress isn’t fun, and language is supposed to be fun.
When it comes to comprehension, there are two things I’ve been doing that keep me actively interested and both involve TV: 1) I watch documentary-type shows that have been dubbed in Spanish. These generally have slower talking, and if I already know what the show is (we get the History Channel here in Spanish), it’s easier for me to follow along. Think “Pawn Stars,” etc. In addition, I watch football news (real football, not American hand-egg) and/or ESPN (Spanish), because I’m interested in it and I can get the gist of what’s being said since it’s immediately obvious as to what they’re talking about. Give one or both of those things a shot and see if they work better for you. I do not know or understand everything that’s being said, obviously. But it helps me to understand more and more, and pick out words or phrases that I already know or want to know. I honestly don’t think I could handle something like a sitcom without subtitles.
I don’t know how hardcore you guys are, but we generally try to speak Spanish most of the time when we’re out of the house or not working. We can’t do this *all* the time since we don’t speak enough to have very serious conversations, but all the basics get tackled, for sure. And we only – and always – speak Spanish with locals. No matter what. Even if they switch to English, we keep at it. It doesn’t matter why they switch; the point is to keep at it and stand your ground. Switching to English when someone else does is always a bad idea, unless you’re in a real predicament (government office, doctor, etc.).
You can always ask someone to speak slowly if you want to. Try to impress upon them that you’re learning and you’re in Spain and you have a desire to stick to Spanish (something that, unfortunately, most Anglos in Spain do not do). I like to say, “Estamos en México; tenemos que hablar español.” People seem to really appreciate that statement when I’m fumbling with my language. I mean it though, which helps heh.
One other thing you could do is try doing tandems on italki. I use it for an actual teacher, but there are thousands of people there looking to practice their English while you practice your Spanish. Or, you could find a tandem in Spain if/when you’re there. Learning English is growing at an exponential rate in Spain right now due to the economy/unemployment, and it shouldn’t be difficult at all to find a partner.
Phew! I’m always down to practice as well if you want. ¡Buena suerte!
Wow Ryan, thank you for the novel!
I owe you, because Wiktionary has been awesome in the few days I’ve been using it. It’s so cool to pop in a verb and see all the patterns – I use it when I’m translating stuff in my head to see if my guess matches up to reality.
Also, documentaries in Spanish is a GREAT idea. You’re so right – the pace has got to be significantly slower than on a dubbed sitcom. We don’t have TV here, but I’m going to go searching for some online resources…
I’ve been shying away from tandems by convincing myself that I don’t have enough of a grip on the basics yet, but I’m sure I’ll always feel that way…time to dive in!
I’m clearly a longform/TL;DR kind of guy. Haha. When I set out to write this post, I thought it’d be a short list. So much for that!
No problem, sir. I don’t even remember how I found Wiktionary, but it’s so damn good. Re TV, there are websites that stream shows dubbed in Spanish. You can search around for one, but Crackle supposedly tailors shows to whatever country you’re in. E.g. It defaults to Spanish-dubbed shows here in Mexico. Check it out and see what you can find.
Re tandems…as they always say: speak from day one. It doesn’t really matter if you think you suck or you’re scared. You just gotta do it. And as far as italki goes, you can actually set up your profile with the level of each language you speak, so people will know what they’re getting into. If you’re doing it in-person, then just search some tandem availability on cl or whatever and then look for people who can deal with your level (or ask them about it).
¡Buena suerte!
¡Hola, Rob (y Mish)!
I totally understand where you’re coming from with listening comprehension. I have a bit of a different situation than Ryan, in that I studied Spanish for 7 years in school, but never really put it to practical use. I had Mexican friends whose parents would speak to me in Spanish and I would reply in English, because it was much easier that way. Fortunately, for all involved parties in that situation, we upped our listening games but never worked on our speaking games.
The best advice I can give for listening comprehension is this: listen with loose ears. I don’t really know how else to say it. Try not to translate it in your head word-by-word, but rather take the whole message in at once, and you’ll be able to work things out by context. Misunderstandings will happen, as they would in English as well. As Ryan noted, you can always ask people to slow down, apologetically, and explain that you’re learning Spanish. We’ve done this in every language, and we’ve yet to encounter someone who’s not gracious enough to comply. They’re usually so impressed that we’re actually using the language rather than taking the easy route and switching to English.
In the end, you’re absolutely right – having fun is the only way to effectively learn. I love listening to Michel Thomas – “hilariously grumpy” is the most perfect way to describe him – I often think about how intimidating he sounds, and how scary it would be for me, if I were one of his in-person students, to get something wrong. That said, his explanations for things are extremely easy to understand, and he does exactly what he promises – teaches a language without the use of notes or homework. I also love that, at the end of the CDs, he’s so encouraging and says that we should feel a great sense of accomplishment. I totally agree.
Congratulations on your new Spanish skills! Let’s get together on Skype and practice one day, shall we?
Ang! Yes, I think “loose ears” is a good way to describe it. I guess that’s why doing everyday tasks is pretty easy (at the grocery story they’re either going to be asking you if you want a bag or if you’ve got a loyalty card, right?), and speaking on the phone is about the scariest thing of all.
MT is my hero. I think his “tough love” approach makes it even more rewarding when he seems happy about something! He totally cheers up on the Advanced CDs, too, where he’s teaching a guy who screws up far less.
By the way, do you guys LIVE on Duolingo? You’re racking up some insane points!
HA! I haven’t gotten to the advanced CDs with MT yet, still on the basics. Taking it slowly.
Re: Duolingo, it’s a fun challenge for me to stay the leader in points. I do slack, where I won’t do it for a day, but then I see Ryan’s points go up and I’m immediately motivated to get back on it. I use the online version on my computer so I can type faster, and I love the timed exercises. Whenever I want to take a short break from work, I jump on there and do a few lessons or skill strengthening exercises. That happens a few times a day. So, yes, constantly on that thing. It’s so much fun!!! The only thing that annoys me is when I make a stupid mistake, or accidentally hit the Enter key when I’m trying to hit the ‘ key for an accent mark. BUT, the online version lets you fix your mistakes and earn back half a heart!
Anyhoo, keep it up, and get out there and talk to people! It’s much easier than you’re making it out to be in your head! I promise! I used to feel that internal pressure as well, but the more you do it, the less embarrassed you’ll feel even though you know you’re making mistakes, and the more comfortable you’ll become overall. At this point, the goal is to get the message across, not to be perfect. That’ll come soon enough!
Super thanks for the mention and the blatant flattery of my awesome Andalusian accent (you either can’t understand me, or think I have a lisp). You’ll get there. I think the first step to fluency is really understanding that it will take time, effort and probably some booze. I wasn’t fluent until my second year in Spain, even when I took a course and every effort possible to make Spanish a part of my daily routine. Hang in there!
You certainly know the rush of being complimented on your accent or your skills. It just validates something you’ve worked so hard for. The times that’s happened to me (mostly in French) are ones that I’ll never forget, which make it all feel worthwhile.
Thanks for being an inspiration and motivator!
I absolutely love italki! I’m moving to Madrid soon so I picked my teacher based off where he was from to get the accent right. I’ve had a mix of teachers from all different places here at school and thought someone from Madrid would be best before I arrive. It’s amazing, and I’m only spending about $20 a week for three lessons.
I’ve heard a lot about DuoLingo but have never really got into it. Might have to give it a go this afternoon and see what it’s all about.
I did the exact same thing…since we’re in Mexico, I wanted a Mexican for my teacher. It’s been great so far and I have my third lesson today. You should definitely try Duolingo. If you sign up, be sure to let us know what your username is so we can all keep motivated by battling. Thanks for stopping by, Olivia!
Hey there.
This is a bit of a shameless plug, but seeing as you’ve tried all those other ways of learning, you might want to have a go at Rocket Languages’ Rocket Express Learning System. There’s a whole bunch of great content, and it’s set up to cater to a variety of learning styles.
Our learners reckon we’ve got a good thing going, and a system that really works. And it’s pretty cheap too… Drop me a line and we might even be able to organize a review copy. :-)
Check it out here http://www.rocketlanguages.com
Hey, Phil! We have no problem with shameless plugs. Honestly, I’d never heard of Rocket before, but it looks interesting. I might be willing to give it a shot to see how it is…I’ll send you an email about it. Currently watching the intro video. Thanks for stopping by!
Very nice. I wonder though, for the languages that match, how do you compare dict.cc with WordReference.com?
I shared this on my facebook page as “From school books, to dictionaries, to notebooks, to human speakers…. A nice little overview to make you think of all the possible tools available to you as you learn a language – with a few reviews given as examples.”
I would like to add your comments on dict.cc and Wiktionary to my website’s pages for langauge learning resources. I am building my website, This Can Be Pronounced, to be a source of reviewed language learning resources for as many languages as possible. I can’t do this alone, of course, so I need contributions from others.
If there are no objections, I would add yours in a format like this:
dict.cc – A dictionary with audio for various European languages. Reviewed by [desired name] at JetLikeTaxis.com[link to this article]: [Your review, without pictures]
I would put them in my list of General Resources, though if you recommended it strongly for learners of German, I’d also put it in a future list for German.
I would hope that at least in this way, you could help me as I build a one-stop portal to free, quality language learning resources. If you have any other ideas, or wish to contribute or collaborate more seriously (such as supplying resources and/or reviews for a language), please let me know and feel free to help spread the word.
Thanks for the comments, they’re much appreciated. As for wordreference.com, I do actually use that when I need help with phrases or deciphering between two possibilities. I generally search the forums, though, as I don’t really like the dictionary part of the site.
If you’d like to use anything on your site, please email us from the contact page here and we can work that out with you. Thanks!
Those sound like a lot of great tools. I tried to learn Chinese using the Rosetta Stone. It worked well enough, except I didn’t use it often enough for things to stick. The most helpful thing with any language is trying to communicate with others who speak the language you’re trying to learn. I was getting pretty good with learning Spanish when I lived in Texas, but am out of practice now that I’m in Kansas.
I never personally gave Rosetta Stone a shot, but Ang used it when we first started out in Germany. She wasn’t a fan, overall. I agree that speaking is definitely the best way to go. Every day. Doesn’t matter with whom. And you know, even in Kansas there are plenty of opportunities to practice Spanish! You can also get a tandem partner on italki, which is free. Thanks for reading, Dawn!
Shack up with a local =P Worked for me!
But seriously, I love duolingo for the little things, but most of my own has been picked up simply through immersion and hands-on “faking it till I make it” with locals in and around Mexico and down in Colombia. Online tools help, though, and this is a great post :)
Ha! Yeah, you’re definitely a great example of someone who might not have all the rules down, but can speak effortlessly and fluidly. It’s much better than knowing all the rules and not being able to say anything. I’m currently hovering in the middle haha. Thanks for stopping by!
[…] that they just enjoy it so they practise a lot. To back up their point, they’ve published a mega-list of the language-learning resources they use and recommend. If you’re as useless as we are (and even if you’re not), you’ll pick up some top […]
I’m not that much of a online reader to be honest but your blogs
really nice, keep it up! I’ll go ahead and bookmark your site to
come back in the future. Cheers
I’m really enjoying the design and layout of your site.
It’s a very easy on the eyes which makes it much more
enjoyable for me to come here and visit more often.
Did you hire out a developer to create your theme? Excellent work!
For those learning French, here are all the methods and resources I’m aware of, starting with those listed on this page:
Pimsleur – audio, a bit of reading
Michael Thomas Method – audio
Duolingo – free mixed media, web software based
Common European Framework of Reference for Languages – book, some audio
italki – Skype with instructors (many other such services)
—
Rosetta Stone – mixed media, mac/windows software based
Rocket French – audio
Foreign Service Institute French – audio
French in Action – video
News In Slow French – free audio/podcast http://www.newsinslowfrench.com/
Assimil – book and audio
Fluenz – windows software based
Busuu – free, web software based
Anki – free flashcard software
Memrise.com – Community made language courses
Livemocha – Online language classes
Coffee Break French – free podcast courses
LingQ – web based software
BBC – Free online resources http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/french/
Bonjour.com – Online resources
Wiktionary – online only
Collins French Dictionary – bilingual online, print
Larousse – bilingual online, print, the dictionary most French people themselves seem to prefer
The amount of options is truly overwhelming. Learning a language is a big commitment, it’s probably worth spending some time researching and sampling the methods to see what works for you. I’ve heard people say for example that Michael Thomas’ French accent is not good which makes me avoid it.
That is quite a list haha. We tried several of those when we were learning German, and weren’t big fans of them at all. But, we also know that every person has a different style of learning and if one thing helps, it helps.
I’m most intrigued by the News In Slow French link you provided. I find that to be utterly brilliant. Seriously. That should exist for learning every language. As long as it gets faster and faster as you progress (I didn’t delve into it that deeply), I think it could be a great resource. I find this especially important with a language like French since there are so many nasal sounds and unpronounced letters.
Bonne chance!
I forgot to mention the Mingling (Firefox) and Language Immersion (Chrome) browser addons — you configure them to replace certain words with translations to the language you’re learning while you browse the internet. For instance because I’m learning French, any time the word “beautiful” comes up on a page I’m reading, Firefox instead shows the word “beau”.
This is especially great if there are a handful of words you’re getting stuck on.
I can see how that could be helpful for a very specific set of words. Otherwise, I think it might become a bit too time-consuming when you’re working. I already have enough problems mixing words in the five different languages we speak haha. Sometimes I can only think of a word in German when I’m speaking Spanish, or French when I’m speaking English, or Serbian when I’m speaking German. Happens all the time out in the world and sometimes at home.
I still think it’s an intriguing prospect though. Thanks for sharing!