Learning foreign languages.

[Hybrid]

Foreign meaning non-English languages. My first language is English.

 

Since Japanese and Korean martial arts are popular here, I thought this might be a good place to get some helpful ideas. What is/are the best way(s), besides a human being lol, which ATM is not available for me, to learn a foreign language? Book, video, cassette or cd? A combo of those? Has anyone learned a language through one of those? Know of any specific books or cd's etc. to learn Japanese or Korean?

 

I want to learn these languages not only for martial arts related purposes, but also for general and personal (I have a pen pal in Japan and another in Korea.)

 

Also, I've heard that the best way to learn a language is to actually be around people who speak that language and whatnot. I don't think I'm going to be totally fluent through books or anything so, yeah, I know.

 

Looking forward to your responses.

[Darce]

Travel to your pen friend and staay there for some months and you´ll slowly begin to understand it.

[monkeygirl]

Being around the language is great if you already have at least a little background in it. Other than that (especially in Asian countries because the language is so different), I would think that it would just sound like a bunch of gibberish!

 

I've learned from computer programs and cassette tapes, with a supplementary english-*language* dictionary. It's great if you have the dedication to stick to it, and works pretty well. It's also nice if you're using a computer program that has voice recognition technology...not only can it tell you if you're saying the word correctly, but will also tell you if you sound like a native speaker or just some tourist.

[Hybrid]

Travel to your pen friend and staay there for some months and you´ll slowly begin to understand it.

 

I'd love to but I don't have that kind of money... yet. The laws suck where I live so I wont be able to make the kind of money to fly there plus the cost of living (I'm 16). *Thinks of ways to make a few thousand dollars.. drawing blanks.. help here guys* lol

 

monkeygirl- I was thinking about that last night. I think an interactive computer program would probably be good w/ translation book. I have a mic on my comp so I'll be looking for a cd like that.

 

Thanks.

[chh]

I just ran across this site: http://lrnj.com and wanted to post it here to support this guy's project. He's creating an RPG game that teaches you kana and kanji. To complete the current version, which is a prototype of the project, it's necessary to master both katakana and hiragana and be familiar with 200+ kana. It's really a cool little game, still in the works and needs support now, so be sure to register if you like it!

[aefibird]

I went out to visit a friend in Ghana a couple of years back. I was supposed to be going for a fortnight and ended up staying for 5 months!

 

I could hardly speak any Twi (one of the languages of Ghana) when I got there- everything was confusing, but because I was hearing the language every day it helped me to improve. It is a bit like being thrown in at the deep end of a swimming pool, though, if you go to somewhere where you can't speak the language, you either sink or swim!

 

I've also used a pc language program. It's good, actually - it tells me when I suck and sound like a dumb tourist. I'm learning swahili at the moment, nice language and no really complicated tenses, which always manage to confuse the heck out of me! Hey, I can barely speak coherant English at times, never mind anything else.

[gheinisch]

A good web site for learning a language is http://www.travlang.com/languages/

 

Go to the toward the bottom andf select the language you speak and then choose the language you want to learn. It's pretty neat. Click on a word and it will pronouce it for you.

[aefibird]

A good web site for learning a language is http://www.travlang.com/languages/

 

Go to the toward the bottom andf select the language you speak and then choose the language you want to learn. It's pretty neat. Click on a word and it will pronouce it for you.

 

I've used that site before. It's good and very helpful when learning a new language.

[Guy_Who_Fights]

Go to a good book store and look in the Language section. Look for a box set that will have a red top to the box and ther rest of the box will be white. It says "Living Language" in big letters at the top, then something like "Japanese Complete Course" or whatever the language you want it. It comes with a course book, 40 lessons, two 90 minute cassettes (which you can transfer to minidisc or mp3 or CD or whatever...), and a Japanese-English,/English-Japanese dictionary. This is better than any internet source you will find (trust me, I've tried relentlessly). These are great products and I get one whenever I plan on going to a country that speaks a differen language. If you want a better dictionary than the box set supplies, I highly recommend a good Random House dictionary. Also, the best way I have found for learning little things like the names of objects is to label every object in your bedroom in Japanese only. So every time you see your chair, you think "isu", and it reall sticks. I currently have over 100 labels up for colours, objects, emotions (labelled magazine clippings of anime characters), surfaces, directions, body parts, etc. I found this combination to be the most effective way of learning a language. You have to be passionate about learning that language though - you will learn twice as fast if you are. (Obviously being in Japan will help you to learn Japanese faster, but this isn't always an option...)

 

Good luck!

 

Oh. And the box set is approximately $30 Canadian and $23 US.

[battousai16]

once you get a bit of knowlege in the language, try listening to music and watching movies in said languages. it puts words into context and can teach you a bit more; that's what my german teacher has us do. also, it makes me feel like a big man when i can understand sentences without having to run out and translate them