Best CD and DVD to learn German and Arabic?

I used Rosetta Stone for learning Dutch. Although I think the overall method is effective, despite their advertising claims, it is NOT a fast way to learn a language, and it really requires a consistently concentrated effort. The internet is a great adjunct for language learning. If you look, you should be able to find streamed videos of news and entertainment programs in German and Arabic. Also, if you sit at a desk with a computer at work (and your employer allows it), you play internet radio signals in virtually any language in the world. Finally, search for language groups in your area. They usually meet once a month or so.

I have not tried German since junior high so no help there. Arabic however, that I can help you with. I used loads of different self teacching methods. One that comes to mind is living language, they have a decent book/CD combo for both beginners and more advanced levels. I did not get a lot out of Pimsleur. Ultimate Arabic is another good one. One of the problems is that the Arabic section at the book store is a fraction of the size of the French or Spanish sections. That being said I think I have most every book published in the U.S. on the topic. If you just have an idea to travel to an Arabic speaking country I would start with Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), it is the language of a lot of news and such, Al Jazeera is broadcast in MSA for instance. It is also the written language of Arabic and by far the easiest one to get learning materials on. I will warn you that the spoken language differs from region to region. I got a decent grasp of MSA and Levantine arabic (Palestine, Syria and such) and went to Morroco and was lost. I could read everything but understanding anyone was tough. The selection of colloquial dialects at the book store is beyond small. If you have a specific destination in mind maybe look for a tutor or something online.

You stated that you only wish th speak, not read or write Arabic. I'll tell you that it took me about 6 weeks to learn to read and write Arabic, I could not understand everything I read but read it I could. As for writing, I was able to write just about every thing I could speak, it really was not that hard. One of the issues to be aware of though is that Arabic has no real vowels in the alphabet, they are all addressed with different marks here and there that change the sound of the letter. That being said, the only place you will find these marks is in cchildrens books and books for people like you and I, learners.

Ran out of room, sorry.

Anyway, I self taught Arabic for about two years and gained a reasonalbe grasp of the language and had a blast doing it. If you want to impress someone read and translate some Arabic to them. It seemed pretty easy as well, easier time than I am having with French. Without a reasonable number af native speakers around, once I quite studying I lost most of it. I can still get bits and pieces but most of it is long gone. Anyway, I wish you luck in that one. Hit me with any questions.

Cheers
Jeff

Kat, I'd suggest that you have a look at the Pimsleur language series. If you finish the complete three-part lesson sets, you should have a good foundation in both languages although the emphasis is mostly on speaking and comprehension, rather than reading and writing.

You might contact This Store for further information, as they're located in your "neck of the woods". They offer not only Cassettes and CD's, but also "Bookchips" which will fit in many PDA's (very easy to pack along when travelling!

Good luck!

Keep in mind that Pimsleur only offers Levantine and Egyptian Arabic. Although Egyptian Arabic is understood broadly (lots of Egyptian movies), without a destination in mind, MSA is your best bet.

I have used Pimsleur for a few languages and have not been impressed. If you are looking audio only try Michel Thomas for the German bit. That is one of the best audio only programs I have tried.

Jeff

I'm with Jeff! I sampled a bit of the German foundation course and thought it was good. I went thru his Spanish Foundation 8cd and Advanced Spanish 4cd and was very impressed. I've put German aside and currently learning Chinese Michel Thomas style. I tried Pimsleur and find it hard to sit thru it. Regardless of which you choose (pimsleur, rosetta, michel etc) it is still not enough and still have to practice listening, speaking outside of these audio courses.

Jeff and Marlene,
I did not know about Michel Thomas until you mentioned it here. I went to his website and was really impressed by his list of famous students. Question: by chance, do you know how his methodology differ from Berlitz?

Though I have a few Berlitz products I have yet to use them much at all so I cannot speak about the Berlitz method. As far as Michel Thomas goes, it is set up so you are sitting in on a private lesson with two other students and Michel. What I like most is, as you go through you pick up grammar rules and verb conjugation and are able to formulate your own sentences and such in a fairly short amount of time.

Jeff

McGraw-Hill publishes a series of books in a series called "Teach Yourself..."http://www.mhprofessional.com/category/?cat=4180 They do some on languages including Arabic. I do work for MH, but I've never worked on these books or in this division. I know that they do come with a CD when appropriate. They are developed out of our UK office. I've found it fascinating the number of topics that they've found that you can teach yourself about. Personally, I liked the one on Irish History.

Pam

Brad,
I googled "Learn to speak" and several websites came up. One of them was "byki.com". You are right, there appears to be a lot of language courses available for free download. Another person on here had also suggested the BBC website. I had checked it out and really liked it.

Thanks for the pointer. ~Kat

Marlene,

I agree with your impression of Berlitz. For me, a combination of phrase and grammar book and the Berlitz tape would work best.

Thanks. ~Kat

Pamela,
I am a big fan of McGraw Hill and will definitely check out their "Teach Yourself" series. As other fellow travelers pointed out, there are several kinds of Arabic etc.... As I get more fully immersed, I will want to gather more background information. Thanks. ~Kat

My favorite is a very affordable and very hard to find "Learn to Speak" for your PC. It's only available in French, Spanish and German. I used it for a German trip and bought the others when I came home.

There are some really good free options available now.

Rather than buying a language program, most libraries have a good selection of programs available for burrowing. Even if you want to buy a program, this allows you to try them out for free first.

Also there are a number of free online courses available now. This one was recently listed on Frommer's travel site (I haven't tried it yet):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/

Ultimately, learning a language is like learning a musical instrument, the more time you put in, the better your results. Like music, a good instrument/program helps you get better results from the time you put in.

I have Berlitz "Learn Spanish". I listened to it for 15 minutes and then turned it off. I previewed each Lesson and it's a lot of Memorisation and "trivia" methodology. You'll listen to a small conversation in that language and afterwards, the narrator will ask you a question about the conversation such as "Did she order coffee or tea?". Then they'll break down the conversation in English and then Repeat After Me. It teaches "tourist phrases" like: Hello I am . I am from. I would like to order coffee with milk. I have 2 kids named _.

It doesn't give an explanation of rules or syntax of the language. You wouldn't be able to formulate your own sentences and thoughts from this recording. I think buying a phrase book would be a better option than this recording.