What is your favorite way to brush up on other languages before you visit a country? I mean specifically languages that you have learned but are very rusty on. I love watching movies dubbed into the foreign language (or foreign films, I just don't own many). I just watched Chocolat in French. :)
Posted by
Spokane, WA, USA
30 posts
Becca,
I also think foreign language films (or dubbed) are a great way to review because you are hearing it many foreign language films are available on netflix.com or amazon.com for instant watch. I happen to also have some old language textbooks that I have pulled out to review (brush up on grammar, etc.) (For our upcoming trip I had wanted my children to learn a little French and hadn't planned this, but as a result have ended up as a high school French teacher to five girls, including my daughter. It started as just an after-school club, but became a for-credit class that I have now agreed to teach for two years. To teach is absolutely a great way to brush up, I assure you!! :-) Of course I know that would hardly be a possibility for most people but it might be possible to find friends or local contacts who speak the language and get together over lunch to practice talking, just for fun. (By the way, I really enjoyed the movie Chocolat!)
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32345 posts
Becca, I usually review my Pimsleur lessons (Italian) and lessons from night school courses. I also watch Italian TV channels on a regular basis, so that helps too (especially watching the news). I try to keep up with it between trips so that I don't get too "rusty".
Posted by
Frankfurt, Germany
9202 posts
Contact your local university to see if there are some international students who might want to do a tandem language meet-up, or just a conversational meet.
Posted by
St. Louis, MO USA
1976 posts
Did you take language classes? If so, do you still have your textbooks? I'm a packrat and save everything, including my French, German, and Italian textbooks. I haven't had an occasion to use Italian since 2005 but the French and German books have come in handy.
Posted by
Myrtle Beach, USA
12313 posts
I like movies to get you use to the sound and cadence. I also like to use BBC language courses (free online) to brush up on travel terms and phrases. Another really good idea is to visit your library. They will have a variety of PC based and DVD or CD language courses. Rather than spend money on Pimsleur, I pick it up at the library and use it in my car for a few weeks. Libraries also subscribe to other online courses that you can access for free - ask the reference librarian.
Posted by
Washington DC Region, USA
7053 posts
I actually retrieve my old textbooks and phrasebooks and study just like back in college (making flashcards, the whole bit....I know, it sounds like fun, doesn't it? Some of it is plain memorization of vocabulary). I've also taken classes in the eve, primarily conversational classes for just for practice in speaking. Movies with subtitles have not been as helpful for me.
Posted by
Acworth, Georgia, USA
78 posts
We have been in a similar position and have used the following two online resources to sharpen our French skills and to learn some Italian: http://www.learner.org/resources/series83.html - French in Action - These are videos created by Yale University almost 30 years ago to teach French. They were used in classrooms and on public TV, are easy and fun to watch and have always been popular. www.radiolingua.com - These are audio "podcasts" to teach various languages and we have found them very useful for both French and Italian. They do have other languages as well. For our upcoming trip to France, we downloaded a French-English dictionary onto our IPod-Touch which can be used off line and cost just a few dollars.