Learning a foreign language

I'd check to see if your library has a free on-line language program, maybe Rosetta Stone. There are others. Also, find out if they have the Pimsleur French CDs or tapes, even, if you still have a tape player. Pimsleur takes you from beginner through quite advanced. I like the Pimsleur; the constant repetition is boring BUT that's what makes you remember it. Also, they make you speak it on the Pimsleur, more than once and they're clear and slow enough so you get it. If your library doesn't have it, maybe you can get it on inter library loan through them. One side of one CD is about my limit for a day, about 10-12 miles in the car on surface roads.....I'm doing the French, too.....Wonder if I'm going to get any messages about listening in the car.....

Language learning is quite individual. Personally I like the Berlitz approach with book and CD for tourists to get ready for a trip. I used it to learn some basic Italian and to teach German. Pimsleur wasn't quite my thing. Rosetta Stone is very expensive and might make sense if your goal is an advanced level. I definitely second the suggestion to check out what your library offers. You can see what they have in more traditional book/cd programs. And check out electronic resources. As it is offered free by most libraries, Mango has become a very popular online learning tool. Here is a review for its French program: http://learn-french-review.toptenreviews.com/mango-languages-review.html

The last time this question came up, most people vouched for Pimsleur.

It's great to be able to communicate to the locals! Kudos to you :). Check out non credit language classes at your local university or community college. I like a classroom environment and a teacher who is very often a native speaker is very valuable.

I took a Conversational French class at my local community college a few years ago. I work fulltime, but the class was only one night a week for one semester, so it was doable. I've been to there twice since the class, but I hope to return to France next fall and may see if an intermediate class is available for the spring semester. It's amazing how a little knowledge of the language can enhance your trip. I'm glad I took a class where I learned how to read in addition to speaking. It helped in so many ways, from helping to understand what I was seeing in museums to reading menus.

David Sedaris: "Me Talk Pretty One Day". Always order 2 of anything, since noun gender dissappears in the plural and you won't suffer the humiliation of using the wrong definate artical.

As a result of the last post, I bought Pimsleur for Italian, then found out there are cheaper vendors than the Pimsleur site itself. It's a half hour class daily. I found it easy to concentrate on the class while working out (except the machines that require me to count). Problems? My French and Spanish continue to leak heavily into the conversations, so much so that piccolo often comes out 'piqueno '. I am congratulated on my pronunciation, but everything else needs work. I also figured that there was no familiar 'you' form, but in Pimsleur it is just introduced late. The reading component is there, but is minor. If you speak a few languages, you might do better with some visual work. I solved my problem by using Google translate during the class some days. It kept me from learning the wrong thing.
Still, my audio class was very satisfactory.

I like the old Living Language course on phonograph records. The Living Language course evolved from the course for conversational French taught to people in the United States military during World War 2. Enroll in an adult education class in French at a Community College, if you can. The course is likely to be scheduled for one evening each week. Ask the teacher of that course to give you lists of 400 French words and the equivalent English words. Ask the teacher : are those the French words that are used in conversation by French people in France now ?
An old English - French dictionay may have some French words that are not in common usage in France now. The best way to learn to pronounce French words correctly is for you to hire a French person to be your private tutor.

John, I've found that the Pimsleur course has worked well for me in learning Italian. I'm certainly not fluent, but can manage quite well. The "secret" is to study on a regular basis so the material isn't forgotten. The Pimsleur course consists of four levels, beginning at a very basic level and progressing to more difficult lessons. I haven't checked in awhile, but the course used to be available on Cassette, CD and Bookchips (SD cards). They're quite expensive if you buy from Pimsleur, but if you search on the net you may be able to find discounts. I looked briefly at Rosetta Stone, but it's also very expensive and the lessons are mostly computer-based. I'd rather not sit in front of a computer, so prefer audio versions that I can use at the Gym. I'd suggest using local night school courses to supplement other courses, as that provides "feedback" on pronunciation and grammar, which most CD / Computer courses don't do. I just completed a course this spring, and I found that although I struggled with the material a bit, I did improve my abilities. Bonne Chance!

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If your goal is to be able to say things like "The small boy stands behind the red car.", then go for Rosetta Stone. However, if you actually want to communicate with real human beings, I have found the "Tell Me More" series far more useful. It alone won't make you fluent (only lots of practice will do that), but it will give you a very good base.

Since you have so much time, I'm echoing what other posters have said about taking a French class at a community college. You'll have the benefit of being able to practice the language with other people, and if you like it you can take a second semester of French.

Hi John, Kind of related to a community college situation, but I took a french language course at my local ESL school. While the school is ESL during the week, on weekends in teaches other languages. I went once a week, on Saturday mornings, just to practice before going to France.
Of huge help to me is having everything on all of my food, soap, instructions, etc in French and English here in Canada. Perhaps looking up things you use daily on google translate would help. Happy travels!

"French with a Texas twang will not work anywhere." Not cute, and BS to boot. French people are happy to speak with both my husband and me. Notre francais est traaaay bon. John, in my opinion, you would do best in a conversational class if you can get into Austin 1-2 nights a week. ACC has 3 classes starting at 6:00 and 7:30 for 2 nights a week. You'd be on a wait list, but chances are you can get in; people always bow out before things get started. If you could do two semesters that would be great, but if you only did it for one, you would have a good foundation for self-study. You want to get the vowel sounds right, and learn a few basic grammar rules. That would help you tremendously. You won't be the only one over the age of 19 in there...I can almost guarantee it ;-) If you are very disciplined, then a self-study course could work for you.

Piggybacking on what Eileen says about taking a class, when I took my class it was full for the first session. There less people the next class, even less the following. We started with about 30 people and by the end of the semester I think there were 10 of us! If you choose to take a class I would definitely get on the waitlist if necessary. By the way, not all people that live in Texas have an accent. Many people have moved there from other places. My husband lived in Texas for 5 years just before we met and he didn't have a trace of an accent. To say that an entire nation wouldn't understand someone from Texas speaking French is ridiculous!

Assuming you study hard and learn your French... just in case you forget a few words there is a little foreign language program that works off line on your iphone and it is called Jibbigo. I downloaded the Spanish one for a recent trip to Guatemala and it was really helpful and allowed me not to carry a dictionary. It was about $5...plus, whenever I am sitting around with nothing to do, I can look up words or phrases and practice.

When I visit a foreign country, I like learning a few phrases, so that I can be considerate and polite, not for fear of being ripped off. How sad to go traveling with that uppermost in your thoughts all the time. As though everyone is inherently evil and out to get ya. You might also get in contact with your local university to see if they have some exchange students who would like to do some private tutoring. Some of them may even be happy to exchange tutoring in their language for some English help. This gives you a good base, especially for key phrases and pronunciation. From here, you can move on to the online courses, group classes or books, what ever way is easiest or most cost effective. Using post-it notes all over your house can help with learning vocabulary and articles, though much of it might not be that useful for traveling, unless you are shopping for sofas, stoves, mirrors, etc.

It's true that in my experience general language courses don't often teach the phrases and knowledge that would help a tourist - or even an expat. I don't need to know that der wagen ist rot, I need to be able to ask if they have any nasal decongestant or where the nearest dry cleaners is, stuff that isn't going to be on most beginner level courses. Being conversational in 9 months isn't really realistic unless you have a really solid grounding in French. You just said it was rudimentary, but how many years did you take in school or whatever? I had a friend who just visited who took 3 years of high school German, and after being in country for a week, his German was easily as good as mine (OK, he had better pronunciation than me!) so don't discount that old grounding in the language, it will come back to you faster than you realize and maybe provide a good base to build from. Anyway, you may not be able to hold philosophical discussions with the locals but that's no reason to not work on it, improving language skills is fun and good for the brain. If you don't want to invest in an expensive program like rosetta stone and work makes it difficult to attend classes, there are free and/or cheap online options like LiveMocha.com.

I took an Immersion Spanish class in Guatemala (5 hours a day of one-on one)It literally made my brain hurt... so by the end, my big philosophical discussion with her was the story about what I had for breakfast and the room I was staying in (I'm sure I mixed up a few things, like I probably ate the bed and slept on the banana) It was truly a humbling experience and I was sure when I left she thought I did not have a coherent thought in my empty head!

If you really want to learn a foreign language, the first place to start is with a personal inventory of your learning style: Are you an auditory, visual, or kinesthetic learner? Is repetition necessary for something to stick, or will it drive you nuts and make you tune it out? Do you intuitively learn things (global learner) or do you need an explanation of the rules (sequential learner)? Once you figure that out, you can look for something that will match your style best. Rosetta Stone may be great for intuitive auditory learners, but it's certainly not for everybody. I highly recommend taking a real class with a real person when at all posisble. But not all teachers are created equal. I had one month with a highly recommended teacher and then abruptly quit as she and I were not a good match and I was wasting too much time and money with her. But that's the only negative experience I've had with a real teacher and I've had multiple classes and teachers. And I've never taken an immersion class, but had private lessons which allowed me to progress quite quickly. You don't have to have immersion to learn a language, but I imagine it would help.

My favorite program that doesn't cost an arm and a leg is "Learn to Speak". I used it before an extended trip to Germany (I had also studied German in high school and college) and ended up being the interpreter for a group of 16 military exchange officers. When I got home, I bought Spanish and French. Unfortunately, they don't work on my newer computer and I didn't find it by searching online. Luckily, a newer version popped up one day on an Amazon ad - so I know at least Spanish is still available. My suggestion is visit your library. Check out a bunch of programs and use the one(s) that work best for you. BBC also has a free online course for travelers. I like using Pimsleur in the car, but I also like something that shows the words rather than just hear and say.

True, not to be omitted is the way you most likely learn, ie, the learning style, the most simple way you are going to grasp as much of the foreign language. In my view it's good to know der Wagen ist rot as well as asking for the location of the dry cleaners or the best way to get there. Both are important. Also, it is possible to get into a conversation with person next to you, even a perfunctory one, in a foreign langusge. Sometimes they start it, sometimes I start it.

My husband and I really like the Behind the Wheel language programs (Mark Frobose). CDs plus a partner book. We've used them to learn Spanish, French, Italian, and soon, German. They're fun and will get you "talking" quickly. They're also relatively inexpensive compared to other options. Deb in Ark

As a child I understood Italian because of my grandparents but it has been many years since I've been exposed to the language. Five years ago I bought books and tapes and got to work re-learning Italian. Two years ago I purchase the Five Levels of Italian from Rosetta Stone. It helped a lot, but I would not recommend it without also using books and tapes. I now feel confident in my ability to communicate in Italian. As we will again be traveling to Italy and France in a couple of weeks, last December I purchased the Five Levels of French from Rosetta Stone and have been using it about 2 hours daily. I also bought two books for learning French. RS is very expensive, although I got the French for 50% off. I think you can learn by books and tapes, and as others suggested, perhaps taking some classes. RS does help a great deal but I don't feel you can learn a language only by using RS.

Hi John, If you are a computer person, check out babbel.com This is an excellent, interactive online programm, and it starts at the very basics. I started to study French and am only using this course since I can do it as often as I like, any time and anywhere with an internet connection. It is not that expensive either. Also I like a free podcast: coffebreakfrench.com
It is on itunes, find lesson one and go from there!

Hey, John, what exactly do you mean by 'my français is very rudimentary'? Is it 'oui' et 'bonjour', or 'you grew up speaking French but that was a loooong time ago, and you couldn't possibly hold a deep, philosophical conversation'? Have you ever studied a language before, especially a Romance language? What exactly do you want to be able to do with your French? Read whether that great-looking boulangerie is closing on Sept 22, or opening on Sept 22? Tell the taxi driver where you'd like to go...in French? Talk to grandparents pushing their grandchildren on the swings? Just trying to get a feel for how much you'd like to learn at this time. Of course, you'd probably like to be fluent, but... ;-) This info would really help in steering you in a direction that's more tailored for your situation.