Speak another Language

I started out with Pimsleur to learn Italian and French. I then took an adult continuing ed class in Italian. My current favorites are Michel Thomas and Speak and Read. Michel Thomas is especially good at teaching grammar and structure without rote memorization. I like Speak and Read because the native speakers speak slowly and it helps with trying to get the accent right. I can sort of carry on a conversation in Italian now, and have, using different tenses. I even had a native Italian tell me that my accent was pretty good, a miracle considering I am from the South and can't imagine what effect a Southern drawl has on trying to speak another language. I cannot speak as much French as I can Italian, but on my last trip to Paris, I was able to communicate somewhat with the locals.

Another aid is Living Language. They have CD sets that come with CDs that have nothing on them but Italian speakers having conversations. I can't say I've learned to speak Italian with those, but they have helped my listening and comprehension a lot.

I listen to CDs in my car to stay brushed up.

I find that constantly reading website in German and sometime corresponding in German keeps my skills up. Also going back frequently.

Believe it or not, listening to children's music in foreign languages is often quite helpful, because the speech doesn't tend to be so idiomatic. You can often find such clips on YouTube. Other resources (beyond those already mentioned)- online streamed foreign news casts, changing the default language on certain websites (I set Google and Youtube to Dutch).

Contact your local college to see what foreign student associations are there. Take a class, watch films/DVD's in your language of choice, go to websites in that language, read the foreign news, try reading books, learn 10 new words each day, get a pen-pal from your favorite country, there are probably people from that country in your hometown that you could find if you start looking for them. This is just a beginning of course and congratulations for striving to get better!

There's a lot out there. There are many free online courses, BBC has a language course online.

Your library will have multiple programs available for check out.

For me Instant Immersion isn't great for anything other than learning some basic vocabulary.

Pimsleur was nice to have in the car and helps develop some useful sentences.

For the money I like a computer program called Learn to Speak the best, if you can find it. I think they only make Spanish, French and German (I have all three).

If you really want to invest, Rossetta stone is supposed to be great. I haven't used it yet.

Pimsleur is great if boring, because it repeats everything endlessly but that's how it sticks in my memory. Check your library for Rosetta Stone, it's an internet program that some libraries subcribe to and it would be free if you have a library card.

I think the best way to stay in practice is to have a language buddy.

I'm a fan of Pimsleur. It's audio based and the sentences really stick.

However you need to be realistic about what's possible with a short amount of time/effort. You say "comfortably communicate", which to me means have the kind of 5-minute casual chat about a range of things you might have with a friend you run into. Maybe you had something different in mind, butyou're not going to get their with just a program or class. The Foreign Service Institute of the Department (FSI) of State has compiled a list of how long it takes their diplomats to learn various languages, which you can see at http://www.nvtc.gov/lotw/months/november/learningExpectations.html

However don't let that discourage you! Even proficient speakers passed thru the same earlier stages, and the more you learn the more you can communicate.

As for maintaining it (although I don't speak from personal experience) there are a myriad ways these days with the help of internet. You can listen to streaming audio & music, watch the nightly news, read foreign papers. Meetup.com has groups organized that meet to talk in a foreign language. You can order books from foreign bookstores, shipping isn't really that much if you order a few.

iTunes. Find language lessons there for the language you want to practice. It's great for learning basic phrases as you mention. I've downloaded Spanish, French and Italian lessons. There are several, so listen and decide which one works best for you.

I also took classes at a local "free" (not free $$!) university. that helped with basics, and made me speak out loud to someone else, forcing me to ask questions and listen to the answers. All very basic - "travelers" class.

Maggie, I'd also recommend Pimsleur. The teaching method they use seems to fit well with my learning style. Although I'm not fluent, I can get by quite nicely in Italian in terms of ordering meals, buying tickets, understanding basic phrases, etc. I also took several night school Italian courses, but unfortunately the Instructor that was teaching in this area isn't offering classes any longer.

I stay "brushed up" back home by going over the lessons again on a regular basis, and also watching Italian TV. I'm fortunate there's a channel available in this area, and I find that watching the news is really good practise (I often do quite well at reading and comprehending the "scrolling" headlines at the bottom of the screen).

I looked at Rosetta Stone and while it may be an effective method for learning another language, it's PC based and taking lessons while sitting in front of a computer isn't a good method for me. The Pimsleur lessons are on a "Bookchip" that fits my Palm PDA, and I can listen to them via Headphones anywhere (I often do one 30-minute lesson when I'm on the elliptical machine at the Gym, which I find an efficient use of time).

I'll probably add some basic Pimsleur French or German lessons next, but may also take a night school French course this fall.

Cheers!

I do not do langauges well, I do speak some french, but you would think I should be pretty darn fluent,, and I am not.. I have had nice long visits, I have stayed with people who do not speak english,, my father speaks french,, as does my step mom,, I took 5 years of it in school,, and everything in my freaking country is by law labelled in english and french,, and I still SUCK at it,, LOL

I get by.. thats it. People who do not speak french ( like my friend I took to Paris, or my kids or hubby) they hear me speaking french and think "oh wow your french is great" ,, but what they don't know is I likely said something like " please mister Vesaille train track is what ?" LOL , my accent ,, oddly enough is not bad( even my relatives agree) but I speak at the level of a stupid 3 year old.. sure you understand them,, but eloquent or correct their language is not.. LOL

I took an "Italian for Travellers" class at our community college,, I was pathetic,, the teacher was so kind,, oh you pronounced that so well she would say,, but I could only repeat the first two or three words of any phrase before my mind would go blank.. It was even worse this summer in Italy,, I would just completely lose any abiltiy to speak,, I would forget to how to say hello, and I'd be so embarrassed I would just stare ( if say I was at a bakery and wanted to order something) .. I think I am langauge impaired...

It has taken me 46 years to " get along " in French,, I will never be able to pick up a bunch of other languages.
One note, my BIL married a German lady, and when our families get together my hubby, my MIL and BIL and his wife and kids all speak German,, believe it or not, I can often get what they are saying most of the time.. German is not as hard as french or italian I think.

I'll add my vote for Pimsleur. If you're just looking for a travelers course and not looking to become fluent, then Pimsleur will get you up and running. It teaches you to think in the new language rather than just memorize phrases. There's no reading involved. Just 30 minutes a day listening to the CD and very important....when they ask "How would you say XXX" don't just think it, actually say it. It makes a difference.

I've either gotten my PImsleur courses from the Library or Ebay.

I'm doing Rosetta Stone French & am almost thru level II (3 levels in all). For me, this is a difficult way to learn a language as nothing is explained, verbs aren't completely conjugated. & there's nothing to memorize. My goal is to learn to read, but I still can't read any of the newspapers, magazines, books I have. However, I do recognize more & more as I go along. While I don't think I'm learning well with the RS method, I am having lots of fun. I really enjoy sitting down to it & will probably buy Spanish sometime. I'm going to Paris this month, & am looking forward to finding out how I'll do with the langage. I hope to have a little more confidence so I don't freeze when I need to speak. Also, this trip I'm going to keep Fr language tv on when I'm in the room. I'm looking for immersion this time.

Update on Rosetta Stone: soon it will no longer be licensed to libraries. However, a system called "Mango" may take its place.

I have been using "Living Language All Audio German."
Program is on 6 Cassettes and works well on the basics. Can use it in the car,etc and has been very helpful. I had a basic knowledge but for brushup and keeping up to date it has been very good.
Program is from Random House if interested @ $30

Pat (Canada) you kill me!!

Its common knowledge among educators that language is best learned as a child. Period. No ifs, ands or buts about it. When a child hits puberty, it becomes infinitely more difficult to learn language.

Now - my question is this, why would we wait to teach (most) language courses until students are in high school.
(Is my linguistics class showing through?)

Maggie -
Also try itunes if you have an ipod. Most language lessons on there are free. I downloaded Gaelic and Dutch lessons. I gave up on the Dutch lessons after about 5 minutes.