Speaking the Lingo in Europe

Leo,

I've heard several good reviews for the Rosetta Stone program, though, unless you can access it online via your local library it can be a bit pricey. I've used the Pimsleur program (CD's also available at my local library) and found it to be quite good.

If you just want the basics for tourism purposes, I recommend the BBC's Talk French, Talk German, Talk Italian series. They assume no knowledge at all of the language and take you through greetings, ordering food and drink, asking for and understanding directions, hotel talk, money and shopping talk, transportation talk, etc. They come with a nice little coursebook, but you can actually use the audio portions with no book at all, so they're ideally suited for use in the car while commuting.

Rosetta Stone seems to emphasize generic vocabulary. It's nice to know the words for "horse" "jump" and "chair" but more helpful to the traveler to know how to say "I have a reservation for a double room with shower" or "Does this bus stop near the Cathedral?"

Leo, I have Rosetta Stone German and it does work ok but I also have a set of cassette tapes that I use more than anything. Rosetta Stone is pricey and I would not buy again. The tapes go from the basic to a higher level and really teach what you need and not as much what you won't need. If interested, let me know and I can forward you more info. I have had them for years and always use them before I travel for the basics.

Leo,

The subject of learning languages has been discussed here often in the past. You might want to have a look at the Thread Learning to speak Italian in the "To the Boot" section here, as there are lots of good tips.

The best method is a language course as it provides a good foundation in the "basics", immediate feedback on pronunciation and grammar and practice in conversational settings. However, those aren't always available in a lot of places so other means have to be used. I've previously taken a basic Italian course and have just registered for French Level 1, which starts in March at the local College here. Unfortunately the Italian is no longer offered in this area, so I've had to resort to other methods to continue learning the language.

The system that seems to work best for me is the Pimsleur language courses, available on CD or "Bookchips" which are small SD Cards for use in a PDA or portable audio device. The Pimsleur method uses the same approach for language training as children learning to speak, with repetition and reinforcement of previously learned material. There are three levels and it's probably best to start with the Level 1 rather than skipping ahead.

The Rosetta Stone series are very popular, but these are PC-based and that's not a convenient method for me (I prefer something more "portable"). They're also quite expensive.

Have a look at the replies in the other Thread, as that provides a variety of opinions on the subject.

Happy travels!

I'm a big advocate of Michele Thomas. He teaches you how to speak the language instead a bunch of rote phrases. I used the course and have been able to make my own sentences. Once you learn the language structure the rest is just vocabulary. I used his course in Germany with pretty good success. Pimsleur isn't bad to learn some common phrases "quick and dirty".

If you can find it, my favorite program at a great price is called "Learn to Speak". It's a PC based program that includes voice recognition. Each CD has roughly 20 chapters. Each chapter covers a typical situation for a traveler: at the airport, at the bank, at the hotel, at the restaurant, at the train station, etc. Each chapter starts with vocabulary, then grammer and ends with a conversation with a video of a person that is programmed to respond to a wide variety of questions or comments. The voice recognition not only allows you to converse with the video but also measures your accent on a scale from novice to native.

I bought German about eight years ago to study for a trip. I liked it so much I bought French when I got home and later saw Spanish and Italian on sale at a store so I bought those. I think that's all the languages they have. The company may have been bought out by another company so I'm not sure these are easy to find. They cost only a fraction of the Rosetta Stone programs but work great.

Only go with Rosetta Stone if you're willing to make a long-term effort at fluency in a particular language. In the end, you gain a thorough understanding of how a language is structured, but it takes a long time.

I took two years of Spanish in high school. A few years ago, we had our roof replaced. The first day four guys came out; only the foreman could speak any (very little) English. The next day, two of the non-English speakers came out to finish the job.

I noticed that the other two were missing, and, remembering my H.S. Spanish asked one of them, "Donde estan los otros? (Where are the others?)

He smiled and proceeded to explain to me, in words I didn't understand, where the other were.

I realized that understanding only a bit of a language can just get you in more trouble.

If you won't take the time to really learn the language, don't expect to be able to communicate. Yes, learn the formalities, but stay in the heavily travel tourist places, where people are hired for their ability to speak English.

BTW, according to the results of surveys published on the E.U. website, only about half of all E.U. citizens, and about 1/3 of French, can communicate in English.

Hello Leo,
You might want to look at Rocket German http://www.rocketlanguages.com/german/premium/index.php?hop=id997&gclid=CO_AqOv85pgCFSIgDQodiB3udg
You can sign up for free sample lessons, they also teach other languages also. I am taking it now, only into a few lessons now, so far so good.

Trying to learn 3 languages at once is a daunting task! There are quite a few free programs online to get your feet wet and to hear how things are pronounced. For travel, I like to use a series of books called "Just enough German", "Just enough Turkish", etc. The pronunciations are good, there is a good travel vocabulary and they have questions and answers translated so that if you are lost or ill, you can more easily be helped. The biggest problem is that you can ask for directions in your language of choice but you may not understand the answer. Mostly, it is the effort that is important and people appreciate that.

Here is an article about Germans learning English and other languages and about how other countries do not want to learn German.
http://www.thelocal.de/society/20090219-17523.html

Hello Leo. For learning a few phrases in the French language, I like "Visual Passport French". It consists of one DVD and one audio Compact Disc, and one small book. It is made by Penton Overseas, Inc. at Carlsbad, California, U.S.A. Cpyright 2006. Library call number : 428.2421 visual. It is in my public Library. I like it because I can see and hear French people talking in the French language. It is introductory. It is French for travelers. In the DVD, two French young adult persons are standing side by side. I hear an English word, and I see it on the screen. The french person at the left says that word in French. I hear an other English word, and I see it on the screen. The French person at the right says that word in French. It goes on like that until they have said a total of seven French words. Then, the two French persons talk to each other, in dialog : they say those seven words. Then, two other French people are standing side by side. They say seven other French words, ... I like it. Each French person pauses after saying a French word, giving me time to say that French word. I like seeing their mouths when they are talking. And I like seeing French people. And those French people are talking for the purpose of teaching me how to talk in their language. That package : "Visual Passport French" also has an audio Compact Disc. A person could listen to it, and repeat the French words, while doing activities : washing dishes, ironing a shirt, or while driving a motor vehicle. // For a person wanting to only learn how to say numbers and a few phrases in a European language, I think that can be learned by carrying a small phrase book for that language, in a train in Europe, and ask a person in the train to teach you how to say some words. I do that. I look for a person who is a citizen of that country, travelling alone, and I guess the person will be sitting on the seat in the train for six hours (the person feels bored). (Continued in my next reply)

That is easy to do in a country in which the people are overtly friendly to people who they do not know : in Sweden, Norway, Italy, Portugal, and the Netherlands. In a train I started talking to a person of that country. If the person responded to me in a friendly manor, and it appeared that the person wanted conversation, I asked the person to teach me to say some words in his or her language. I gave the person my phrase book, and pointed to a word. In some countries, like Sweden, the person was cordially happy to teach me how to say words in his or her language. And they liked the phrase book. //
A comment about phrase books : I like Rick Steves' Phrase books. (His phrase book for ITALIAN even includes Italian gestures and body language. But, Rick Steves is not a linguist. The Italian words at the back of the book are from an old dictionary. Some of those words are not in common usage in Italy now. But, the phrases in the book are in common usage in Italy. The small Langenscheidt "German Universal Dictionay : German - English, and English - German (Copyright 1976) is not very good. Many of the German words in that book are not in common usage in the speech of German people in Germany now.

I think the "Living Language" recordings for learning FRENCH, and for learning GERMAN, are very good. It begins with the vowel sounds. And sounds in that language that are not in the English language. The "Living Language" courses, on Compact Discs, and Cassette tapes, and phonograph records (33 1/3 r.p.m., ten inch) were derived from the foreign language courses that were for U.S. military personnel during the second world war. The First "Living Language" recordings were on 78 r.p.m. phonograph records, made in the 1940s, I guess. Those same recordings are on DVDs that were made in recent years, and they are great. Of course, if you want to learn all the contemporary slang words and expressions, you need to talk with a French person, or German person. DVDs or cassette tapes of "Living Language" - FRENCH, or GERMAN, are in public Libraries. It includes an instruction book, and a dictionary.

If you're wanting cheap ones (as I was! :), then I have a couple of suggestions...

I go to my local Barnes & Noble where I found these books that teach you whichever language in "10 minutes a day". I forgot the author's name, but they should definitely be in your bookstore. The pros: cheap, to the point & items you need to know when traveling; the only con I can think of is that you are not hearing the language being spoken.

Also, I find the Berlitz series to be perfect for the price (around $30). It comes with CDs and a textbook, so it's a more well-rounded choice if you're really wanting to fully learn the language & not just the basics.

I absolutely REFUSED to buy Rosetta Stone...There was no way I was going to pay ~$400 when I could buy nearly every language & level in other brands for the same price!! (That amount would've eaten into my EuroTrip funds!! ;) I mean, it can't be THAT much better!!

Hope this helps.

I download from ITunes. I've found some great programs to help me learn some Italian, Russian, Spanish.

If you have an ipod, or other MP3 player, check it out. it's FREE and you can learn some basics, but you have to practice!