http://www.byki.com/ You could try this mob, "transperent language", free basic download, deluxe versions, very affordable compared to some. Seems well laid out, easy to use-havent learned a damn thing though, too lazy or too stupid im not sure which. Helps if you actually do the study
transparent.com/ also has a word of the day mailing list that is good for keeping up. Well, as a reminder to study everyday anyway.
The best way to learn a foreign language is to learn the basics first and then go to that country and live and breathe in it. You'll learn it fast in that kind of "sink or swim" environment.
One can find a whole range of language teaching products on Ebay . The best material is not a book or set of cards but interactive audio visual CD sets. I wish products like these were available when I was learning German and English(I am originally Hungarian). Try the interactive CD sets and if you don't like them resell them on Ebay and you have lost only a few bucks. I am learning Spanish and Italian now using the Transparent Language CD's which I think are great. They are lots of websites for students of Spanish and Italian so one can find support groups on local usage etc. I live in NYC and I am making a point of bantering with neighbors, local merchants and whoever I can leach onto in their own language if they happen to be Latinos or Italian. It's a lot of fun. One should not think of these products in terms of expensive/inexpensive because for us traders a careless order entry could cost more then most of these products. When I first came to NY in the late 60's I did not speak a word of English but I learned pretty fast. At some point I ventured into the singles bars trying to pick up women. One is really at a disadvantage not being good at casual conversation. In those days I was drinking whiskey sours and as an opener I would ask a woman in a bar if they would like to have the cherry!? It took me years to figure out why I was getting nasty looks. GC
Informative article about some new, Web-based methods of language learning: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/17/business/17novel.html
I bought the Pimsleur audio course and I really like it. However, I'm going to need to supplement it with something else a little more interactive. Has anyone here tried the "Learning Spanish Like Crazy Course" Or "Rocket Spanish"? They both came highly recomended here: http://www.learningspanishproductsreviews.com/home.html
Was Spanish what you settled in on? Good advice that helped me is try and watch 10 minutes or so of the telenovelas onthe latin channels if you can. Not the best spanish but good practice of spoken spanish with speed and some slang.
I learned spanish from the Michel Thomas Audio courses ... I cannot recommend it highly enough. He also does French, Italian and German
Yeah I'm dedicated towards learning Spanish. I've briefly watched those Spanish cable channels and I'm just not there yet. The problem is they speak 100 miles an hour and roll all their words together.
Yeah but just for 5 minutes or so a day and your ear will start picking up one or two verbs or nouns. If the shows are too fast then watch the news since you will be able to figure stuff out easier. For something slower, find a kids book in spanish or a spanish newspaper.