sti-04!!

I am looking to learn another language (broad'n the old horizons & that) & was wondering if anyone on here has another european language under there belt i quite fancy learning spanish as i fancy going to madrid or barcelona for a short stay
The questions i have is were can i get the information
How hard is it
Is it worth it

Thanks in advance

Stephen

ali66

Hi,
Local colleges usually do nightclasses in languages,just search for your nearest one & give them a call,even if they haven't got the course you want they sometimes know of other venues. I did German for a short while at college to help my daughter who was learning it at school (Then we moved & she ended up doing French!). Have you thought about pc world? They sell language courses & are easy to use - you can hear how the words/paragraphs should be said & repeat them then listen to see how you pronounce them (Obviously you'll need to get a mike if you haven't got one). I started one in Japanese (because we are going to Japan) it cost £29 but I think they start about £19. As for how hard,it depends how serious you are,how much time you put in & which language,some are harder than others! Yes I think it's worth it,when something clicks it's very satisfying.

Hope that helps,

ali

wwp8

i wanted to learn spanish once, couldn't pronounce the double Rs so gave up

GaryK

Look out for michel thomas courses, normally on 7/8 CDs he does them in french spanish and german, done (part) of the spanish one and the style is easy to follow, bound to pick em up cheap on ebay too.

I think the way languages are taught in schools/colleges is flawed anyway, I mean you never just sat there are learnt whole verbs and tenses when you learnt english did you so why is every other language taught that way?????

Gary

girlscoob

Definitely worth it!

I speak fluent french - learnt from working over there. I'd recommend learn direct ( www.learndirect.co.uk ) they always seem really helpful if not phone your local college to find out about evening classes. It's a real buzz to be able to go to a foreign country and speak a bit of the language and locals really appreciate it, even if it's just please and thankyou!

swaussie

I have learned to speak some German and it is my first foreign language. Unless you have a gift for learning languages it takes a lot of practice and work. I havent found any shortcuts and trust me I have looked for them

Like GaryK and girlscoob are getting at, the best way is to find someone who is willing to talk to you in the language you are learning, that way you learn some on the finer points of the language. Its no good knowing all the verbs, nouns and sentance structures when they say something like "Its all going downhill" cause if you just translate it you wont have a clue what they are talking about. Its all about repitition, repitition, repitition. Listen a 2 or 3 year old talking, thats all they do. Flash card programs are helpful and so is some of the software, but you cant beat speaking with someone who has the language you are learning as a mother tounge. Good luck, its defo worth it as it opens up lots of possibilities and its a nice feeling when you are able to hold your own in a conversation in a foreign language.

john_s

iTrader: (1)

I did french and german at school, and found german loads easier to pick up than french.

John.

bloke

It depends what you want. If you want to go to Spain and order a beer a have a crack at chatting to the locals I'd try the Michel Thomas route.

If you want to "broaden your horizons", e.g. be able to claim the foreign language on your CV I'm afraid your going to need some grammar and written so you might need to do something a bit more formal.

I'm old enough to have done French at school to quite a high level and yet not be able to speak it properly, I have found the Michel Thomas stuff really useful for my spoken French. You have to ignore the fact he doesn't speak English too well though

Leslie

I can manage reasonably well in French and German but I found the best way to learn is to get a "sleeping dictionary"

Les