Thread: Tell me about good ways to self-teach a foreign language.

Hehe, I have all the language stuff itself, and I am going there in 6 weeks.

I'm talking to slovakians every day essentially, and I have basic vocabulary and seech in my notebook, its just htte learning part.

You're probably on the right track then. Just keep at it, keep focused and keep trying.

It'll take time, but you'll improve. Especially since you're going there.

I agree with Merlock. I started learning French when I was 11, but very little was taught. I finally got serious about becoming fluent when I was 15. I realized the best way to become fluent is going to France. You have to be surrounded by the people who speak that language and stuff.

So as sson as I can, I plan to go live in France.

And hate all English people?

I think that the best way is to take a class or get some other form of instruction from a fluent speaker for the basics, and then just use newspapers, movies, music, webpages, novels... to progress. But yeah, nothing substitutes staying in the area where the language is spoken for extended amounts of time.

This reminds me, I need to get back into learning Esperanto.

I would say the internet is your friend as far as finding material in other languages. Just be careful with some stuff because of internet slang and improper grammar etc. To learn something like a language it has to be a main focus of your life, so just focus on it as much as you can. If you find yourself riding in a car or something or just bored somewhere, practice saying things about what you see or what you could say to someone else. You could also listen to people speak English and then try to translate some of what they say. At first it may only be basic words and then phrases and then whole sentences. Basically effort=improvement. More focused time spent means more knowledge.

Definfetly grab yourself a self help book. Also, look into some audio tapes, they'll get you accustomed to the sounds of the new language. I did this with Spanish when I was already decent in speaking it and it improved my skills. It's one thing to learn grammar from a book though, yes, you should do that to begin, and if you have any contacts at all who speak the language, ask them to come study with you...they'll correct you with the begginer stuff and will study the basics with you. Don't stress yourself out, because it's quite easy to get frustrated at an older age, but you'll get it. As some others already stated, it is a great idea to immerse yourself in the language and related culture. You'd be surprised how quickly and well you pick up the local tounge...I went to Costa Rica for only 3 weeks and improved my speaking skill by probably 40-50%...I can now get around though I haven't practiced in a while...

There's many ways, above all, don't get frustrated, enjoy it.

Originally Posted by ThePhobiaViewed

This reminds me, I need to get back into learning Esperanto.

i was fluent then i lost it all. o well, its not like it was useful.