Strategies for learning a new langauge? (college, problems, people)

[krmb]

Hi,

I'm in school to become an ESL teacher, and being fluent in a foreign language would help tremendously, so I've decided to try to learn at least one new language. I don't really know where or how to begin, though. Here is my problem: I can learn vocabulary all day, but actually using and speaking the language is still very difficult. It's also difficult for me to understand the language when spoken. Does anyone have any general tips for learning foreign languages? I've tried programs like Rosetta Stone, but they move too slowly and do not teaching me what I feel like I need to know. I want to learn to speak the language as if I'm living in the country. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.

[Billy_J]

Live in a foreign country for 2 years. You WILL learn the language or starve - or keep eating weird stuff you did not intend to order (in France you may wind up eating snails!).

And going to Europe is cheating! (Many people there know English.)

[mordant]

Originally Posted by Billy_J

Live in a foreign country for 2 years. You WILL learn the language or starve - or keep eating weird stuff you did not intend to order (in France you may wind up eating snails!).

And going to Europe is cheating! (Many people there know English.)

I just spent 3 weeks in France and I found that although a lot of people know passable English, particularly in touristy areas, they really appreciate even a clumsy effort to speak actual French and will help you along. It's a gentle introduction. You can always move out to the countryside more when you want to go deeper and toss away your crutches.

If the OP wanted to learn, say, French, he's sort of stuck with France or Québec or maybe Switzerland or Austria, anyway, all of which have a lot of English speakers. For most Romance languages you pretty much HAVE to go to Europe.

French is by the way not a bad choice for an ESL teacher, anyway. From what I've heard it's in demand. Many French citizens have a sort of half-baked and not that polished high school-level training in English, they can get by with it but it could use a lot of work.

[ragnarkar]

Try this:

12 Rules for Learning Foreign Languages in Record Time — The Only Post You’ll Ever Need | The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss

[krmb]

Originally Posted by ragnarkar

Try this:

12 Rules for Learning Foreign Languages in Record Time — The Only Post You’ll Ever Need | The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss

Thanks. These are great strategies. The English Language Center at the college may be able to provide me with plenty of foreign language practice, too. I also haven't gotten over the mental block of "why" I will have trouble learning a new language, though. I feel like it would be easier to both learn from native speakers and to learn from others who are trying to learn new languages. I think organization and persistence are my two biggest barriers to success. Does anyone have any suggestions? I wish I could find a language learning buddy or an accountability partner who is trying to do the same thing.

[krmb]

Hmm...

I think knowing Spanish, French, Arabic, and Farsi to a conversational level would help me a lot in future positions. Does anyone have suggestions for learning an easy language, like Spanish? What could I do to learn hard languages like Arabic and Farsi? I really just only need to know how to speak, not write, Arabic and Farsi. One of the main problems I'm having is that it's a tonal language, like Chinese, and less forgiving of clumsy pronunciation. I need to learn Spanish and French fluently.