Foreign languages

[SlickTrick]

I want to learn a foreign language. I bought Russian Rosetta Stone last year because I was taking a class on it, but I dropped out because it was WAY too much work on top of my other classes. Fortunately, there's an influx of Russian and Ukranian girls at my school so I haven't completely wasted my money on Rosetta Stone!

Anyway, what foreign languages would you guys like to learn and why? I'm interested in Italian because of its history and art culture, but I wanted your guys' opinions on others.

[Bravo]

took spanish twice in school, failed both times

learned more working in a restaurant from the dishwashers and a girl that worked there, granted mostly bad stuff....

thought about looking into Rosetta, would love to also read feedback from others

[Techfall]

Spanish would be a good thing to learn. Mostly because the amount of Spanish speaking people in the US is rising.

Chinese would give you a competitive advantage in the work place with a company that does business in China. Same goes for Japanese.

French, and Spanish are good because many countries outside of the US speak French or Spanish.

[Leonidas]

I speak a few languages. It comes in handy as I travel overseas a lot. But it's also useful in meeting girls, in several situations. If I'm abroad, I can approach local girls and talk to them in their own language. Of course they're willing to help me practice and improve. Occasionally if I meet girls at home who speak a language I do, I can talk to them and create a little our-world conspiracy. Also, if you can talk to the foreign AMOGs in their own language, they're much less likely to cock-block you just for being an outsider.

Taking classes and Rosetta stone can get you started, but there is really only one true way to learn a language: Pillow Talk.

[Twilight]

Leonidas is my go to guy on foreign language advice.

Two things that have helped me in the meantime:
1) "Earworms" has a fantastic audiobook series available for download on iTunes - currently, I have their "Rapid Arabic," "Rapid French," "Rapid German", and "Rapid Russian" courses. They're an hour long and they set common phrases and conversations to music. Most audiocourses are dull and monotonous, but the music helps anchor the words into your memory a bit deeper, and it breaks up the monotony. Of the audiocourses that I've used, these are the most pleasant, and hence, in my opinion, the most effective for gaining a basic start in a language.
2) YouTube - YouTube is God's gift to man. In addition to meaningless videos, there is a plethora of useful information that people put up on YouTube for free. I'm gone to YouTube for some serious how-to-advice and my most recent language learning adventures have proved no different. Like anything else on the web, you have to sift through the garbage before you get to the good stuff, but should you find a good language tutorial on there it'll be like taking an awesome free class on your time.

*On Rosetta Stone, it's expensive so you have to really follow through with learning the language you're set on learning. It's cool because it teaches by total immersion (meaning no english at all), but if you're unfamiliar with the script of that language, its a bit more difficult. I like it because it analyzes how you pronounce the words and phrases and lets you know if you got it right or wrong, but each section feels long and if you're not fully awake while trying to learn, it can get a little boring (as with any type of learning). It's helpful, but there are extremely effective and cost-effective ways to learn a language.

As Leonidas says, "pillow talk" - the best way to learn a language is to do it. Just like pick up or anything else, regular practice and consistently meeting new goals is how you will learn the best.

Tim Ferris, the author of Four-Hour Work Week, has some supplementary material on language acquisition that has proved helpful too. He says that there is a list of common words and phrases in each language, and so learn those. He then recommends seeing the language in action - reading comics or watching movies in that language. Also, if there is a specific subject you are interested in, study the subject in that language. Your interest will help you stay focused and you will study more willingly.

Edufire.com is also a great place - I just found it. It has a plethora of tutors on varying subjects and they are quite affordable per session. They do video conferencing, which is great, especially if you're looking for someone to practice with.

Ulimately, the goal is to use the languages - so, by this time next year I plan on hopping on a plane to the UK and Europe, and seeing where the wind takes me for 6 months.

[Twilight]

Other interesting youtube vlogs I found tonight on language acquisition are:
- lingosteve
- poliglotta80

enjoy y buena suerte!

[Action]

The languages I would like to learn: spanish(I understand it and can get by in a spanish only country), japanese, mandarin. I already speak more than one language.

My trick when I learned english was to listen to tv in english and to do an immersion. I tried rosetta stone and it's good.

[KingOfAces]

people will say cultured guys and romantic guys can speak other languages, blah blah blah. who has time for that? if you do have time and want to learn a language, i'm sure it's cool. i wouldn't mind speaking others. i try to learn a few funny sayings in as many languages as possible, so if i meet somebody that speaks that language, i don't want to have a whole conversation with her in her language, but i'll say something as a joke. seems to work well. great way to learn this is to just talk to everyone and when you find someone that speaks a different language, have them teach you five things. i always ask how to say "hi, you're beautiful, and then just some other random things that pop into my mind. say it back to the person (cab drivers are great because they are all from other countries), make sure they correct your pronounciation so its perfect, make a note of it on your cell phone and even make a quick video or recording if you have to. who needs rosetta stone when we have foreigners???