Anyone tried/have learned second, third, etc. language?

[tonyp56]

Hello,

Ok, so I really want to learn Spanish--native English speaker--the reasons are varying, but most in particular, I believe having the capability to communicate in English and Spanish would be very beneficial to me--I believe these two languages cover most of the globe together, next would be French, etc... For one, living in the United States, a mere 15 hours from me, is Mexico, and in my days I've met several Spanish only speakers, and it would just be nice to communicate with as many people as I can.

So here is my question, what is the best way to learn, not only language rules--i.e grammar, etc., but how to actually carry on a conversation in another language than our Native tongue? In my case Spanish. I know a little, I did take Spanish in high school, I've had a few cheap or free Spanish learning programs over the years, and I know that programs like Rosetta Stone cost several hundred dollars to buy, but do they actually work? Can you learn just by listening and reading your target language as much as possible? What does it take?

Thanks, anyone? Surely someone is bilingual here.

P.S. I've checked out http://how-to-learn-any-language.com and did find some useful information there, however, still don't know what way to learn.

 

[navychop]

I've heard very good things about Rosetta Stone. I'd love to learn Spanish, but since I have little use for it day to day, I won't keep the skill.

 

[mdonnelly]

I spent 11 months full time learning Arabic in the Air Force. It was a good program, and I was able to use it when I visited Saudi.

I also had 4 years of HS Spanish, but I didn't really become fluent until I had been married to a native Spanish speaker for a few years. It's hard to become truely fluent without a total immersion program.

 

[Claude Greiner]

I speak Canadian, its only about 10 minutes from here

 

[navychop]

But not Quebec, I'll bet. Or New Brunswick.

 

[somery]

I always try to learn German here. But I have heard, you need to be dedicated to it. You should spend at least 30 minutes to an hour a day. I think, you would be fine with checking out the free videos from the library, and just buy books from the bookstore. The dialect can be picked up in your local nieghborhood. Also tune into Univision or a channel such as that, and try to follow it. Theres no need, since its a local language, to spend a whole lot of money on it IMO. I agree with the total immersion type thing. I had three years and an honors Spanish in High School, but its mostly gone now. In Honors class, you had to speak the language in the classroom to get by on. I think the teacher didn't like me or my effort, because he removed me to standard spanish when I had a progress report with a 76 on it (equal to 86, because honors gave you +10 grade points, or +1.0 GPA) The only time I ever lost an honors credit.

 

[navychop]

Gave out rotten apples?

 

[somery]

If you are talking to me, I think its cause I was too shy to speak out like that. There was a Muslim student in there that was completely fluent with the accent and everything. Eyes got big when he spoke. It was like, wow.

 

[tonyp56]

I spent 11 months full time learning Arabic in the Air Force. It was a good program, and I was able to use it when I visited Saudi.

My question on this, do you still know it? In other words, have you retained the ability to speak Arabic? Would be interested to know, how well second languages—I guess now third—stay in our memory.

I also had 4 years of HS Spanish, but I didn't really become fluent until I had been married to a native Spanish speaker for a few years. It's hard to become truely fluent without a total immersion program.

I agree, and I know that the more I immerse myself into the language, and not just memorize words, grammar rules, etc. the better of a speaker I will become. I know that I can easily spend 4-6 hours a day listening to TV, radio, and reading Spanish. This should at least help. As far as speaking Spanish, I can go 5 minutes and find someone that is a native Spanish speaker, or just pick up the phone, because I do have friends that speak Spanish.

My need to be able to do this, well, as I said, biggest reason is so that I can communicate better, and since people in my area speak either English or Spanish, and I already know English, Spanish is somewhat automatic.

Would I not be able to survive if I do not learn, no, considering English is the biggest language all over the world. Likely, no matter where I travel in life--if I ever get the chance--there would likely be someone there that spoke English. However, if I could learn Spanish, it would at least increase my chances of communicating effectively in this ever-shrinking world.

 

[tonyp56]

I speak Canadian, its only about 10 minutes from here

how goes it, eh?

My wife is from B.C., so yeah, I can speak it too, lol,

Especially when her parents visit, man, every other sound out of their mouths is eh. Wife, has been here too long, she has lost most of her accent, and she don't say eh, except every other sentence, lol.

 

[BlackHitachi]

I had a Spanish baby sitter from Spain when i was a baby. My Grand mother told me that i spoke Spanish better then i did English when i was a baby. Thats when she quit her job and stayed at home with me. I speak Spanish but not the best at it.

 

[mdonnelly]

My question on this, do you still know it? In other words, have you retained the ability to speak Arabic? Would be interested to know, how well second languages—I guess now third—stay in our memory.

I've kept a smattering of vocabulary, and I can still read a little, but slowly. My son is a bit better than I am now, after spending a year in Baghdad.

...Likely, no matter where I travel in life--if I ever get the chance--there would likely be someone there that spoke English. However, if I could learn Spanish, it would at least increase my chances of communicating effectively in this ever-shrinking world.

If you make the effort to communicate with people in their own language, they appreciate it and respect you more. I spent a few days in Paris with my wife last year. Just a few words in French to the shopkeepers, and a lot of pointing, got me through. But despite all I had heard before, everyone was very polite there (except on the subway).

 

[Van]

I have heard good things to about Rosetta Stone, back in january there was someone or a company selling RS for half price on craigslist in Atlanta but I havent seen it since the end of january. I learned a little bit of spanish from some of my customers while installing dish and used it more when I did a month long stint in Miami and picked up a few more words from people there. Its best to not only use the programs and practice but to also interact with native speakers so maybe going to a local resturaunt ( one of the places I picked up a word or two ) or better yet volunteering at a church or some other community service place that helps out the spanish speaking community wich there should be a fair share in Okie.

 

[eagerbee]

the best way to learn a new language is to live with a native speaker of the target language. plus you really need to have high motivation for your language learning to be successful.

 

[Pepper]

Like Claude, I am also fluent in Australian, New Zealandish and British. My native tongue is South Alabamian so those three are kind of foreign

I installed all the MUI packs for Windows Vista, occasionally I will change my language to something else just to see if I can find my way around. Hebrew was a blast, with all the scroll bars and window control boxes on the left.

 

[navychop]

the best way to learn a new language is to live with a native speaker of the target language. plus you really need to have high motivation for your language learning to be successful.

Yes, sadly. Leaves me out.

 

[TheForce]

People I've talked to say to become fluent in another language, you have to live in the place where that is the only language you hear and can use. My son-in-law spent 3 years in Italy and can speak Italian fluently. His brother majored in Spanish but couldn't communicate well with all that education until he lived in Costa Rica for a year. As I understand from them, understanding what is being said it the easiest part and mostly the courses will get you there but to compose thoughts to speak it, to hold a conversation, requires the immersion.

 

[Ramy]

I know several Programming languages.

 

[navychop]

:haha :haha :haha

Reminds me of a course I took. The book used FORTH for all the examples. None of use had taken FORTH. We objected. The Prof said- just read the examples, you've all learned enough languages to readily figure it out. He was right, of course.

 

[fhsucade07]

Hello,

Ok, so I really want to learn Spanish--native English speaker--the reasons are varying, but most in particular, I believe having the capability to communicate in English and Spanish would be very beneficial to me--I believe these two languages cover most of the globe together, next would be French, etc... For one, living in the United States, a mere 15 hours from me, is Mexico, and in my days I've met several Spanish only speakers, and it would just be nice to communicate with as many people as I can.

So here is my question, what is the best way to learn, not only language rules--i.e grammar, etc., but how to actually carry on a conversation in another language than our Native tongue? In my case Spanish. I know a little, I did take Spanish in high school, I've had a few cheap or free Spanish learning programs over the years, and I know that programs like Rosetta Stone cost several hundred dollars to buy, but do they actually work? Can you learn just by listening and reading your target language as much as possible? What does it take?

Thanks, anyone? Surely someone is bilingual here.

P.S. I've checked out http://how-to-learn-any-language.com and did find some useful information there, however, still don't know what way to learn.

I'm not bilingual but I will be the first to tell you that you need to be really dedicated to learning a language and should spend at least an hour a day (if not more) surrounding yourself with the language. In my case, I want to learn French. In North Georgia, I would be much better off learning Spanish, but I prefer to learn French because I am a "cold weather" person and VERY MUCH enjoyed the one trip that I have had to Montreal. In that case, I would need to learn French.

I purchased a few books but nothing really stuck with me until I found this website: http://www.wordreference.com It's a free site that will let you type in words or phrases in English and will then translate the words into the language you wish to know. The first thing I did was take EVERYDAY words and I just tried to learn several a day. Finally, I hooked back up with a radio station that I had enjoyed while I was up there using my Internet Connection: Energie 94.3. It's not completely French and, in fact, I would say it's about 50/50 between English and French. They'll play a song or two in English and the next one, two, or three may be French before you hear another English one. Regardless, some of the songs have stuck with me so much that I have ordered the albums out of Canada and have gone to the trouble of translating the entire song and it helps it to stick with me. I listen to the station for about four hours out of the day before switching it over to EZRock out of Toronto (which is all English).

I don't have a free-to-air receiver, but I have been told that Energie 94.3 is a radio station that can be picked up rather easily using a FTA system. I know nothing about FTA so if I have said something that might be illegal, please keep in mind my lack of knowledge about the subject. Either way, just be dedicated and try to find a radio station or somebody you can communicate with in the alternate language. There was a girl I had met while in Montreal that would sometimes chat with me through MSN Messenger and called me four or five times before the last time I heard from her (several months ago). If she were still around, I'd probably be a lot better at French because I would have somebody that could tell me if I was appropriately saying the words, using correct grammar, etc. Even then, though, I think her preference was English but keep in mind you are well served by knowing French in that city because the laws up there make in practically impossible to hang a sign in English (although there are a FEW).

Cade