I've mastered the English language...now what? (learning another language)

[lifewithoutanet 0]

Hey, all. I've been thinking of picking up another language for a while now. I still speak a little German, a decade after living in Frankfurt, so that might just be something I'll brush up on over time. One might think I'd learn something a little more practical and pick up Spanish, being that I live in SoCal, but I'm thinking about French, instead, maybe even Russian.

Regardless of what I choose, have any of you used any of the commercially available software packages? I've seen "Instant Immersion", "Learn to Speak 'XYZ'", but don't know what to expect from them. I don't spend enough time in my car to warrant tapes/CDs and I'm unlikely to load up my iPod to learn a language at the gym. So I think something more interactive like software might be the way to go. Any opinions on or experience with language software out there?
-C.

[Nightingale 0]

the software stuff doesn't work well.

what makes our brain absorb language is conversation and interaction. the memorization from a computer program doesn't usually stick very well. Its fine if you want to learn a phrase or two, but not if you truly want to learn a language to fluency. Take a few classes at a community college, or, if you want to learn russian, call your local russian orthodox church, and they can tell you where to go.

[lifewithoutanet 0]

I'd thought about the CC route, unfortunately that's not too feasible with my schedule. I'm really kind of limited to the self-study route to get started.

I agree with you on how our brain absorbs the language, though. Conversation and interaction go worlds beyond book [or computer] learning. However, the 'Instant Immersion' programs claim to have speech recognition features to help with pronunciation and intonation. I'm skeptical as to how well they'll really work. I might just have to find out for myself and let you all know.
-C.

[happythoughts 0]

Buy a newspaper in the language of your choice. Translate it.

[Nightingale 0]

While getting my masters, I took several classes in secondary language acquisition.

The first part of learning a language is when conversation is most important. Find a friend who speaks the language, and communicate only in that language. It'll be a lot of miming and gesturing in the beginning as they show you the words, but you'll get it. After you acquire conversational skills, then, move on to written, and a lot of that you can teach yourself... think about when you learned to read, and how much new vocabulary you picked up through books.