Selecting Self-Study Foreign Language Materials

Alexander Arguelles presents a series of video reviews and demonstrations of those foreign language learning series that he has found most useful in his own studies. For further information about the series, please refer to http://www.foreignlanguageexpertise.com/index.html

Category:

Education

Tags:

• polyglottery
• polyglots
• foreign
• language
• learning

[ma1achite]

Thanks for the thorough overview, but endless reviewing and polishing with manuals, drills, and grammar books will never help me speak my target language. After working my spanish up to late beginner level I've found it better to just expose myself to the language by reading and viewing children's materials in the target language. Maybe I won't reach high level fluency this way, but it is more enjoyable and therefore a program I am more likely to continue following. Native materials rule!

[ProfASAr]

@ma1achite Of course you need to switch over to native materials at some point - that is the very goal of studying a language in the first place, is it not? While some people prefer to get there as fast as possible because they have no patience with didactic material, I have no problem with it if it is substantive and well-designed, and I find that the better a foundation I have from such material, the more I can profit from native materials which I switch over.

[rayneval]

What is the most efficient way to be able to read Latin (only read&understand) in a few months? Will doing book I and then book II of Lingua Latin be sufficient? Or would i need to also use Wheelock's or a different resource?

How long would it take after beginning Latin to be able to read parts of Aeneid being able to understand the poetic techniques? Will just doing the two books be enough?

Thanks!

[ProfASAr]

@rayneval These two volumes will get you off to a very good start, but I doubt you will be able to digest their content in a few months of study even if you work very intensively. The natural learning curve of Volume II in particular gets quite steep. You may understand the poetic technique of the Aeneid when have finished Volume II if you are content to keep your eyes on an annotated edition, but if you want to read fluidly and with appreciation, it will take years to work up to that.

[Jate0000]

what would you say about ancient classical languages like ancient greek or latin? I'm starting with Le grec ancien by assimil. I'm also about to start Lingua Latina per se ilustrata by Hans Orberg wich I seriously recommend. If you like languages learning materials you need to take a look to Orberg's books. It would be very interesting to listen to your thoughts about them.

[ProfASAr]

@Jate0000 Orberg's books are wonderful - they are my very first recommendation for learning Latin!

[NelsonMan90]

I seriously wish you were my professor. Colleges need more professors like you.

[ronaldovalete31]

Olá professor, sou um estudante brasileiro e gostaria de ouvi-lo falar português em um de seus futuros vídeos. O que você acha da idéias? Parabéns pelo seu trabalho.

[Forresmechy]

Professor, excellent video's with excellent advice. As a mature learner of foreign languages I find the easiest way is definitely mainly audio based. In recent years I have became very proficient in German and for that I used Germanpod101 and complimented that with Rocket German and it worked well for me.

My next big challenge is to learn Lithuanian which is more difficult due to the lack of learning resources. That one is going to be the more traditional method with books, perhaps TYS?

[andrewl5201]

When you say you recommend 5 methods of study. Do you mean all together, or is it just as efficient to do it in an order. Ex. Do you suggest you go back and forth between say Assimil, pimsleur, rocket, teach yourself, etc. in one week or Can I just do Rocket German, finish the course, then do Pimsleur, and so on..

[deutschemauser]

How do you find time to study so many languages? Do you have a job or make money with this? Nice videos

[fanofcorrs]

Speaking of different learning styles you may wish to add some diversity into these sort of "talking head" videos that you make. This is the worst one I have seen of yours because you are way too close to the camera, and one soon gets eyesore staring into your face, with the added discomfort that the video is terribly framed in that you have a vertical line going straight through the top of your head to the bottom and another vertical line going straight through your head starting below one ear.

[stubs13]

Dear Professor,

I have recently purchased, "Russian For Beginners", by Charles Duff and Dmitri Markarov, is this a good book for learning the language?

[piercegardner]

Register and meet real people benaughtyman.info

[ProfASAr]

@danlittledan I haven't seen the latest version of Rosetta Stone German in particular, so it may be vastly different from what I have seen of RS before. Unless it is, though, I can't say that I would recommend RS. If you happen to have inherited a copy, give it a try, but if you need to invest in materials, then if you look elsewhere, you should easily find more substance for a serious learning endeavor.

[bcdc2434]

None of this "product lines" crap, there's more than enough materials online.

If you are like me and realise that there's a certain standard amount of attention you need to invest in learning a language,I suggest google Books & other online sources to learn grammar (easiest part), and than TV, radio, movies, books etc. to study a language. Keep a file, write down & repeat new words. Oh, and forums. Just ask people if you don't get something.

If you are looking for a shortcut, it won't suit you.