GingerSpice

I would say it can definitely help, but you don't want to just rely on online tutorials. I suppose it would also depend on the type of online tutorial (whether it live, so that they can give you feedback) and, like others said, on the teacher and student. I do think that feedback is extremely important though, so that you can make sure your pronunciation, etc is correct.

I try my best to read works in their original language, I feel like it's possible to lose a lot of the author's meaning/intent if you're reading it in a different language, since it's been translated. I'm the same way with movies as well. As long as I can somewhat understand, no subtitles or dubbing for me! XD

I use it for small sentences or words, but it's definitely not accurate when trying to translate a large block of text..I've tried that, and it was hilariously inaccurate. It's fun to imagine how technology will someday advance to the point where languages aren't too complex for computers to translate though!

I love sign language! I am semi-fluent in American Sign Language, and it's so fun. It can be difficult, especially because a lot of the signs look the same and one little difference can mean two totally different things. I reccomend anyone at least trying it, it's very cool and beautiful to watch as well. I went to a play recently that had an interpreter and found myself just watching her instead of the play itself because she was putting emotions into her signs and it was beautifully done.

For me it depends on the language. Writing in Spanish is definitely easier than writing in Japanese! I like writing better, because like some others said, it helps me express myself easier. It takes me longer to learn how to speak it, which is definitely the hardest part for me.

I think this is an awesome idea, and effective as well! I am a classical singer, and I find it easier to learn words and phrases through song, so a lot of my language learning comes from learning foreign language songs. It's a great way to learn not-so-common phrases too! I also love movies as well, and for me it really helps to watch foreign movies with the subtitles off (or even just change the language on the DVD of a movie if you can) and this helps a lot too.

Foreign language learning was a part of our curriculum in school, we had to take either Spanish or French starting in the 7th grade. I picked Spanish and took six years of Spanish all throughout middle and high school. That was when I realized I absolutely loved learning another language and another culture, and now I'm addicted to learning new languages!

I'm a pretty good multi-tasker, and the languages I am learning now are so drastically different that I am going to attempt to study them both at once, but there's definitely a chance that I'll get confused and have to focus on one at a time! Time will tell I suppose...

I just started learning Japanese, and I think I'll be learning Italian after that. I am in school studying classical music performance (vocal), and knowing Italian would really help with the operas! So would French and German, for that matter. It's important to actually know what you are singing so you can convey emotions to your opera audience!

I've also watched anime since I was a kid, and read a lot of Japanese manga as well, so I started studying Japanese so I could know what they were saying without the subtitles! I am also very interested in Japanese culture, it is absolutely amazing and fascinating to me, so I'm also hoping to learn  even more about the culture while learning the language as well!

Hi, everyone! I just joined the forum and figured I would introduce myself. I'm Rebecca, and I'm currently studying Latin, Japanese, and Swedish. I saw that there was a section for learning Japanese on these boards, which I'm pretty excited about! Hope to get to know some of you, this seems like a great forum! See you around.

~Rebecca