What do you use for learning languages?

[Filipe]

Do you only use one resource or many? Like language blogs, dictionaries, grammar books, italki...

And how does that work for you?

What do you think is the mos efficient way?

[japanesewaterbottle]

I mostly use language blogs and grammar books. I think it's not the most efficient way to go about it. The best way would probably be something like italki.

[Trellum]

I'd say it depends on the language and how fast you want to learn it.  Right now I'm using the Inburgering course, which isn't good at all because it's so boring and repetitive.  I'm also using a grammar book I found in PDF format, as well as a couple online resources to learn vocabulary and new phrases, one of them is Memrise   I was using Duolingo for a while, but it isn't that useful.

[Rosa]

I use gramar books and dictionary mainly to practice learning language. My greatest result though, comes from writing and speaking the language. Somehow my brain seem to retain it better that way.

[kiyoung]

I learned a whole new language only through the internet because there are so much websites that provide lessons and even worksheets for the language you'd like to learn. But I realized that I had so much more to learn and when a friend lent me a grammar book, I felt like I missed so much because I learned so much more with the back rather than the websites I used.

This doesn't mean that the internet isn't reliable and helpful but rather I think we shouldn't just use one source when we learn a new language. I think it's best if you use a book and consult the internet from time to time as well.

[violetcities]

I think there has never been a better time to learn anything, there is so much amazing technology. You can literally learn a dead language without leaving your bed, how exciting!

I'm doing the French course on Duolingo, currently without using any other resources, because I know a lot of basic French already, so I didn't start from scratch. I definitely want to finish the course, and I'll probably build on it afterwards. Maybe I'll find some French books or podcasts.

For Hebrew I'm doing Pimsleur, and various Memrise courses to build a bit of vocabulary. I'll probably get some books eventually, but I just started about two months ago, so I wanted to wait a bit and see if I seriously want to learn it. Hebrew resources are not as easily available as for example French, so some of the recommended books are a bit pricey. I want to be sure Hebrew and I are in a committed relationship and not just a fling. Luckily there's a Hebrew Duo course on the horizon as well, so that's something to look forward to.

I don't think there's one most effective method. Everyone's brain is different. Some people swear by Rosetta Stone and say it's the only way to learn anything at all, others say it's not for them. For me personally Pimsleur is really effective and enjoyable so far, but I've heard from people who didn't like it at all. I think the key is putting the effort in, no matter what your preferred method is.

[linguaholic]

I do agree. It is not abut the method you choose, its all about pasdion, perseverence and motivation/goal!

[lissetetiff]

I use audio and visual means to learn languages. The audio resources help me to learn the pronunciation of words in a particular language while the visual means help me to learn the spelling and writing aspects of the language at hand.

[goop]

When I began learning Spanish, I used music.  I am Mexican and have grandparents that speak Spanish but they prefer English so unfortunately I could not practice with them.  There is a huge Spanish speaking community in California but I have found that if they speak any amount of English that they prefer to practice their English.  Many people suggested telenovelas but I just do not like the violence or immoral story lines so I found listening to music very helpful.  I also found a friend that is very patient and willing to speak nothing but Spanish even if it becomes difficult to communicate. 

I am learning Chinese and our method is to speak while doing something complicated.  The teacher believes that when different parts of the brain are activated while speaking, we retain it better.  My Chinese teacher does not want us to learn by rote memorization because they say it fossilizes in our thought pattern and it makes it harder to access.  One exercise would be trying to juggle while counting in the language that is being learned or hitting a balloon in the air and not letting it hit the floor while saying different words. 

[lushlala]

When I was learning French, it was mainly through a lot of practice, reading, listening and the traditional classroom setup. It was different when I was learning Italian. I went and  spent time in Italy, staying with a family who spoke very little English. I mainly used textbooks and music, and as I was forced to speak the language, I felt I learnt a lot faster. I never had any formal lessons of my Italian.

[turtledove]

I learn both French and German in school anyway at the moment. However, I also like to use websites like Duolingo for vocab and often, watching movies in the language or reading magazines in the language can be very useful for learning new vocab. I'm also learning Spanish from Duolingo. I highly doubt I'll be fluent at the end, however I'll probably have some good conversational phrases to use.

[pandachan]

Well, I always had French classes in school and the only other resources I used were French online newspapers and dictionaries.

For Japanese, I had some classes but these days I mostly rely on Memrise. I really love it, it's helped me improve a lot and it's so easy to use. It almost doesn't feel like learning and you don't need to spend more than twenty minutes or so a day studying. I also watch anime which helps with pronunciation.

[JessiFox]

I'm a big believer in trying all kinds of different resources to really utilize what's available and see what works best for you. I use a lot of the typical grammar books, dictionaries, etc but I also use language blogs and videos, websites and apps. I find a variety of resources to switch it up and keep me on my toes seems to work best.

[CorieHens]

Honestly, I still haven't used any digital help in learning a language because there is no need for it. Besides, translator sites did not cross my mind. It would have been a big help when we went to Thailand in 2012, at least we know some Thair words. For now, I am looking at Vietnamese and trying to learn a few sentences and words.

[Wizard]

One of my favorites of the tools I'm using is the Duolingo app. Of course, it doesn't seem to be the kind of app I could learn everything about a language from; I'd need other resources as well, which I am using. But Duolingo is very fun and easy to use, and I've been able to retain the things I've learned on there better than I have from anything else. Its a great app, and I'd recommend anyone learning a language check it out! Unfortunately they don't have a huge variety of language options (no Japanese, which is a bummer for most of my anime-loving friends), but you can see what languages they do have on their website!

The other tool I use is the Living Language program. I have a full course, so it comes with audio courses, books and writing tools, access to online tutoring, and apps. It seems pretty great, but I've been having trouble motivating myself to use it a whole lot for some reason. I have this issue with starting out things. Once I get going its fine, but the program isn't as fun for me as the Duolingo app, which I can just get right into with ease.

[turtledove]

My favorite online resource for language learning is probably Duolingo. It's pretty good for getting good at the basics of a language, and they have quite a few languages to choose from now. I'm really excited for the release of even more new language courses like Russian! I haven't used it, but I've also heard that Babbel is pretty good, and similar to Duolingo.

[Trellum]

My favorite online resource for language learning is probably Duolingo. It's pretty good for getting good at the basics of a language, and they have quite a few languages to choose from now. I'm really excited for the release of even more new language courses like Russian! I haven't used it, but I've also heard that Babbel is pretty good, and similar to Duolingo.

Are they going to be releasing Russian soon?  I think the last time I checked (6 months ago) they were already working on it, but had no exact date?  I've always wanted to learn Russian, so going back to Duolingo would be a wonderful way to start, at least learn some basics, it didn't help me much with dutch, but maybe it can help me a bit with Russian.

[booklover22]

I use an app to help me learn. It's call Dulingo. It's great because it is able to teach you a lot. I think that it's one of the best ways that you can learn a new language. I plan on taking a language at my school, so this has been able to help me. This way I'll have a head start when I start to take the class.

[fuumarumota_espanol]

I learned English by adjusting my environment (i.e. my room and my workstation) so that I listened, read, played games in English all the time. You know, as if I were actually living in a country where that language is spoken.  For example, something that helped me a lot was to change my computer & mobile languages to English instead of Spanish (my mother tongue).

You can watch shows in your target language, listen to music in that language, play text adventure video games in that language, meet native speakers and hang out with them. If you do this, you will improve very quickly.

[宇崎ちゃん]

Italki, blogs, apps, flash cards and most importantly: the right mindset (passion, goals, motivation, etc.).

[dbon721]

I like watching movies in Spanish with subtitles in Spanish. But, I just found a website called howto4in.com that has movie clips with Spanish audio with English and Spanish subtitles at the same time. It's been pretty helpful.

[sidney]

I just use various online resources like websites and blogs to improve my German and Spanish. I watch anime as well, so my Japanese word knowledge is being expanded because I watch subtitles.

[czarina84]

My preferred method is translation.  I like to translate different things like songs, magazines...cleaning solution.   If I see something in a store, whether it's a sign or a label, I try to translate what I can and see if I can figure out the rest, then check it against the English version. Most of the time, I am correct.

[dbon721]

I like watching movies in the langauge I am wanting to learn. I keeps my interest and you get to hear how a conversation really goes. There is a useful website called howto4in.com that has movie clips in Spanish with English and Spanish subtitles.

[Arzy_]

I'd say that my mainly resource is the network. Through Internet i have found a great deal of resources to learn firstly English and then German. Initially i started learning grammar from a couple of websites that kindly teach you grammar for free, then i added some others resources like pdf books, tv shows/films with subs in English and online games where i could meet some native speakers. Now for learning German im trying to do the same and besides i'am constantly searching new resources in order to improve my learning and understanding of the language (in my search i found duolingo wich is really useful for the begginer level,  flashcards, memrise, forums and blogs like this...).

I find that people don't know yet the truly potentiat that the net has for learning. At least i didn't until i started this journey.