Looking for advice

[James Gerard]

Hello,
My name is James. I Joined this forum yesterday after stumbling on it while looking for a comparison of RS to Tell me more. I naively thought that if I buy Rossetta Stone I'll have no trouble learning any language. However from what I have seen posted here I immediatley find that there is probably more I should do to learn another language. I have always felt that my public school education has left me with a lot of lost time listening to nothing and other negativities that I won't mention. ...I am aware that this is a site for parents but I am a 21 year old boy that would like to learn other languages... starting with French and German and then move on to other languages such as Arabic or Chinese . I would like to learn French first. However I worry that I wont learn it in a way that will help me if I were using only a program and textbooks. I worry that I won't be able to communicate it in a way that is modern or understandable. I want to learn communication skills in general for these languages. For example I want to read and write in french and german and arabic and I am unsure that RS or TMM will fully develop my skills. I am wondering if there is a way to speak the language and use it comfortably without having to physically visit another country and if anyone here has advice to lend me.

note: I have taken French for the duration of highschool however I fail now to remember anything other than a few phrases and I can count to 20. I was a poor student because I felt more obligated to have a strong and intellectual social life and I struggled with having no opportunities to express ideas that were then and remain now important to me. In spite of this I took french hoping to learn something usefull but felt to pressured by other things to help myself. The point of all this is to say I dont have trouble learning things that I want to learn and find that they are things I should respect.

voulez vous coucher avec moi ce soir... help me please

[specialmama]

Check out this program... http://www.livemocha.com/

[CleoQc]

Ah, I was going to suggest LiveMocha too. You seem like a perfect candidate for it. And it's free.

[Rosie_0801]

Have you read this or anything like it? There's lots of tips in there.
http://www.omniglot.com/language/index.htm

Rosie

[Kate in Arabia]

I am wondering if there is a way to speak the language and use it comfortably without having to physically visit another country and if anyone here has advice to lend me.

I have known a few people who were able to teach themselves a language and develop to the point of spoken fluency, however at some point they all had to have some contact with native speakers. They did not travel to another country, but found speakers within their own communities. I don't know your location, so I don't know how viable this is for you. There are also a number of online resources, I don't know for all the languages you mention but there is, for example, an Arabic podcast where you can listen to spoken Arabic and there are news programs in Arabic you can listen to. Plus I have seen many online programs where teachers arrange to chat with you online to help in your pronunciation, but I have never tried any of these myself.

If it was me, I would probably start by looking at a local university to see whether there are any students from countries that speak the language you are interested in, and see about arranging for a tutor or at least someone to practice with over a cup of coffee

[James Gerard]

Thank you all for your generosity I will surely be looking at all of the information here. I appologize I didnt check this sooner to thank you if its slipped from your mind since you've posted. Again thank you

[Chez J]

join a local French speakers meetup. Everyone speaks French to each other to either practice what's been learned or to keep fluent while living here in the states. Most I've been too say you can be a beginner, but really you need to have some competency in listening and speaking or you'll end up sitting by yourself.

HTH,

Lesley