What is the best way to learn a new language? Should I take a college course or is Rosetta Stone all it's cracked up to be?
Get a girlfriend from the said country/language. Seriously. Another option is to take a basic course where you live. Arrange to spend time in this country doing something of your interest maybe school related. You'll be amazed how quickly you learn if you avoid speaking English in a foreign language environment. Then get the girlfriend.
These are all great suggestions, but if you're not planning on travelling overseas in the immediate future, I would suggest private tuition. I learned French for a semester at college and grew tired of the slow pace of the class, you always have to travel at the speed of your weakest link. Once I got a private tutor, not only did I learn more in much less time, I also got the one on one time to speak the language which is essential in developing fluency. Private tuition is cheap as well, I know in Australia you can get foreign language tutors for between 30-40 dollars per hour, I pay 35 for mine and its definitely worth it. Good luck!
What language are you trying to learn ? 1-Private tutor for 2-4 hours a day.....5 days a week....6 months straight at a minimum. 2-Get someone you can talk to daily, in said language. 3-Move to where it is spoken and live there for 6 months, after doing #1 in lieu of #2. You will end up with a good #2 eventually if you do that. 4-Get internet based TV from the country of choice on day one. Do not watch english language TV. This is the best way to learn because they all talk fast on TV, with native slang and accents, and you get to see the pictures at the same time as the relevant words. It is the best learning tool out there because it is really, really, cheap and interesting moreso than reading a book or sitting with a tutor. 5-Doing Rosetta Stone or another program at the same time as some of the above. You cannot learn a language by just doing a computer program alone IMHO. You can learn enough basic words and phrases to muddle your way thru a minor event such as an airport transfer, etc, but you will never learn the language well enough to "communicate" more than 1-2 sentences.
I'm want to learn spanish, I took Latin in h/s and college, I thought I was taking the easy way out by learning an unspoken language... lol I was sooo wrong. Still other languages intrigue me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-5UMCMR1MY&feature=related Here's a funny commercial for a language training school (NSFW for language): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoRD1wmvwUc
Haha, I learned German in high school, what do I know now, not a thing, it was a fun class, made good friends with all the 10 kids in there.
