Very interesting posts lately about the expat life and speaking other languages.

When I studied Japanese I was a younger man, in a traditional college environment. Classes, tapes and spending time with Japanese kids on campus.. It was great, but can't go back there.

I am thinking about learning another language - and "Pimsler" and "Rosetta Stone" seem to be the big two methods.

Pimsler apparently has audio materials and workbooks. Rosetta uses a PC/MAC based interactive software.. Text, graphics and sound.

What experience does the PPOT brain trust have with learning another language as an adult? Thanks.

Well the very best method - bar none - of learning a language as an adult is to fall in love with someone who speaks it fluently.

Second best would be a total immersion program in the country, the language of which you want to learn.

Third best would be the US military Defense Language Institute just outside of Monterey.

That's probably not very helpful. But there you go.

Japanese is very gender specific. It is always funny to me to overhear a burly Marine use female gender specific lanuage patterns..:D You can always tell where he learned them. I rarely (i.e. never) point this out to members of that fine Corps!

I have used Pimsler and it is pretty good. I can't make a comparison with Rosetta, as I have never tried it.

If you have the time to do it, the total immersion is probably the best way to do it (6 months and you are good to go). I travel to Bulgaria every year and I'm amazed at how well I'm able to communicate by just listening and trying. I started with a pocket size phrase book that phonetically spells it out. I would also draw diagrams of body parts, table settings, you name it. Each night, study the alphabet and the sounds of each. Once I get back here, its tough to continue the learning part of it. Also, we are teaching my son Bulgarian, he'll be 4 in August and he already knows more than me.

Billy--

I have a set of the Pimsleur CDs, they are pretty good. I am going to convert them to MP3 so when I talk to nobody in particular on the Subway it will be auf Deutsch.

Rosetta Stone is also very good, it actually analyzes your voice and gives you feedback as to whether you are doing it right.

Some of the programs are now available as direct downloads to your iPod. That seems to be the key-- have the thing on a portable device (iPod, phone, whatever) so you can be on it more or less all the time.

I know a large employer in Virginia who is looking for fluent speakers of non-romance languages. :)

Langley is quite a lovely area, too. :)

the most extreme case, my friend learned spanish in a month. and no, he didnt get the girl. (i saw her awhile back, she went bald anyways.) on the positive side, he is still 90% fluent.

my wife and her family speak mandarin and taiwanese exclusively. they sometimes throw me a bone, and translate a few things for me. it is amazing! i can formulate the next to impossible sounds, and mixed with body language, actions, etc, i am starting to understand. i will be fluent sooner or later.

Drastic full immersion.

Agree totally. Problem with the 3rd method is that you have to either enlist or be a member of the "community" so to speak. Its bar none the best school method there is, and the scenery is very nice as well!

I used Rosetta Stone to pick up some basic Hindi, and liked it. The visual reference to the object made it much easier for me to remember.

Thanks guys, great input. Talking to myself in Hindi or Mandarin in the subway would keep the weirdos away!

I got home from Japan after my first year and thought I had done pretty well..then I met an old boy at the local coffee shop who went through a DOD Japanese program in WWII. THAT was an intensive program! The thing was - the better you did - the longer you stayed in school and the higher up you went in the chain of command. The guys that tested out or dropped out of the program went right to the front, to put to good use what they had learned... Talk about an incentive to study!

I found the older Rosetta Stone for Mandarin to be useless. Pimsleur is somewhat better, but there is not workbook - it is all audio. I am a "combination" learner and I need to see the pinyin (text) when I hear the sounds.

Depending on the language, Fluenz looks decent although it is for the beginning end of things. I agree that immersion and having someone around you that will speak it constantly is the only way to do it unless you are *really* driven and don't have to work for a living.

Personally?

Pelican Parts OT forum.

What you want to learn should be directly related to how hot the women are. Germany, Sweden, Brazil, etc. Stick with plan A and you'll be fluent in no time, along with other "benefits".

ni hao ma? hen hao!

您好吗？我的罚款。

I used Berlitz for Japanese and Arabic, they were good!

Exactly........

谢谢。

Two words: Hot chick. You don't really need the love part, just infatuation. :p

BTW, I chuckle every time I see that Rosetta Stone ad about the farm boy who meets the Italian supermodel.

As a family we are trying to learn Italian and hope the by the time we get to Italy (2.3 years off) we will be able to speak well enough to get along.

My wifes grandmother speaks fluent Italian so we have someone to practice with.

We are starting small, we purchased a learn Italian in 10 minutes a day c/d workbook and will do this every night at dinner. We are going to work on phrases and objects as much as possible in day to day.

I personally have ripped a audio set by Michele Thomas purchased at Walden Books and I listen to it in the background everywhere I go, at my desk, in my car, on my bike, even if I am not concentrating on it I am hoping subliminally it will sink in.

As the weeks/months pass we hope to amp up the learning eventually getting to the point where we will only communicate in Italian in our home. The 4.5 year old is already picking up random words and I hope the 15 y/o can do it easy too, its us old folks I am worried about.

I swallowed hard and ordered the Rosetta Stone software I am hoping all 4 of us can use one copy of it. Otherwise its just too expensive and whichever of us 3 older ones in the house needs it the most will use it if its a single user deal.

We just started this last night, I thought of this thread and read through for pointers. I might look into the Pimsleur if other methods are not working.

My wife is leaving for Italy on Sat, she is doing this Regent Criuise w a girlfriend.
Venice, Korcula, Sarande, Sicily, Sorrento, Rome then Monte carlo.
We have been doing Pimsluer for 4 months, 6 days a week for an hour a day.
We are up to Italian II, lesson 5. Very happy with Pimsluer. It makes it much easier to learn w a partner. I should be pretty good by October 2009 when we plan to go together. We have friends there who own a bed and breakfast in Tuscany. They want us to help run the place for a month. WE will be able to immerse ourselves in the language.

Very cool!!

I just located family in the Naples region, we have enough starwood points for 10 nights in Italy and want to go in 2 or 3 years. I hope to have the language learned enough to communicate well. I understand dialects will make it tricky. I hope my wifes grandmother can help us with that.


I want to go this summer but its not practical, possible next summer. I want to go now. :D

Yes Dialects can be difficult, also they talk so fast. Parla lentamente per favore. Speak slowly please.

It seems I may be going about this wrong. Peter has it all figured out. First I need to grow a mustache.

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Funny. I am going to San Francisco sunday for a few days to visit my daughter. I plan on hanging out in North Beach,(lots of Italians) and practicing my Italian.