Tips for learning a new language? Which one?

[Bumperstump Cummerbund]

I'd love to learn another language. I have previously considered Welsh, as that's what Professor family is, but none of them speak it so there seemed to be little point. However, one of my sisters is married to a Franco-Mauritian, and my other sister is seeing another Franco-Mauritian, so I thought I'd learn their language - or try, anyway Only, apparently they all speak Creole, French, Hindi and English...so which one do I pick? Which one would YOU pick?

Secondly, does anyone have any tips for HOW to learn a new language? I know there are computer programs and learning tapes, is there anything else?

[toomanyshoes]

FRENCH!

I don't really have any tips though, last time I learnt a LOTE was in high school! (indo and japanese). Well you could always immerse yourself in the culture with a trip to Paris hehe

[~ Zarava Flutterby ~]

out of those i would probably choose FRENCH, possibly more common and therefore a little more handy.

There are classes you can take aswell as a lot of online resources... i'm sure there are BB ladies who could teach you french

[angelaartsstudent]

I'd go with Hindi!

I used to be fluent in Bahasa (spoken and read) and be able to read Italian, French and German (making conversation was another matter).

All were pretty easy, expect for the French!

BUT if you are going to actually use it, it's in the top 3 spoken languages in the world. And becuase it's got so many sub-languages, like Creole, you can be understood pretty much anywhere.

I want to go with Cantonese next.

TAFE classes are pretty awesome apparently...it's how my Mum made her French fluent again. However, I personally like to go private one-on-one tutoring. That way you're not forced to go with the same rate as the rest of the class.

[LimeSlice]

French or Spanish. Because you will get the most use out of them (being that most of the world speaks one of them)

I would start with French if you do not speak a LOTE now. It is a Teutonic language, meaning its structure is similar to English, and its grammar is easier to grasp then Japanese for example.
Also it doesn't require you to learn a completely new alphabet (which is one of the most difficult parts of Cyrillic languages for example.)

The easiest way to learn a new language is by absorbtion. SO immersing yourself in it.
Join a conversation group, and speak only French where you can. Write in it and listen to it. If Prof learns it as well it will be easy for you to conerse with each other in the language, making your conversational skills much stronger and the vocab more readily absorbed.
Try writing emails to friends who speak it in French only.

Good luck!! Learning a new language can be difficult once we reach adulthood, and you will need to work hard at it, but no doubt you will learn what you set your mind too!
HTH

[blessedatlast]

I would go FRENCH too Go to a class, Tafe run them and sometimes you can get community centres running them too.. (although wouldn't be til next year now) My Mum and her friend went to French classes and loved it

[Phteven]

I would think that French might be the best of the ones you have mentioned because it will be easier to find a French class.
I think that learning in a class is better than through tapes and stuff but then again I'm a nerd who actually enjoys going to school It's more fun in a class because you have other people there and also having to turn up in class and looking like a spazz if you haven't practiced is motivation.

How to learn a language - practice your vocab especially irregular verbs and use it as often as possible.
French is bit tricky because it is a gendered langauge. Everything is either male or female.

I'm looking for a Japanese class at the moment. I'm looking forward to it because I'm assured that everything is pronounced as it is written and that compared to the European languages I have learnt that the grammar is relatively simple (no genders yay!!). We're planning to go to Japan in March so I had better get a move on lol.

[Glamourcide]

French!! It's such a beautiful language I learned it in primary school and have taught myself a bit more over the years, it and German (as a PP said) are pretty similar to English in structure and rules so it will be a lot less confusing than trying to learn a completely 'foreign' language like Japanese etc, kwim?

Ahh, French is just so pretty, how could anybody NOT want to learn it! I wish I was better at it! Good luck, have fun with it

[Bumperstump Cummerbund]

Thanks for all your advice ladies Yep, I was leaning towards French, it's a good base. I tried to teach myself a few years ago, but I had no real motivation. Now, with one BIL and another on the way who speak it, there's more motivation!

LOL Glamourcide, I tease my BIL and ask him to talk to me in French - he could read the phone book and it would give me goosebumps *swoon*

[luna moth]

French or Spanish. Because you will get the most use out of them (being that most of the world speaks one of them)

I would start with French if you do not speak a LOTE now. It is a Teutonic language, meaning its structure is similar to English,

Actually French is a Romantic language. English vocabulary borrows heavily from the romance languages, but the structure is different. That said, it's reasonably simple compared to many other languages.

I speak fluent Spanish, it was SO easy to learn (I lived overseas immersed in it as a teenager) but French is fun.

I also recommend going to classes - partly because I'm a social learner, but also because it forces you to practice pronunciation. Without that, learning any language is a lot less useful.

DO it! I love languages.

[Bathsheba]

Yep, French, I'm on my phone ATM so have to be quick but I have found that listening to children's music in French really helps. Repetitive and it's something that easy to play again and again.

[MummaSue]

Yeah, another who was going to suggest french. I can speak french fairly well, can understand it when spoken to me better though. We did French at school (in Scotland) and i stayed with a french family for a month when I was 14. It's probably one of the best life experiences I have had!

There are some really good teach yourself language CDs out there too. We listen to ours in the car a lot and more so now that DD is here, we want her to be able to speak it too.

But getting a teacher is a good idea, so if you can find a class that would be awesome!

Have fun and good luck.... or should I say bonne chance!! xxx

[FabFiona]

You can download free learn French podcasts through the iTunes store to get you started.

[Nettie]

I would add to this that you can immerse yourself by watching the language you choose on SBS They have most main languages in newscasts through out the day (Spanish News, French News, etc).