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Your favorite language program?

 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes Post Reply
376 messages over 47 pages: << Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ... 25 ... 46 47 Next >>
raffster81
Newbie
Canada
Joined 4740 days ago

2 posts - 2 votes
Studies: English*

 
 Message 193 of 376
06 April 2011 at 5:15am | IP Logged 
I am very new to all the language programs out there and have tried livemocha, lingQ, busuu and the first free lessen in Pimsleur which I really enjoyed as it stayed in my head where I seemed to forget the others. I also tried Rocket German which I found a little cheesy. I guess its just trial and error and finding what works for YOU. I'm a little surprised Tell me more has barely been mentioned, I wonder why? I haven't looked into Assimil and Fluenz but am going to as they seem to be highly recommended here.
1 person has voted this message useful



leyus
Diglot
Newbie
United Kingdom
Joined 5196 days ago

21 posts - 31 votes
Speaks: Polish*, English
Studies: Spanish

 
 Message 194 of 376
24 April 2011 at 2:27am | IP Logged 
1. Anki,
2. Mnemosyne,

Pimsleur, Tell me more and busuu looks good. Also livemocha looks good, however with those few I didn't had enough experience as I started to use them recently.

The worst software I ever used was Supermemo - faulty and annoying.
1 person has voted this message useful



Haukilahti
Triglot
Groupie
Finland
Joined 4723 days ago

94 posts - 126 votes 
Speaks: Finnish*, English, Polish

 
 Message 195 of 376
24 April 2011 at 9:07am | IP Logged 
If I have to choose only one, then Assimil.

While I am not an SRS fan - I have downloaded, used for a week and abandoned Anki maybe 5-6 times in my life - I confess I like the integrated language course (with textbook & mp3 recordings) AND srs approach of Supermemo.
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Haukilahti
Triglot
Groupie
Finland
Joined 4723 days ago

94 posts - 126 votes 
Speaks: Finnish*, English, Polish

 
 Message 197 of 376
26 April 2011 at 11:06am | IP Logged 
szastprast wrote:
I did try Assimil, the audio was annoyingly slow and artificial, there were no grammar explanations, I gave it up.

Just to point out that usually the first week or two (7-14 lessons) are very slow, but it soon gets to an acceptable speed. The lesson notes and the weekly notes (7, 14, 21,...) get also more and more grammar-heavy.

The above in my experiences with Assimil in a few languages, no idea of Assimil Japanese though.
1 person has voted this message useful



jazzboy.bebop
Senior Member
Norway
norwegianthroughnove
Joined 5177 days ago

439 posts - 800 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Norwegian

 
 Message 198 of 376
26 April 2011 at 10:40pm | IP Logged 
szastprast wrote:
I did try Assimil, the audio was annoyingly slow and artificial, there were no grammar explanations, I gave it up.


I'd recommend you give Assimil another chance, the language you find in Assimil courses is usually far more natural than that found in most courses and the audio does speed up considerably throughout the course, though at the end it is still a little slower than normal but not much so.

The point in Assimil is to at first learn to understand a decent amount of content with minimum active practice with grammar by learning the content passively then going back and actively trying to reproduce the language and look more at the grammar at the point where you are expected to reproduce the language.

The reasoning is that if you can passively understand a fair amount of content and then start to pay more attention to grammar it becomes easier to understand and use than if you start with trying to fully learn and actively use the grammar from the start.

You do get taught grammar in the passive phase bit by bit but you are not meant to focus too much on it until the active phase by which time you have passively learned a decent amount of content and can then better relate the grammar points with what you already know and you will naturally have begun to infer some of the grammar points anyway so your knowledge and ability to manipulate the language solidifies more quickly than if you just learn grammar right from the start.

This also helps make the course easier to digest for many people as the course does not demand lots of effort right from the start and helps establish a habit of doing it every day. I've been going through New French With Ease and am just about to hit the active phase and I've been loving it so far, especially compared to other materials I have come across.

How far did you go with the course anyway?
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jazzboy.bebop
Senior Member
Norway
norwegianthroughnove
Joined 5177 days ago

439 posts - 800 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: Norwegian

 
 Message 200 of 376
28 April 2011 at 4:39pm | IP Logged 
szastprast wrote:
jazzboy.bebop wrote:
szastprast wrote:
I did try Assimil, the
audio was annoyingly slow and artificial, there were no grammar explanations, I gave it
up.


This also helps make the course easier to digest for many people as the course does not
demand lots of effort right from the start and helps establish a habit of doing it
every day.

How far did you go with the course anyway?


You are perfectly right. But what I like is an overview of the most important grammar
points and pronunciation rules right from the outset. You get neither in Japanese
Assimil. Another thing I like are speakers that pronounce clearly but naturally. They
don't do it in Japanese Assimil. Another thing I like are etexts, to be able to make
kanji big enough and be able to check the info about them.
I liked this sentence 外国語を会得するのは、何語であっても、時 間がかかります。一番大切な事は、まず、始
めることです。 at the end of the course. A nice piece of advice.

As to 'establishing a habit of doing it every day' - some people need it, but I don't.
What I like is reading, about animals mainly. I can do it all day long. So to learn
some Japanese I was using this site http://www.nhk.or.jp/school/clip.html. I watched
the video clips. A good thing about them is that they are short and come with
transcript, I could check the meaning by pasting etexts here: http://wwwjdic.se/cgi-
bin/wwwjdic.cgi?9T. It is a nice site, I am glad my friend told me about it.


Ah I see, everyone has their own learning preferences and of course it is best to go
with what you prefer than anything else. Nice site reference, I'll definitely bookmark
that for future use.


1 person has voted this message useful



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