I’m a dumb idiot American who only speaks 1 language fluently and doesn’t have the money to pay for foreign language classes at a university. What are some good ways to learn a new language from the absolute starting point
I’m a dumb idiot American who only speaks 1 language fluently and doesn’t have the money to pay for foreign language classes at a university. What are some good ways to learn a new language from the absolute starting point
You beautiful person thank you so much
You’re welcome.
There’s a lot of two things on the internet when it comes to learning languages. One, it’s so easy with my product that if you give me $500 you’ll learn your TL with just 3 minutes a day for three months. Two, this language is too difficult for native speakers of XYZ and/or adults can’t learn languages anyway.
Both narratives are bollocks, but you’ve got to watch out for them otherwise people will try to sell you snake oil or discourage you. You’ll see lots of different media in my guide above; watch out for people telling you that you only need one resource (whether it’s grammar, TV, subtitles, radio, ‘no English’, etc). You can certainly succeed without following my guide (or picking parts of it and excluding others), but you’ll still need a combination of resources. Some people swear by Anki and Duolingo, but I can’t get on with either of them. IMO it’s best to start simple.
The trick, I think, is to be realistic and encourage each other just enough to get started, and before you know it you’ve fallen in love with the language and the culture and you’ll learn it whatever method you begin with.
Feel free to ask other questions as you get stuck in. For now, I’ll add something that I forgot to summarise. The above guide aims to build proficiency in the four big skills – reading, listening, speaking, and writing. They’re all interconnected, although they will develop at different rates. The more you practice any one of them, the better you’ll become.