The No Thick Manuals wiki details how to learn a language efficiently using two free, open source applications. The first is jVLT (java Vocabulary Learning Tool), a completely cross platform flash card application.
There are a number of different ways to study a language, each of which has advantages and disadvantages. You may find a combination of these is best for you.
* Taught courses
* Teaching yourself
* Language exchange
* Picking it up by osmosis
1. Improve your English - I know this might not make sense at first but hear me out. As a person who speaks only one language you have no basis for comparison; all you know is English. In different languages the same idea is often expressed in different ways. Knowing another language gives you a great measuring stick.
The first step is acquiring the materials you will use to teach yourself. The first thing you need is an audio language course. This is essential for developing your basic vocabulary and, more importantly, your pronunciation.
Webapp Mango offers 11 free foreign language courses in Spanish, Russian, Greek, German, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Brazilian Portuguese, French, Italian and Polish. Simply sign up with your email address and you’re ready to go. Choose any of the available courses and view slideshow presentations instantly.
Read more…
It’s always good go through old files and see which ones are being downloaded and which aren’t. While going through the files I decided to make the top 10 most popular downloads from this site. Here they are in reverse order.
Read more…
Open Culture has collected a pretty extensive list of foreign language lesson podcasts. You can find them here.
This site explains Japanese grammar in a systematic step-by-step process and is released under the Creative Commons License. It was created as a resource for those who want to learn Japanese grammar in a rational, intuitive way that makes sense in Japanese. The explanations are focused on how to make sense of the grammar not from English but from a Japanese point of view. To learn more about this guide, go to the introduction page and start learning this intriguing and unique language!
If you’re interested in learning a language in ‘07, iTunes has a whole section of podcasts devoted to language.
To get there, just head to the iTunes Music Store, then go to Podcast -> Education -> Language Courses.
So for this episode we decided to come up with our Japancast Christmas List 2007. For all your family members who always ask you “what do you want for Christmas” and you never can come up with anything on the spot - this list is for you.
First on the list would be Japanese study materials, and for me the best series you can buy is the Pimsleur Comprehensive series:
Copyright 2007-2008 Education Revolution. All Rights Reserved.
