Working away....

[Tingles]

All week on a new gig...

Thinking of using my time productivily....(for a change).

Want to learn a foreign a language - thought it would come in handy professionally and when I retire in 7 years....

Any ideas?

Probably use Rosetta Stone and/or get a 1-2-1 tutor.

No, I don't want to work or retire in Madras....


Cheers...



T

[Mehmeh]

go for it!

a foreign language is amazing to have.

Rosetta stone is good, i used this aswell as class room based and one of the "teach yourself" books and cd that i used on the bus.

Hidden moments were my little trick, every day i would have 10-20 new words written down on a piece of paper with the english on the back, and have it in my wallet. Any time that i was waiting for a bus or waiting for the phone to ring i would see if i could get another 1 or 2 words into memory...sounds silly but they QUICKLY add up.

good luck

[Badger]

I'm starting to do a similar thing. If you have an ipod/itouch/iphone there a loads of free learning podcasts available form the iTunes store. For the cost of a Rosetta Stone course I think you'd get more value from 1-2-1 training.

Also take a look at:

http://www.livemocha.com/
http://www.byki.com/
http://www.radiolingua.com/

Also try the BBC's learning site and the Open University

[Board Game Geek]

Want to learn a foreign a language

May I suggest Italian ?

You're already halfway there.

[SizeZero]

If you tell us which language you plan to study, the chances are someone might already have learned it and can share their experience.

Rosetta Stone is good for cramming vocabulary and simple sentences, but you won't learn complex sentences that you'd hear in business (or talking to the neighbours when you retire). They have a basic lesson (Turkish) to try on their website.

The hardest part is listening and speaking a new language (it seems to get harder as you get older too). Make sure that you get a native-speaker to tutor you because you rely a lot on their pronunciation and nuances/inflections. It maybe better (cheaper?) to find either a tutor or intensive course in the country you plan on working/moving to but you will need to practice after that or you will start to forget what you learned. There are also Skype tutors out there for conversation practice (I'm trying to find a Skype language exchange forum that I once came across, but it's eluding me - will post if I find it).

[minestrone]

May I suggest Italian ?

You're already halfway there.

[NotAllThere]

If you're doing French, Italian, German or Spanish, I suggest you first do Michel Thomas. There are also other packages that use his technique.

I got my grounding in German through this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Michel-Thoma...9459892&sr=8-1

After doing it, the only stuff I really had to work at was vocabulary.

I used to work away from home a lot. I learned Java that way, which was a useful addition to my primary skillset, and earned me a few pennies. Nowadays, I work on plan B.