Learning a Language

[clw_uk]

Hey


Need some advice, does anyone know any good websites or books that teach these languages


Latin
Thai
German
Japanese



Thanks in advance

metta

[shjohnk]

Take a look at these:

Thai: http://www.thai-language.com/ (Lokks pretty user friendly, and there's a forum to meet language partners etc.)
Japanese: http://www.japanese-language.org/ (Anything you wanted to know about Japanese, you'll probably find a link to it here!)
German: http://www.germanlanguageguide.com/ (Pretty comprehensive!)

Happy learning!!!

[Individual]

Hey


Need some advice, does anyone know any good websites or books that teach these languages


Latin
Thai
German
Japanese



Thanks in advance

metta

It's expensive, but if you can afford it, Rosetta Stone is very good for virtually any language:
http://www.rosettastone.com/

It's probably about the same or cheaper than language classes, though, and is very efficient.

If you can't afford it, then just about any book or website on foreign language will be about the same and it's simply a matter of devoting the time to memorization.

BTW, do you plan on trying to learn four languages at once? It's best to pick one to focus on and not learn others until you've mastered it. The language also won't stick very well unless you use it frequently (reading foreign media, traveling to a foreign country, etc.).

[tiltbillings]

if you can afford it, Rosetta Stone is very good for virtually any language:

It's probably about the same or cheaper than language classes, though, and is very efficient.

It is not the same as language classes. The equivalent would be a very good language class with a well done language lab and jettisoning the language class, leaving just the language lab. This approach may work for some, but there is something to be said for knowing the grammatical why and how Ní dhéanfainn mo mhún air dá mbeadh sé le thine! is I wouldn’t piss on him even if he were on fire!, but learning styles vary.

Rosetta Stone, I do not see as a stand alone product. Used in conjunction with a good language course as a language lab, it could be worth the money spent.

[mikenz66]

For Thai see also:
http://www.learningthai.com/index.php
The "Thai for Beginners" book advertised there
and the forum here: http://www.thailandqa.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=5

The learingthai website has an active version of the Thai classic "Read with Manee", which used to be the beginners book in Thai primary schools. I found that very useful in learning the alphabet, because it starts with really simple words...

The other site mentioned above: http://www.thai-language.com/ is also very useful.

Mike

[clw_uk]

Thanks for the help , i'll check out those sites and look into what classes are going on in my area



I did look at rossetastone but i cant afford that at the moment

BTW, do you plan on trying to learn four languages at once? It's best to pick one to focus on and not learn others until you've mastered it. The language also won't stick very well unless you use it frequently (reading foreign media, traveling to a foreign country, etc.).

Looking to learn Latin first, i think it takes a very smart person to be able to learn four at once

[appicchato]

...i cant afford that at the moment

Just a personal observation (and comment), but there's so much out there on the internet (for free), in many different formats...e-books, learning institution websites, mp3's, forums, etc....that it's nuts to pay anyone on the internet to learn a language...

[tiltbillings]

...i cant afford that at the moment

Just a personal observation (and comment), but there's so much out there on the internet (for free), in many different formats...e-books, learning institution websites, mp3's, forums, etc....that it's nuts to pay anyone on the internet to learn a language...

Depends upon the language and its difficulty.

[Dan74]

I learnt German from the Themen Neu books which I thought were excellent. They were selected by our teacher of course, but he was the best language teacher I've ever had and I've had a few (for three different languages). So I strongly recommend them!

Their latest incarnation:

http://www.hueber.de/themen-aktuell/

Good luck!

_/|\_

[mikenz66]

Depends upon the language and its difficulty.

Besides, there are quite good, cheap language books. For Thai, Thai For Beginners or Teach Yourself Thai can be purchased for about 30USD including CDs. While you can find the same information on web sites, it's not so easy to put together a coherent self-study plan. I find it's convenient to have a self-contained book, and audio that you can transfer to a portable player... With that as a basis the websites can be a tremendously useful way of extending your vocabulary.

Mike

[Dhammabodhi]

I second Dan, Themen Neu books are excellent. You can also look at http://german.about.com for beginner level german.
For Japanese, try searching for "Let's learn japanese" on youtube, they have a series of very nice beginner level japanese.

Hope this helps,
Dhammabodhi

[Macavity]

Looking to learn Latin first,

Which period? And what is your mother tongue? If it's the Golden and Silver Ages of Latin literature, for example, then you should start with a good 19th century British or German textbook. Benjamin D'Ooge's Latin for Beginners, for example. This book's public domain and has been scanned and placed online, so google for it. But if you aim to read, say, the mediaeval Schoolmen or Renaissance humanists, then it would be better to start with some more specialized works. Let me know your interests.

Kind regards,
Ciarán (a teacher of medical Latin to Thai pharmacology students )

[christopher:::]

If you purchase a multiregional DVD player then you can also make use of movies for informal language study and practice. I teach this method to my students, in Japan. Pick up DVDs of a few of your favorite films with multiple language options, then use the different audio and subtitle options for language practice...

DVDs are great cause you can pause, repeat, switch languages. Ideal for reading and listening practice. Also for shadowing, imitation of native speakers modeling intonation and pronunciation in the target language.

My eldest son improved his listening comprehension and picked up a lot of useful English vocabulary this way...

[tiltbillings]

Those movies in Latin, they are something.

[clw_uk]

Looking to learn Latin first,

Which period? And what is your mother tongue? If it's the Golden and Silver Ages of Latin literature, for example, then you should start with a good 19th century British or German textbook. Benjamin D'Ooge's Latin for Beginners, for example. This book's public domain and has been scanned and placed online, so google for it. But if you aim to read, say, the mediaeval Schoolmen or Renaissance humanists, then it would be better to start with some more specialized works. Let me know your interests.

Kind regards,
Ciarán (a teacher of medical Latin to Thai pharmacology students )

Im looking more at Classical Latin. My mother tongue is British English, thanks for the resources

[Lampang]

These are various links I've collected over the years and filed away in my Thai Language folder. I think they all work but quite a few are for language schools in Thailand so probably won't be of much interest. The last link is - or should be - a complete language course from the American government. As I'm sure you know, Thai is a tonal language and there are also vowel and consonants which don't exist in English (or between which English speakers don't distinguish) so you really need the help of a native speaker. On the plus side, learn to read and you'll have a big advantage when it comes to pronunciation; relying on transliteration into the Roman alphabet or the IPA is a bad, bad idea. Good luck!

http://ichi2.net/anki/index.html
http://ic.payap.ac.th/certificate/thai/about.php
http://www.its4thai.com
http://dict.longdo.com/
http://vaja.nectec.or.th
http://ic.payap.ac.th/certificate
http://www.sealang.net/archives/noss/
http://sealang.net
http://www.thailandphotoalbum.com/SpokenThai.html
http://www.learningthai.com/comprehensi ... _006_1.htm
http://www.teachthai.com/
http://www.geocities.com/siamsmile365/t ... ticles.htm
http://www.learningthai.com/radio/
http://www.thai-language.com/
http://www.lyndonhill.com/FunThai/CONTENTS.htm
http://www.voanews.com/thai/
http://learn-thai-podcast.com/
http://www.learningthai.com/thai_north.htm
http://thai.hawaii.edu/thai101
http://thai.hawaii.edu/thaiarc/folktale ... index.html
http://www.fsi-language-courses.com/Thai.aspx

[mikenz66]

Apart from not teaching the Thai Alphabet (which is a big disadvantage in my view), the FSI course is actually pretty good. Very thorough on grammar and vocabulary.

The Vietnam-era scenarios are also a hoot.
Check out the details about how to talk about all kinds of government and military officials in Lesson 8.
I wonder if the sentence in Lesson 8 (P127): "The USIS auditorium is on Pat Pong street" is supposed to be humorous... Perhaps the bars weren't there in 1970...

Mike