Learning a new language for a FF

[Loga2015]

Hey!

I was wondering to learn a new language(Preferably Japanese), and want to know a good source to learn this. My work makes me travel mostly 2-3 weeks every month, so attending classes seems out of the question.
Have any of you been able to do this keeping up with your travel routine?
If yes, please do share your experience

 

[Isochronous]

Sign up for an account at italki.com and have private lessons through that. Send me a Pm and I will give you m referral link which should offer free credit towards lessons

 

[TheRealTMA]

Have a look at the Michael Thomas courses on CD. Easily transferred to phone/tablet.

 

[Buzzard]

A friend of mine, a courier driver, learnt Italian via a CD (it did come with a book too). He figured that if he was driving around all day he might as well learn something as he goes along.

There should also be some basic lessons on Youtube which you can download and watch/listen/learn anytime.

 

[boregos]

Duolingo is another good option, either through the website, or there's an app (I use iPad/iPhone, not sure about other OSs). I have also found that the app can often be used when not connected to the Internet, it seems to download and store some of the lessons.

 

[footy99]

Michel Thomas CDs are great for learning to speak the language in a few days well enough to get by. But don't really help with reading/writing. Depends what you're after.

 

[LadyC]

Another fan of Duolingo here. Great to do something useful during the daily commute.

 

[Radio8tiv]

I used Innovative Language if you sign up they give you a free account, I just downloaded what I needed and played the mp3 on my iPod
I also downloaded their app and watched videos on the iPad. They have all levels but for a beginner I found the "survival Phrases" quite good.

oh you must download what you think you need in the first week after that they want money to excess more on their site.

I used Duolingo for a bit of french, but no Japanese

 

[anat0l]

Duolingo is alright, but there is currently no Japanese lesson module (or almost any language that requires a non-Roman script). I picked up and trained some French using Duolingo, however it wasn't my favourite means of learning.

I used mainly whatever lesson videos I could find on Youtube. With the correct tools, you can download these videos and save them to your smartphone to listen to. Videos are much better than Duolingo for pronunciation, because real people are actually doing the pronunciation and not just a robot (which actually tends to mispronounce the words).

There is a Japanese section on about.com - Free Japanese Lessons – Learn the Japanese Language - which would be a good resource. It's not necessarily a lesson programme, although there appears to be some sort of "free lessons guide" on it, here: Start Learning - Free Japanese Lessons . I used the French about.com to help me understand some of the finer points of the language or specific things, e.g. how to express the past tense, or why two related words are used in certain situations, or how to say "I love you", etc.


If you are learning Japanese - or any language for that matter - practice getting the pronunciation right. This can be difficult without experiencing it in real life with another Japanese (particularly, native) speaker, but try your hardest. In particular, try to master the pronunciation of the Japanese "r", the difference between short and long "o", and "double consonants" (written with small "tsu", e.g. yatta, nippon, dotchi...)

Gambatte kudasai!

 

[JohnK]

Another AFFer has learnt Thai listening to CD/cassette to/from work in a relatively short time.

I have been learning Thai but slowly. No spare time to spend to learn it quickly. Plus I would rather find a free way of learning the language.