Learning the language before you go
 

One of the things that struck me when I went to Morocco was how bad my French was, when I came back I set about learning to speak correctly so that I could at least make myself understood when buying food etc....

Today I've discovered this service from the BBC I had no idea existed! Anyone tried it is it any good ? Got to beat paying £80 for a course!?

BBC - Languages - Homepage

If I had to learn a language before I went anywhere I'd never get out of South London! :eek3:


It is a good helpful link you provided Matt

NO don't pay, they are free here:
FSI Language Courses


These courses are very old but very good.

Best of all, learn the language in the place you're going. This gives you a chance to meet some local people, is much cheaper and, all in, is a far more pleasant cultural experience. Whole towns in Mexico and Guatemala make their living this way. I would choose a place away from the learner favourites myself - who wants to be surrounded by westerners abroad?

Every town, however high its hick status, will have plenty of teachers keen to take you on. They may help you finding reasonably priced short term accommodation too.

Simon

Sorry should have pointed out (assuming everyone is from Britain!) that the BBC stuff is free :-)

We've been living in France for 6 months now and my French is still far from bon.
I've used the Michel Thomas CDs which are not free but I find them very useful.
I've also used the BBC which I don't find as good.
But I have just signed up for a "proper" French course.
By all means try the BBC, it cost nothing so nothing to lose.
There are other courses around as well though which google should find for you.
Good luck.

Div ye not knaa how te taak proper Queens english like?:D

I'm going to give the BBC German course a go. Been years since I first did German at school and college and I don't seem to be able to get on with the CD course I picked up. I think most of my trips in the foreseeable future will be Germany, Austria and the Italian Dolomites so should come in handy.

I do find some of the free podcast courses quite good - search for them in iTunes - some of them even come with vocab sheets etc...

French For Beginners

m

Spanish
 

One of the best, fun and accessible resources I've come across:

Learn Spanish with Notes in Spanish Podcasts! : Notes in Spanish - Learn Spanish with Podcast Audio Conversation from Spain.

Very "Spanish", though.

[QUOTE=mattcbf600;175439]One of the things that struck me when I went to Morocco was how bad my French was, when I came back I set about learning to speak correctly so that I could at least make myself understood when buying food etc....


I had exactly the same experience four or five years ago and set about improving my French (or trying to).
There are evening classes at various levels in my area but they are horrendously expensive (£200 per term for my wife and I to go) so I started with the Michel Thomas discs to try and get some base level of ability before mixing with others. I must have gone through the 12 CDs about 20 times each to the point where I can now repeat them parrot fashion and it has enabled me to hold my own in the evening classes. Three years on no one is going to mistake me for a native and I still can't follow French film's without the subtitles but for someone with no linguistic ability I'm amazed how much I'm now able to do.
I was recently given the German and Spanish discs!

Matt, presumably you'll be doing video review of the BBC stuff - in French of course.

I've been using Radio Lingua Network | Learn Spanish online with free podcasts, good if you live in the place you can practice as they give you 15 minute podcasts as the lessons. So listening to a couple a day is easily possible.

The bonus for Scottish people is that (being produced by a Scottish guy), they include Scottish examples in the language lessons.

he he! :rofl:

Not sure how that would work - except maybe if it was extensively sub-titled!

Really interesting to see all the resources people use to learn the language... please keep it coming I've got a whole list of places to try now :-)

[quote=backofbeyond;175652]I've just signed up for French lessons in la belle France and it's 100€ (£70 ish) a term which is 10 X 2 hour lessons. So it's a bit cheaper here.

Other websites I've come across which may or may not be of use -
Learn Spanish, French, Italian, German and 58 other languages with BYKI software. which I haven't actually tried,
French - free worksheets for French verbs and vocabulary, English-French + French-English
and French TV
BBC - Languages - How can I watch French TV programmes?

Yay!!
 

Matt!

I've been FURIOUSLY, studying in the past 6 months trying to improve my French in prep for our trip next year... (Me and Gigi agreed that she will worry about GPS and I'll learn the LANGUAGE!)

I've done the BBC courses (got it tutored at a local evening college) and its good for basic knowledge...to get you started. I've got loads of other resources too -- will dig them out for you.


HOWEVER --- the problem is, its really not good enough to have 'basic French' because... its just even MORE frustrating....

The key is in PRACTISING it, SPEAKING it with others...

Maybe we can practice on each other?? Lets start a French thread in the Bar!!!

Sounds good, will we have to use 'French Letters'?? :thumbup1:

ROFL. I'm not allowed to incite or gloat. So I can't answer appropriately. :euro:

Il sera un peu difficile a parler avec les autres utilisant un texte, non?

Mais tu peu corriger ma grammaire a commencer. Merci, a "Gigi" et toi!

Here's a great way to learn enough to get by in most countries. Won't get you fluent, but will help with the day to day travel stuff.

Learn the Lingo - Travellers Language Guides

I have to admit that I'm useless when it comes to languages. Last year was my first trip to the darkside (France). Previously I've been to Scandinavia where I've only needed to speak English. I tried some free CD's I'd got from the "Sundays" and found them really boring. I don't need to know how to get a train or a hotel. They try to do a story you can follow but it seems quite irrelevant to me so it wasn't much help. In the end I just went and said sod it I'll manage. I had a phrase book and had to learn the bits I needed day to day. I quickly learned that it helped immensly if I said it in a French accent and not my native Midlands! Everyone I met was brilliant and very helpful, contrary to my pre-conceptions. I stopped on a farm campsite near Gap and the owners spoke no English and I spoke no French. After two days they knew some English and I knew some French. It was a great experience and it set the tone for the whole 3 weeks. What a wonderful country. I hope my experience in Spain and Portugal this year are as good. I don't speak a word of either!

The Gym
 

I spend 3-4 hours week in the gym or running on country roads (in a desperate attempt to allow me to keep up the pie ratio). I find that listening to Russian mp3 tuition then is great. It takes my mind off the pain of exercise, and also, I tend to think of this is using my valuable time twice!

Also, I like the 'stress' aspect of learning Russian whilst ou of breath and trying not to fall of a treadmill. I think I may be kinky ;)

In about a year I feel I've made great progress. And bear in mind this is coming from a complete novice when it comes to languages.

Might not suit alsorts, but it's probably worth considering where you have some dead time (driving, exercising, hovering etc etc), and utilising that. Just a thought.

Oh, perhaps a word of warning. I had to give up listenig to it when I was driving

Jenny and Ollie's Big Trip

Yes lots of English people are hostile to the French, who are a perfectly nice bunch of people - as any nationality is. So I'm glad your "darkside " joke changed to finding the French as nice as anyone else. A result for openness! The English seem to be the only nation with many people who seem to automatically dislike others, ie, French, Germans, Spanish etc. It's embarrassing to hear this all the time, including endless little anti foreigner jokes on TV.

Well done doctor, in putting aside your "preconceptions".

How far will English get you?
 

We could all learn French like this guy intends to learn:-

BBC NEWS | UK | England | Bristol/Somerset | Language barrier scuppers walker

MY guess is that when he hits the German or Italian border on the way to India he will turn around again!

"If I had to learn a language before I went anywhere I'd never get out of South London!"

Ditto. I've always blamed it on the horrible French teacher I had. But that was 30 years ago, and she's probably long dead. However, I've now been in Latin American countries for two years, with no languages courses, and I'm a burra. (donkey) I've concluded you need to be a very social person to excel, as you have to actually TALK and practice with people.

But, it's embarrasing. How I manage to understand/get by as much as I do truly defies the imagination. Someone just mailed me a bootleg copy of the Rosetta Stone, which everyone swears by. I'll keep you posted...

Matt, I think if you took a cooking class in French, you'd be fluent in no time. ;-)
(On that note, still haven't tried any of the rice tips, too cheap in Bolivia to bother even buying a bag of rice!

Lorraine

I'm absolutely crap with these podcasts and audiotapes and so forth because I'm more of a visual learner.
After months of frustration trying to learn Italian my dad sent me to
Learn Spanish, French, Italian, German and 60 other languages with BYKI software.
Which is basically a program of flash cards with audio attached.
It doesn't sound like much but it really kicks ass!
I can't believe the progress I've made with it.

.. Seriously I'm not affiliate with the company. I just LOVE the software! :D

Thanks for the link. I've just downloaded Spanish. I'll give it a go.

Hey thanks alot for that link - spot on - making loads of progress with that - thanks!

Don't waste your time learning more than the minimum to get by, the extra effort won't be very useful. Most people only learn a language effectively thru immersion anyway.

I found, when I travelled to Japan for the first time, I didn't understand anything they were saying, so my prep seemed to be a waste of time. Eventually I realized the only way to learn Japanese is to live in Japan. And after speaking to many people about this, it turns out this is right. Of course Japanese is an extreme example because the language is so much different than English. The upside to knowing some Japanese is that it immediately becomes useful because few people over there speak decent English. After 5 trips to Japan, I can 'get by' in Japanese but I am severely limited by vocabulary and the colloquial speech that Japanese use between each other.

It's funny how most people here ride Japanese bikes, yet Japan isn't a top destination.

And before you think the language you are trying to learn is 'impossible' just remember, there are plenty of kids out there speaking it effortlessly. If kids can do it, surely you can do it too.

just downloaded a couple of ones from BYKI in the hope my total lack of language skills can be overcome.
nice finds people.