I'm really interested in purchasing My Chinese Coach. :)
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How effective are those Learn Some Language DS games?
- Thread starter RaptorEngineer
- Start date
If you're serious about learning a second language, you're better off saving up 200 extra dollars and getting rosetta stone. If by some stretch you're not capable of saving that kind of money up, don't blow 20 dollars on what equates to a year of 3rd grade Spanish.
or, you know, learn how to use the internet...
I've played My Spanish Coach many times. While it is really helpful for someone who knows absolutely nothing about the language, it's shit if you actually do know some.
At the beginning, they make you take this proficiency test. Even if you get the entire test perfect (which I did), they still make you start off in a really basic level, which is incredibly annoying, because it's akin to level grinding in an RPG.
Also, if you want to learn how to actually speak the language with other people, these games won't work very well. While yes, these games are full of vocabulary, they don't do very much to actually help you speak the language. It's a lot like learning a language in elementary school. They just drill vocabulary through you and make you conjugate a lot of verbs, but it really just doesn't help much with grammar and how to effectively communicate with people in that language. In addition, the vocabulary that they ask you just becomes random and unhelpful.
If you really want to learn a language, I'd recommend putting a podcast on your ipod if you have one that has lessons on that language. If you don't have an ipod, the local library in your city most likely has language-learning packages that you can borrow from pretty much every language widely spoken (though the obscure ones probably not). Also, to really learn a language, you NEED to have someone you can actually practice the language with. Just learning how to write the language is not enough. Speaking is very important as well, and if you can't speak it with anyone, it's quite hard to learn a language.
At the beginning, they make you take this proficiency test. Even if you get the entire test perfect (which I did), they still make you start off in a really basic level, which is incredibly annoying, because it's akin to level grinding in an RPG.
Also, if you want to learn how to actually speak the language with other people, these games won't work very well. While yes, these games are full of vocabulary, they don't do very much to actually help you speak the language. It's a lot like learning a language in elementary school. They just drill vocabulary through you and make you conjugate a lot of verbs, but it really just doesn't help much with grammar and how to effectively communicate with people in that language. In addition, the vocabulary that they ask you just becomes random and unhelpful.
If you really want to learn a language, I'd recommend putting a podcast on your ipod if you have one that has lessons on that language. If you don't have an ipod, the local library in your city most likely has language-learning packages that you can borrow from pretty much every language widely spoken (though the obscure ones probably not). Also, to really learn a language, you NEED to have someone you can actually practice the language with. Just learning how to write the language is not enough. Speaking is very important as well, and if you can't speak it with anyone, it's quite hard to learn a language.
If you're serious about learning a language, you can start by just listening to a lot of the spoken language. A LOT. Even if you don't know what's going on at first your brain will become familiar with the sounds.
The next thing you're going to want to do is familiarize yourself with the writing system and start reading almost immediately afterwards. The theory is that if you're constantly reading something that's slightly beyond your grasp, you'll be attentive to those new vocabulary and structures. Alternatively you can get your sentences from online dictionaries, but I would only do this when you're really early in your studies, otherwise it's better to get your input in proper context.
I haven't tried the DS games, but generally speaking a highly structured approach to language learning is not the way to go. This is why you probably aren't going to acquire any languages in school. Instead pick content that you want to read and mine for sentences/words (in context only). If you desire a grammatical explanation there are probably some really good textbooks out there that can sum things up for you and give you more ways to construct sentences (I wouldn't bother with these too early though), and trust me, having a professor lecture about something in a poor English accent that can be summed up in 10 minutes and with real examples does not make learning language easier, if anything it's a waste of time. "Conjugate class 5 verbs in past tense after adverbs only, or something" - what the fuck does that even mean?
PS: Rosetta Stone is a waste of time unless you only want to be able to go ask for directions in your target language, from what I understand.
PPS: For learning Chinese characters go buy the book James Heisig's Remembering the Hanzi. Learn to write the characters before you start your study (+ their meanings), then learn how to read them in pinyin or whatever in context only. (Maybe there's a better method to learning Chinese phonetically? You should always try to get some opinions first. Also, there might be a FireFox add-on that could install the readings above all the characters, I know there's one for Japanese.)
Disclaimer: I do not by any means speak Chinese, but I study linguistics and language acquisition in general.
The next thing you're going to want to do is familiarize yourself with the writing system and start reading almost immediately afterwards. The theory is that if you're constantly reading something that's slightly beyond your grasp, you'll be attentive to those new vocabulary and structures. Alternatively you can get your sentences from online dictionaries, but I would only do this when you're really early in your studies, otherwise it's better to get your input in proper context.
I haven't tried the DS games, but generally speaking a highly structured approach to language learning is not the way to go. This is why you probably aren't going to acquire any languages in school. Instead pick content that you want to read and mine for sentences/words (in context only). If you desire a grammatical explanation there are probably some really good textbooks out there that can sum things up for you and give you more ways to construct sentences (I wouldn't bother with these too early though), and trust me, having a professor lecture about something in a poor English accent that can be summed up in 10 minutes and with real examples does not make learning language easier, if anything it's a waste of time. "Conjugate class 5 verbs in past tense after adverbs only, or something" - what the fuck does that even mean?
PS: Rosetta Stone is a waste of time unless you only want to be able to go ask for directions in your target language, from what I understand.
PPS: For learning Chinese characters go buy the book James Heisig's Remembering the Hanzi. Learn to write the characters before you start your study (+ their meanings), then learn how to read them in pinyin or whatever in context only. (Maybe there's a better method to learning Chinese phonetically? You should always try to get some opinions first. Also, there might be a FireFox add-on that could install the readings above all the characters, I know there's one for Japanese.)
Disclaimer: I do not by any means speak Chinese, but I study linguistics and language acquisition in general.
If you can find any spanish television I highly recommend watching that with subtitles. It can really help you learn to associate sounds with words. Really helped me save what I could of my french.
Well, I used My French Coach for a little bit (I got it as Christmas present a few years back), and if I recall right, it reminded me somewhat of a classroom approach.
You could check out UniLang (unilang.org), which provides free resources for learning and practicing a foreign language.
You could check out UniLang (unilang.org), which provides free resources for learning and practicing a foreign language.
I might mine that website for content later, but it seems kind of exhausting.
Another site you might want to check out is lingq.com. Basically, you read articles on a plethora of different subjects, starting from the begginingest of levels all the way up to advanced, highlighting new words as you go along. The new words are inserted into a flashcard system and you quiz yourself on them as you progress in your studies. IIRC the information is all free, but there's a cap on the amount of words you can save per month unless you pay a monthly fee. I believe a premium account will get you one on one tutor sessions as well via skype, but I'm not sure I'd go that far.
On the note of flash cards, you're going to want an SRS system to assist your studies. A Spaced Repetition System is basically an automated flashcard program that only quizzes you on content that you're not familiar with, based on how you grade your self per card (I use 'mnemosyne'). I use it for all kinds of content, including characters, sentences, and even some vocabulary (mind you the vocab is only for the course I'm taking.. fucking degree requirements)
I realize this was a pretty wordy post, let me know if you have any questions or if you think I'm just some lunatic giving you all kinds of unsubstantiated advice.
(I hope this isn't considered off-topic..)
Another site you might want to check out is lingq.com. Basically, you read articles on a plethora of different subjects, starting from the begginingest of levels all the way up to advanced, highlighting new words as you go along. The new words are inserted into a flashcard system and you quiz yourself on them as you progress in your studies. IIRC the information is all free, but there's a cap on the amount of words you can save per month unless you pay a monthly fee. I believe a premium account will get you one on one tutor sessions as well via skype, but I'm not sure I'd go that far.
On the note of flash cards, you're going to want an SRS system to assist your studies. A Spaced Repetition System is basically an automated flashcard program that only quizzes you on content that you're not familiar with, based on how you grade your self per card (I use 'mnemosyne'). I use it for all kinds of content, including characters, sentences, and even some vocabulary (mind you the vocab is only for the course I'm taking.. fucking degree requirements)
I realize this was a pretty wordy post, let me know if you have any questions or if you think I'm just some lunatic giving you all kinds of unsubstantiated advice.
(I hope this isn't considered off-topic..)
I agree with pretty much everything Duckster has said. Rossetta Stone is overpriced and not very good. You will need contact with native speakers at some point, especially for a tonal language (or dialect) like Mandarin.
As long as we are discussing resources, some good ones for language-learning in general:
http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/default.asp
http://www.youtube.com/user/ProfASAr
http://www.youtube.com/user/lingosteve
And Mandarin resources:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlOKd7Wwr90
http://chinesepod.com/
http://www.lingq.com/
As long as we are discussing resources, some good ones for language-learning in general:
http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/default.asp
http://www.youtube.com/user/ProfASAr
http://www.youtube.com/user/lingosteve
And Mandarin resources:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlOKd7Wwr90
http://chinesepod.com/
http://www.lingq.com/