The Compendium Language Learners' Corner

[rushingwind]

Thanks for that Spanish site Uboa! Hah, I had to laugh at...

'quince' - fifteen   [KEEN-theh]

Been doing it wrong all this time... Depending on which country/region one lives in, of course. 

Be careful, that's the Castilian Spanish pronunciation. It'll sound great in parts of Spain, but not so great in the Americas.

[GenesisOne]

120 days?  Has it really been that long?

Okay, then.  Time to relish in my latest language learning antics.

I finally got all three levels of Rosetta Stone: Japanese, and let me tell you:

It's been a blast learning the basics and working my way up.  I'm still at the first Unit of the first Level, but I am just loving its Dynamic Immersion™ technique.  I've never really learned a language like this before, and it's radically different from what I learned while in a language class at a college or university.

I have to really thank a good friend (whom I shall not reveal for his own sake) for who gave me this software to use.  He's in international business media, so he gets these things for free from his corporate overheads.  All three levels of any Rosetta Stone software costs over $1000, so I am really feeling thankful for what I've been given.

I'm still on Language Basics, but I'm slowly but surely breaking through the language barrier.  Before I know it, I'll be doing actual translation work!  Bwa ha ha ha ha! 

[Zephira]

Well, I'm going to enroll in the Livemocha Japanese thing. It'd probably be better to do that after school. Thanks for the resources, Uboa!
I probably ought to learn Spanish too, but I've never really liked it. Still, it would be useful. Japanese first! (also I'm forwarding these links to my step-dad to help with his out-of-country business trips)

[Yourgingerestfan]

 My German and Spanish A lvls come up next month , so thanks for all these links guys and gals , I'll do lots of practising !

[Zephira]

For practicing hiragana and katakana, http://japanese-lesson.com/index.html has lots of drills and practice sheets. I'm finding it's very difficult to put together your own curriculum, it's a lot different from a classroom experience.

[Uboa]

My co-worker who taught herself Japanese up to a high school reading level had a similar experience.  She actually just walked into the room, so I asked her for some advice!  Her only advice was to start with books geared towards beginners.  Amazon is a good place to find cheap-o old editions of textbooks, so that might be a decent place to start for people wanting to begin learning any language.

(Also, check your messages!)