What is the best way to learn a foreign language?

The most conventional way to learn a foreign language is to start watching movies that is connected to the language you wanted to learn. MEDIA is the best source there is and it is readily available where ever you go You can also consult books and browse to the internet for more complex, complete and detailed learning suited to your style But the best way is not necessarily the most convenient or conventional way. The best way to learn a language is to live with people who speak the language The need to communicate will be a huge and powerful motivator.

Find a native speaking tutor Contact the language department of your nearest college or university and ask them for contacts for tutors in the language you wish to study. It's important to start out using the language right away, and to do so with someone that grew up using the language.

Learn the basics - I use an MP3 player - them immerse yourself in it. I was inspired to write this after reading "How to Learn Any Language" by Barry Farber over a weekend. The method he describes is very similar to the one that I came up with, though I take issue with a couple of his suggestions, and I think his method needs to be updated for the internet age (more below).

Nevertheless I recommend the book highly, as it's full of good suggestions and is very motivating. Please note I'm not an expert, unless you use the words "self-styled expert". These are just the results of my own experiences, and how some tech savvy has helped me pursue my chief pleasure in life: learning languages.

A note on technology and the netI generally take the internet for granted as an important tool in my daily life, but I still have those occasional "wow! " moments. When I'm corresponding, talking or video-chatting with a person on the other side of the world, learning about their culture and what they eat for breakfast or what it's like living in a dictatorship, the power of technology is really driven home to me.

This experience goes completely hand-in-hand with learning a language using the net; it's what the net is all about. First, though, compile a list of your favorite newsgroups, online dictionaries, support sites and other web resources to help with your learning. There is so much good information out there.As I will touch on later, I also use the computer itself (to run teaching software) and other appliances like my PDA phone to help me with my studies.

Whether you have a fancy phone like my Treo or an iPod or just a regular cell phone, chances are it can help you in your quest to learn a language. See what is out there on the web for you. Further note and disclaimer: A wealth of quality language material is available in the newsgroup alt.binaries.

World-languages. Most of it, however, is pirated. I really advocate paying for the materials you find useful, and discourage piracy.

All the materials I recommend I feel are worth the money. The choice, of course, is only yours to make. What You'll NeedThe best way to learn a language is to live in a country where they speak it for 6 months or a year.

Unfortunately, that's not always practical. The good news is that learning by yourself you can actually make considerable progress in a language. If it's your first language, I recommend Esperanto, because it's fun and easy and many materials are available for free (studies show that for schoolchildren and others, a year of Esperanto followed by a year of another language is better than two years of the other language).

However, the method you'll need is pretty similar no matter what your language priorities are. As others including Farber recommend, a multi-track approach is the best. The various methods you employ reinforce one another and more importantly, keep you from getting bored.

I find the best combination is: 1. An audio course; 2. A textbook; 3.

Some software ; 4. Flashcards; and 5. A reader.

Sources: My answer .

There are several ways... I really can't recommend a "best" way for you to learn a language, as people learn differently. I can say, however, what has worked for me. 1.

Take a class - this is my favorite, as a professor is being paid to teach me, and they're obligated to answer all of my questions. Friends and strangers who speak the language can be helpful as well, but you don't want to annoy someone with a BUNCH of questions, unless you're paying them (smile). 2.

Immerse yourself in the language as much as possible - When I was learning Spanish, I watched Univision. I listened to Spanish language radio stations, I watched familiar DVDs in Spanish (most DVDs have this feature by the way, go to setup, and language...you can usually choose English, Spanish, or French). 3. Make flash cards for new vocabulary.

I label all of the stuff in my house in 2 or 3 languages. It can be helpful to know that the mirror is also el espejo. Its passive learning and it's great.

4. Practice, practice, practice. I work with people who speak all different languages, and it's helpful to speak the langauge that you're learning as much as possible.

Make your grocery list in that language. Make your to-do list in that language. The more you use it, the easier it gets.

Good luck! Sources: experience prettyface's Recommendations Berlitz de This Spanish Book (Berlitz de This Book) Amazon List Price: $9.95 Used from: $9.95 Average Customer Rating: 5.0 out of 5 (based on 1 reviews) de This French Book (Berlitz de This Book) Amazon List Price: $9.95 Used from: $9.95 Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (based on 4 reviews) Dos mundos Student Edition with Online Learning Center Bind-in Passcode (McGraw-ll World Languages) Amazon List Price: $119.95 Used from: $60.00 Average Customer Rating: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 2 reviews) Un Ete Pas Comme Les Autres (R 432 P) Amazon List Price: $29.95 Used from: $9.95 Allons-y! : Le Français par étapes (with Audio CD) Amazon List Price: $129.95 Used from: $39.95 Average Customer Rating: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 2 reviews) The Ultimate French Review and Practice: Mastering French Grammar for Confident Communication Amazon List Price: $19.95 Used from: $9.95 Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (based on 47 reviews) French for Dummies Amazon List Price: $29.95 Used from: $9.95 Average Customer Rating: 2.0 out of 5 (based on 8 reviews) Rosetta Stone French Level 1 Win/Mac Personal Edition Amazon List Price: $199.95 Average Customer Rating: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 9 reviews) Larousse Pocket Dictionary: French-English/English-French (Larousse Pocket Dictionary) Amazon List Price: $9.95 Used from: $9.95 Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (based on 7 reviews) Larousse Pocket Dictionary: Spanish-English / English-Spanish (Larousse Pocket Dictionary) Amazon List Price: $9.95 Used from: $9.95 Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (based on 3 reviews) Handbook of Korean Vocabulary: An Approach to Word Recognition and Comprehension (Klear Textbooks in Korean Language) Amazon List Price: $29.95 Used from: $19.95 Average Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 (based on 10 reviews) Teach Yourself Indonesian Complete Course Amazon List Price: $19.95 Used from: $9.95 Average Customer Rating: 5.0 out of 5 (based on 6 reviews) Modern Spoken Cambodian (Language Texts) Amazon List Price: $40.00 Used from: $19.95 Average Customer Rating: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 4 reviews) The Basic Oxford Picture Dictionary (English/Vietnamese edition) Amazon List Price: $9.95 Used from: $9.95 Average Customer Rating: 3.0 out of 5 (based on 7 reviews) Easy Thai: An Introduction to the Thai Language Amazon List Price: $9.95 Used from: $9.95 Average Customer Rating: 3.0 out of 5 (based on 11 reviews) Japanese Step by Step : An Innovative Approach to Speaking and Reading Japanese Amazon List Price: $19.95 Used from: $9.95 Average Customer Rating: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 26 reviews) 250 Essential Chinese Characters for Everyday Use, Vol.

1 Amazon List Price: $29.95 Used from: $9.95 Average Customer Rating: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 5 reviews) Learn Japanese: New College Text , Volume II (Learn Japanese) Amazon List Price: $19.95 Used from: $9.95 Average Customer Rating: 3.0 out of 5 (based on 13 reviews) Making Sense of Japanese: What the Textbooks Don't Tell You (Power Japanese Series) (Kodansha's Children's Classics) Amazon List Price: $19.95 Used from: $9.95 Average Customer Rating: 5.0 out of 5 (based on 14 reviews) Prego! An Invitation to Italian (Student Edition) Amazon List Price: $19.95 Used from: $50.00 Average Customer Rating: 4.0 out of 5 (based on 10 reviews) Teach Yourself Afrikaans Complete Course (Teach Yourself) Amazon List Price: $19.95 Used from: $9.95 Average Customer Rating: 3.5 out of 5 (based on 12 reviews) I found some of these very interesting, most were helpful, especially Dos Mundos (Spanish) and Un Ete Pas Comme Les Autres (French)..

Learn the basics, then... find a native speaker. Honestly, even if you don't know any of the basics, try to find a native-speaker who'd be willing to help you out. For some reason, in our schools today, the majority of foreign-language teachers are not native speakers of the language.As a result, students don't learn everything correctly, and don't gain the listening-comprehension skills or the accents that they need.

I have studied both chinese and spanish, but I've had more interactions with native-speakers in spanish. As a result, my listening comprehension in spanish is higher than in chinese. Recently, I've had the opportunity to spend more time talking with native speakers of chinese, and my chinese is improving (slowly).

Make sure that your friend who speaks the language natively understands that you *want* to be corrected when you make a mistake. Most people will be somewhat reluctant to correct your grammar or pronunciation, but you need that, otherwise you won't be able to get it right... Good luck!.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.