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12/09/2008How to be a polyglot

Almost all the adults I know think that learning a foreign language in adulthood is impossible. “I’m terrible with languages,” they say. Linguists agree, at least in part.

(Page 2 of 4)

Take a class
 If you live in any medium-sized city, a foreign-language class is not hard to find. If you are in a big city, you will be spoiled for choice. New York University, for example, offers dozens of classes in a wide variety of languages from Norwegian to Yiddish to Persian, for around $450 a semester. Attending a class is the single best way to motivate yourself—the desire to impress a teacher and classmates will help keep you on task. If you have the means to get a private tutor, even better. But be sure to get a recommendation from a knowledgeable friend—not every native speaker is a good teacher.
                                       credit-Markus-Koljonen
(Illustration above by Markus) 
Teach yourself
Learning a foreign language all by yourself is extremely difficult—and probably not a good idea if it’s your first one. However, if you decide to go the autodidact route, make sure to buy top-notch books, audio CDs, and computer programs.
A good book can get you far in a language with an easy spelling system, like Spanish or Italian. I’ve found Routledge’s “Colloquial” series to be fairly good. But for languages with irregular spelling (French or Danish, say), or unfamiliar sounds (Chinese or Hindi), it’s better to get a book that comes with audio CDs. The “Ultimate” series from Random House has a straightforward, building-block structure, with practical vocabulary and lucid explanations.
Computer software has something to offer as well. But don’t expect miraculous results. I reviewed the Danish version of the widely marketed Rosetta Stone series here. Short version: you will learn grammar and vocabulary surprisingly quickly with this novel (and expensive) software, but you won’t learn practical stuff at all.
 



1 reaction to this article

Benny the Irish polyglot posted: 07-10-2009 | 1:24 PM

Definitely some interesting points, although I have to say that most of these apply to learning just one language, which you would repeat to be a polyglot.
I wrote my own advice which is specifically about the aspect of being multilingual rather than just learning one language, it's on my blog and titled <a href="http://www.fluentin3months.com/how-to-become-a-polyglot/">How to beome a polyglot</a>; a similar google search is how I found this article.

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