Structured language courses can be very helpful. However, to save money, there are many other ways to learn a language too.
Language CDs and tapes help you make the most of your time. You can listen while getting ready in the morning, cooking and walking. Cassette programs for many languages are available free from the local public libraries. The Assimel's "Hugo" and "Teach Yourself" series are recommended, especially those with 3 or more cassettes so more substantial material is covered, not just a few phrases to order wine and food.
Vocabulary lists are also helpful. You can work your way up from a list of 1,000 to 10,000 words. Make a pencil mark next to the words you find most difficult to remember. Study those words more carefully.
Get a dictionary, portable and with a large word count. One that gives the context of the words rather than just a synonym in your own language. Once you have reached an intermediate level, you can actually start using a dictionary that is only in the language you are learning.
How to Learn Any Language, by Barry Farber, Kensington Publishing, is filled with techniques that can greatly accelerate your language learning.
Listening to vocabulary at the same time that you're studying it will greatly accelerate your gaining a large vocabulary. VocabuLearn is available at bookstores and less expensive directly from Penton Overseas.
Perfect your Grammar: Practice books and drills are also very helpful.
Language CDs and tapes help you make the most of your time. You can listen while getting ready in the morning, cooking and walking. Cassette programs for many languages are available free from the local public libraries. The Assimel's "Hugo" and "Teach Yourself" series are recommended, especially those with 3 or more cassettes so more substantial material is covered, not just a few phrases to order wine and food.
Vocabulary lists are also helpful. You can work your way up from a list of 1,000 to 10,000 words. Make a pencil mark next to the words you find most difficult to remember. Study those words more carefully.
Get a dictionary, portable and with a large word count. One that gives the context of the words rather than just a synonym in your own language. Once you have reached an intermediate level, you can actually start using a dictionary that is only in the language you are learning.
How to Learn Any Language, by Barry Farber, Kensington Publishing, is filled with techniques that can greatly accelerate your language learning.
Listening to vocabulary at the same time that you're studying it will greatly accelerate your gaining a large vocabulary. VocabuLearn is available at bookstores and less expensive directly from Penton Overseas.
Perfect your Grammar: Practice books and drills are also very helpful.
Practice your Verbs: Make copies of verb charts that give conjugations for all the principal tenses, the regular and irregular verbs. Study these, not just by memorizing the verb list, but by creating sentences for the verbs.
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