|
|
Post by Aznlatina on Aug 9, 2008 13:12:46 GMT -5
^ The survival phrases website is cool.
I learned a couple of words in Russian.
I like their speed and the way they breakdown the pronounciation of the words. Apparently, you can get transcripts and other goodies from the site when you sign-up.
What is the other website for French? When I clicked on the Korean101 website, there wasn't a link to the other languages.
|
|
|
|
Post by dannyd on Aug 9, 2008 17:03:45 GMT -5
For French and Spanish I highly recommend the CD set by Michel Thomas. You'll hate his voice after some time, but his classes are highly effective.
I'm going to try the Arabic one up there. I tried to learn Arabic through Pimsleurs (sp?) CD set and they were really awful.
|
|
|
|
Post by Vietmunde on Aug 11, 2008 4:15:37 GMT -5
Thanks for the podcast links kyuree! Some of those will definitely be good review.
|
|
|
|
Post by Emily on Aug 17, 2008 22:05:50 GMT -5
Thanks for the heads-up, Claudia! The Arabic podcasts will be put to good use.  I wish there were more than just survival phrases for Tagalog. |
|
|
|
Post by dannyd on Aug 19, 2008 5:13:03 GMT -5
The Pimsleur CD set that I had was teaching a gulf dialect or Syrian or something. I started them in anticipation of living in Egypt for 3 months and when I got there, I found alot of what I'd learned didn't apply in Egypt. For example: The CD would say: 'Enna ma bedi p'heb ishrap she hella' Egpytian would be closer to: 'Mish'ayez ishrap she hella' The phonetic representation being my own creation of course  I still continued from them though and the locals simply told me how to translate them into Egyptian. On another note, it is widely accepted that Egyptian is the best dialect of Arabic to learn for universal comprehension. Whilst it deviates from standard Arabic, the size of the Egyptian film industry exposes alot of the Arabic world to the Egyptian dialect whereas even standard Arabic would be difficult to understand for uneducated peoples who speak dialects that differ from the standard. |
|
|
|
Post by halfbreed on Aug 19, 2008 8:08:23 GMT -5
You can also get a whole range of free language (+ other!) podcasts from the iTunes music store.
|
|
|
|
Post by dannyd on Aug 20, 2008 4:36:24 GMT -5
^ Sorry, I did read your post but somehow I filtered that bit out. Probably because I was already formulating my say. Self centred as hell I have good Lebanese friends here, but I'm always wary of trying to speak Arabic to them. Dunno why. It's like when someone who doesn't know you throws a Ni Hao at you I suppose. It's annoying. |
|
|
|
Post by Pushnpull on Sept 12, 2008 11:44:08 GMT -5
Ditto! Recomiendo Michel Thomas, tambien! Comprelo! I have studied Spanish off and on and lived across from Juarez Mexico when I was stationed @ Fort Bliss. I knew tons of vocab I just didn't know how to put it into a coherent sentence. After buying Michel Thomas, I hit the ground running. MT isn't a native speaker but he explained those grammatical points the way many of my Hispanic friends just couldn't when I'd ask. They'd just tell me, "That's just how it is." Great help that was. My tutor is always saying he can't believe I was able to get so far with my Spanish without taking an actual class. Again, Mt isn't a native speaker, nevertheless, if one is around native Speakers you can pick it up. But these are Cd's....as far as podcasts, anyone listen to CoffeBreak Spanish? I love this series! It's put together from Scotland. I adore the Scottish accents and I don't mind that the pronunciation is primarily Continental Spanish. The Spanish accent mainly heard in Chicago are from primarily Mexican speakers. I think it's good to expose myself to different accents. For French and Spanish I highly recommend the CD set by Michel Thomas. You'll hate his voice after some time, but his classes are highly effective. I'm going to try the Arabic one up there. I tried to learn Arabic through Pimsleurs (sp?) CD set and they were really awful. I found a great Tagalog podcast. Not the typical dry language learning here. kalyespeak.mypodcast.com/Grabe! This is one funny Tagalog podcast. I think the hosts were inspired by Spanishpod. All you Eurasian Filipinos/as get this podcast! By the way.....did you Spanish pod fans know that JP Villanueva is Filipino-American!! Thanks for the heads-up, Claudia! The Arabic podcasts will be put to good use. I wish there were more than just survival phrases for Tagalog. |
|
|
|
Post by Emily on Sept 14, 2008 18:02:42 GMT -5
^ Thanks for the link!
|
|
|
|
Post by bluegum on Dec 18, 2008 2:29:55 GMT -5
Very nice. I shall look into Michel Thomas as well.
Thanks for sharing.
|
|
