Free Online Foreign Language Tutorials?
Feb 17th, 2007, 03:34 PM
#1
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Free Online Foreign Language Tutorials?
Hi,
Can anyone recommend a website that offers free foreign language tutorials? I'd like to pick up some french before we travel to France this summer.
Thanks!
Can anyone recommend a website that offers free foreign language tutorials? I'd like to pick up some french before we travel to France this summer.
Thanks!
Feb 17th, 2007, 03:36 PM
#2
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Try here:
www.bbc.co.uk/languages/
www.bbc.co.uk/languages/
Feb 17th, 2007, 04:08 PM
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Try Learn French by Podcast (www.learnfrenchbypodcast.com). I really like this service which is not structured as a formal language course but gives short (repeated)dialogues based on life scenarios, and makes grammar points along the way. There are printable texts of each lesson but payment is required for those and they are expensive in relation to the content.
Feb 17th, 2007, 04:16 PM
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Feb 17th, 2007, 04:21 PM
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Feb 17th, 2007, 06:30 PM
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Not if one wants to learn how words are spelled and what they mean as well as how they are pronounced. Listening and repetition are useful only if you know what's being said.
The audio files are as useless as a razor without a blade.
The audio files are as useless as a razor without a blade.
Feb 17th, 2007, 06:58 PM
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This is not really helping dc4united but I can't resist.
Robespierre, if we discount decorative value, a razor without blades is truly useless. A aural language lesson, with clear context, and repetition, has considerable value. It's how introductory language courses are usually taught, and how most of us learn our native tongue. I didn't gain the impression that dc4united was looking for fluency by summer.
Robespierre, if we discount decorative value, a razor without blades is truly useless. A aural language lesson, with clear context, and repetition, has considerable value. It's how introductory language courses are usually taught, and how most of us learn our native tongue. I didn't gain the impression that dc4united was looking for fluency by summer.
Feb 17th, 2007, 07:51 PM
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Get real.
The "free" podcasts (how I loathe that word) is clearly a come-on to induce people to pay to <i>join</i> so they get the manuals, without which they are lost.
Trying to compare this con to a language class where a live person can judge a student's comprehension and provide feedback is ludicrous.
And anyone who thinks that a beginner can "pick up some French" starting with Podcast One (with or without the manual) is living in Steve Jobs' Reality Distortion Field.
The "free" podcasts (how I loathe that word) is clearly a come-on to induce people to pay to <i>join</i> so they get the manuals, without which they are lost.
Trying to compare this con to a language class where a live person can judge a student's comprehension and provide feedback is ludicrous.
And anyone who thinks that a beginner can "pick up some French" starting with Podcast One (with or without the manual) is living in Steve Jobs' Reality Distortion Field.
Feb 18th, 2007, 04:10 AM
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I listen to Learn French by Podcast regularly and find it very helpful without usng any written text.
It probably wouldn't be as helpful if you didn't know any French to start with, though.
Another one more suited to beginners is FrenchPodClass- there is free written material as well as audio.
It probably wouldn't be as helpful if you didn't know any French to start with, though.
Another one more suited to beginners is FrenchPodClass- there is free written material as well as audio.
Feb 18th, 2007, 06:39 AM
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So you're against that particular podcast or all podcasts in general because Apple helped popularize them?
I subscribed to a bunch of French and Italian podcasts. Just listening, it's easy to tune them out. When they were saying "io" and pronounced it like "yo" in Spanish, I had to Google it up to see.
You can look up some free site on the web to see irregular verb conjugations or specific word translations.
Both aural and written help. It helps to be able to look at the written text but also to hear how those words are pronounced.
There are two approaches though, learning a few phrases and memorizing them, or understanding the grammar so that you can construct sentences by yourself eventually.
For a trip, most people are going to go for the first approach. For people who want a deeper understanding, you have to do the latter.
Well it's not free but there are things like Rosetta Stone (which is also available online).
I subscribed to a bunch of French and Italian podcasts. Just listening, it's easy to tune them out. When they were saying "io" and pronounced it like "yo" in Spanish, I had to Google it up to see.
You can look up some free site on the web to see irregular verb conjugations or specific word translations.
Both aural and written help. It helps to be able to look at the written text but also to hear how those words are pronounced.
There are two approaches though, learning a few phrases and memorizing them, or understanding the grammar so that you can construct sentences by yourself eventually.
For a trip, most people are going to go for the first approach. For people who want a deeper understanding, you have to do the latter.
Well it's not free but there are things like Rosetta Stone (which is also available online).
Feb 18th, 2007, 06:46 AM
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"...because Apple helped popularize them..."
No - because we called them "downloads" for the last 25 years, and now Jobs comes along with the implication that he invented the concept.
Oh - and because I regard the iPOS as overpriced junk.
No - because we called them "downloads" for the last 25 years, and now Jobs comes along with the implication that he invented the concept.
Oh - and because I regard the iPOS as overpriced junk.
Feb 18th, 2007, 07:37 AM
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I have looked at the sites listed - all look great - the bbc one is fascinating - am going back there myself ) I have used the pod casts to refresh my skills - thought it had merit. Spoken tends to be what you need unless you are trying to read a book- written as in signs you can look up in a trusty little book!
As you may have guessed Robespierre is an Apple phobic especially ipods and takes every opportunity to slam and digress away from the posting question - good luck with your langauge and repeat repeat repeat!
As you may have guessed Robespierre is an Apple phobic especially ipods and takes every opportunity to slam and digress away from the posting question - good luck with your langauge and repeat repeat repeat!
