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Anyone taught themself how to speak a Foreign Language?

militantmidget said:
Just gonna be honest with you, 30 mins isn't enough to become FLUENT in a language even with spanish.

You're gonna have to immerse yourself in the language. Listening to spanish music, watching spanish tv, news in spanish, movies, netflix, youtube videos, etc. (Even though you don't understand everything).

Make spanish a part of your daily life and I'd say you can be C1 level in maybe 3-4 years (C1 is considered fluent in a language, almost native level).

Try this program that I've been using in the last year called dreaming spanish on YouTube (Free). It's a learning tool for spanish through comprehensible input. It has improved my spanish listening TREMENDOUSLY.

I highly recommend it.

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thanks for the info
 
Oh one more thing, comprehensible input is a method of learning a language similar to how a child learns it's native language (repetition, immersion, and intense listening).

Im thinking of starting Korean solely using this method. I wanna know what they really be saying in Squid Game and shows like that.
 
I took French in high school in Toronto and while in school we went on trips to Montreal and I learned a lot from those visits. I can speak fluent French now.
 
Apps like Duolingo make learning a language fun and convenient, it’s a great supplemental tool. But the most important thing to learning a language is immersion, the conversational language vs by the book robotic language. Most non-Hispanic chefs know Spanish because that’s what the kitchen speaks. Make some Spanish speaking friends, travel to Latin countries get uncomfortable and force yourself to use it.
 
I use this website for listening practice
youglish.com

How to Pronounce Portuguese Naturally | YouGlish

Struggling with Portuguese pronunciation? YouGlish uses real people speaking real Portuguese to help you master tricky sounds. No more dictionary confusion!
youglish.com youglish.com

Search for a word, and you'll get dozens of native speakers from Youtube videos using the word naturally, along with subtitles

You can search videos in Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish... and sign language
 
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This post is right on time. I picked up a Spanish Verb dictionary and vocabulary review book up a couple of weeks ago. Im trying to brush up because I might be headed to Columbia in August.
 
I started learning portugese a few years ago before a trip to Lisbon by using Duolingo
since I already had a slight foundation of french i decided to start learning all the other romance languages....Spanish, Italian
plus latin just for basic language...understanding etymology etc.
doing about 15 minutes a day.
I became good at the games....writing, understanding words, sounds etc.
and its good because it teaches you how to learn visually, auditorily and kinesthetically with the exercises
but to be conversational you have to really immerse yourself in the language
I didn't really excel with spanish until I went to spain, stayed in a neighborhood where nobody spoke any damn english and had to figure shit out lol.
So Immersion is the best teacher
I'm still not fluent but just try to get a little better every single day. I'll watch foreign films with english subtitles ...still do Duolingo but will invest in Babbel....I think its the superior app for language learning.
 
HurricaneMac said:
I'm learning Amharic right now. I don't know your mind but you will need more than 30 minutes a day for the logical change takes place in your brain.

I wanted to learn Igbo but it's not possible with how I learn a language. I listen to lectures but I also listen to news, shows and anything else in order to get my brain used to hearing the sounds. I've used this method when I learned Swahili. I just turned on BBC Swahili and let it play. I played a game with myself to see if I can figure out what the story was about. It's fun if you love learning.
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How do u switch ur bbc to Swahili?
 
Tebriel6969 said:
How do u switch ur bbc to Swahili?
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I spend a little while everyday listening to the news. It's important that you use the pictures as a clue to helping you figure out what the story is about.

You can use this link: https://www.bbc.com/swahili/media/video
It will ask you about the cookie policy when you click on a story. Ndio = Yes (accept cookies), Hapana = No (reject cookies)

Before you listen be sure to understand the phonetics of the language and sentence construction.:yes:
 
John Million said:
how much do you suggest? I think with some of the suggestions like listening to spanish shows/ radio programs and things I can definitely increase it. Listen while at work, working out and driving I believe I can reach maybe 1 1/2-2 hours. Just looking for a manageable daily schedule and suggestions
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That's a great idea. Definitely try searching podcasts & audiobooks as there's bound to be lots of content available.

Big fan of podcasts (in general). Often play them when multitasking at home, driving, or working out.

As for Spanish ... took an intro to Spanish course in junior high. That was fun as I had a few friends in the class who were Spanish speakers & they were there to get an A+ and help boost their own GPA, lol. They helped me along (back in the 90s).
 

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