i think rosetta stone may be a good way to introduce yourself quickly to a language you are unfamilar with. and you will be surprised at what you can figure out. but you should be able to call somebody if you get stuck with the grammar. like i did with spanish. rosetta stone did not explain to me why el corre is different than el esta corriendo.
the sentences in rosetta stone stick in my head way better than anything i have learned in a spanish class and pop in my head during spanish tests in class.
i tried pimsleur too when i was kid trying to learn japanese. it sucked not being able to read what was being said. still i think that is not a bad way to learn. it is more natural than learning a bunch of grammmar rules.
but i am at a point right now where i dont think further rosetta stone programs will help me progress with spanish, and classes wont give me good enough learning to cost ratio
I’ve just started using Rosetta Stone to learn Gulf Arabic. Not bad, you’ll start by learning the absolute basics at first, as if you were a very young child, but it quickly gets more difficult. Reading and writing isn’t covered until much later on, which kinda makes sense.
So far, I’ve not learned much that can be used in day-to-day conversation though.
[quote]CSEagles1694 wrote:
Thanks, everybody. I decided a while ago that I want to minor in Arabic when I go to college. My dad was saying that I should just wait until I get to college in order to learn since I’ll have a qualified instructor and will have the chance to study abroad in Turkey for a semester.
CS[/quote]
You do know they speak Turkish in Turkey and not Arabic, right?
Or are you interested in learning both?
[quote]eremesu wrote:
i think rosetta stone may be a good way to introduce yourself quickly to a language you are unfamilar with. and you will be surprised at what you can figure out. but you should be able to call somebody if you get stuck with the grammar. like i did with spanish. rosetta stone did not explain to me why el corre is different than el esta corriendo.
the sentences in rosetta stone stick in my head way better than anything i have learned in a spanish class and pop in my head during spanish tests in class.
i tried pimsleur too when i was kid trying to learn japanese. it sucked not being able to read what was being said. still i think that is not a bad way to learn. it is more natural than learning a bunch of grammmar rules.
but i am at a point right now where i dont think further rosetta stone programs will help me progress with spanish, and classes wont give me good enough learning to cost ratio[/quote]
Pimsleur has a reading guide with the audio transcribed on it now.
[quote]CSEagles1694 wrote:
Thanks, man. It might be a little different for me since I’m going into the Army. I’d like to learn Arabic, but also the different dialects such as Peshto, Farsi, and Urdu.
CS[/quote]
Pashtu, Farsi, Urdu are not dialects. They’re completely separate languages.
If you’re trying to become a military linguist, you’ll spend some time at Defense Language Institute learning from native speakers.
I used the Pashto software and hated it. Too much money and too many errors I found in the program. I still remember some words after 2 years, but I returned it.
If only you weren’t learning arabic.
Most other languages:
- Hire hot tutor
- Learn
- Bang her
- Hire new tutor
- Learn more
- Bang her
- Visit related country (-ries)
- Bang your way through said country (-ries)
- Drink
[quote]spiderman739 wrote:
[quote]CSEagles1694 wrote:
Thanks, everybody. I decided a while ago that I want to minor in Arabic when I go to college. My dad was saying that I should just wait until I get to college in order to learn since I’ll have a qualified instructor and will have the chance to study abroad in Turkey for a semester.
CS[/quote]
You do know they speak Turkish in Turkey and not Arabic, right?
Or are you interested in learning both?[/quote]
I’m sorry, I meant to say Morocco. Read the wrong one on the college’s website.
CS
[quote]richardk wrote:
[quote]CSEagles1694 wrote:
Thanks, man. It might be a little different for me since I’m going into the Army. I’d like to learn Arabic, but also the different dialects such as Peshto, Farsi, and Urdu.
CS[/quote]
Pashtu, Farsi, Urdu are not dialects. They’re completely separate languages.
If you’re trying to become a military linguist, you’ll spend some time at Defense Language Institute learning from native speakers.[/quote]
I’m not trying to become a linguist. Where I’ll most likely end up going to college, the Army will pay me x amount of dollars each month to learn one of the strategic languages, Arabic being one of them.
CS
I currently use Michel Thomas and the Penguin course to learn Russian and it’s very helpful. I think Michel Thomas is great for all languages, the system immerses you in the language rather than tutoring and makes the learning process much more natural and much less boring. Combined with a proper grammar book, that may be all you need, I say check it out.
Will you learn Modern Standard Arabic or a dialect first?
[quote]Lakkhamu wrote:
I currently use Michel Thomas and the Penguin course to learn Russian and it’s very helpful. I think Michel Thomas is great for all languages, the system immerses you in the language rather than tutoring and makes the learning process much more natural and much less boring. Combined with a proper grammar book, that may be all you need, I say check it out.
Will you learn Modern Standard Arabic or a dialect first?[/quote]
Thanks for the insight. It will most likely be MSA.
CS
It’s a fairly good programme. I’ve used it to learn Russian, Italian and a bit of Chinese(Mandarin). But as some said, the best way it’s to interact more with the native speakers instead of relying mostly on the software.
My first time in Shangai, even though I’ve learnt a great deal from RS prior to getting there, I had a tutor I met every day for a couple of hours. Funny thing was that she made me ditch Rosetta and advised me to purchase a better interactive software sold there, to take home with me.
[quote]richardk wrote:
[quote]CSEagles1694 wrote:
Thanks, man. It might be a little different for me since I’m going into the Army. I’d like to learn Arabic, but also the different dialects such as Peshto, Farsi, and Urdu. [/quote]
Pashtu, Farsi, Urdu are not dialects. They’re completely separate languages.[/quote]
I noticed this too.
[quote]CSEagles1694 wrote:
Thanks, everybody. I decided a while ago that I want to minor in Arabic when I go to college. My dad was saying that I should just wait until I get to college in order to learn since I’ll have a qualified instructor and will have the chance to study abroad in Turkey for a semester.
CS[/quote]
CSEagles, I just go ahead and start learning/reading about the language. No reason to wait if you want something. Getting some of the “basics” of the language down certainly can’t hurt. Also, personally, while a good teacher CAN make a huge difference, at this point you have to “take” your education, not wait and have it “given” to you. The more work you put in the more you’ll get out. I’m not sure if that came out right, but I think you know what I mean.
eh, my two cents.
imo Pimsleur is much better.
[quote]PB Andy wrote:
imo Pimsleur is much better. [/quote]
I have Primsleur as well
I learned a lot of english from watching movies and listening/talking to others. Software and stuff is great, but they tend to concentrate less on actual everyday conversation and usage (especially slang) and more on the technical aspects of the language. There really is no substitute for actually talking to people in the language you are trying learn.
[quote]Dr.Matt581 wrote:
I learned a lot of english from watching movies and listening/talking to others. Software and stuff is great, but they tend to concentrate less on actual everyday conversation and usage (especially slang) and more on the technical aspects of the language. There really is no substitute for actually talking to people in the language you are trying learn.[/quote]
That’s what I’ve noticed while learning Spanish. I worked in a restaurant and had to speak Spanish on a daily basis. My grades in my class improved a lot, and so did my conversational skills.
CS
[quote]pat wrote:
[quote]Ct. Rockula wrote:
Do you have an Arabic community where you are? Go there and mingle.
Someone is bound to tutor you.
Could even lead to you getting some tail
[/quote]
Persian tail averages on being quite nice from what I have seen…
The only words I know are the shit they say before they pull the pin out…[/quote]
Persians speak Farsi not Arabic.