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Foreign Language Learning Software for Arabic?

Posted by Cliff on from the spending-time-with-your-Broca-and-Wernicke-areas dept.

Doc Squidly asks: "In the near future I will be spending a year in the Middle East and feel it would be in my best interest to learn Arabic. Unfortunately I do not have the time to enroll in a college class and have decided that a computer base earning method would suit my situation best. I've looked at products such as ArabicNow! V9 Deluxe and Rosetta Stone Arabic but have not been able to find reviews on these or any other products. English is my first language and was fluent in German and Latin but, haven't used them in many years. I believe that having the right tools can make a difference in learning Arabic. Any advise from multi-lingual Slashdot readers would be helpful. Has anyone ever used software to learn a foreign language?"

57 of 80 comments (clear)

  1. Rosetta Stone is awesome by mmcdouga · · Score: 4, Informative

    I learned a little Danish and Japanese with Rosetta Stone. I just learned simple "the cat is jumping over the ball" stuff, so I don't know how good it is for advanced learning. But the system is a lot of fun -- essentially a game where you do pattern matching, linking sounds with pictures on the screen. It covers basic nouns at first and then builds more complex phrases and sentences. It's all very natural -- no explicit grammar or rules to memorize, you pick that up unconciously.

    Of course, chatting with someone patient is the best way to do it, but Rosetta Stone will get your foot in the door.

  2. Another approach... by heldlikesound · · Score: 4, Insightful

    While picking up some software to learn the basic vocabulary and grammatical structure of Arabic is probably a good idea, I would suggest another approach.

    Poke around on the web and find some online chat groups for Arab-Americans or (Arab-AnyEnglishSpeakingNation) and explain your interest to converse in Arabic with someone. As long as they don't suspect you of working for the CIA (which I suppose they have every reason to) they would probably be glad to see people taking an interest in their culture and would serve as a "language buddy", engaging you in simple conversations to build up your skills. In return, you could help them with their English (or, in your case, German).

    Now, there is one problem, writing and reading a language is nothing like speaking it. For this, I can think of one good solution, buy a Mac, an iSight, and use the audio/video features of iChat!

    --


    Cloud City Digital: DVD Production at its cheapest/finest
  3. Rosetta Stone is good by polveroj · · Score: 3, Informative

    I'm teaching myself Hebrew with Rosetta Stone's software, and it's a lot better than any of the books I've tried before. I haven't tried any other software to compare it to, but on a scale from 1 to awesome it's definitely somewhere past "good enough". (YMMV with Arabic, of course.)

  4. Here are a few reviews by foidulus · · Score: 1

    For the rossetta stone software
    http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000 05APYM/qid=1089252261/sr=8-1/ref=pd_ka_1/103-80593 58-4919026?v=glance&s=software&n=507846
    IMO, Amazon is always a great first place to look, if only for the reviews(even if you don't end up buying anything off them)
    Search for arabic software/books and see what other people have said.
    You always have to take the reviews with a grain of salt, some people provide very insightful reviews, some one sentence, some have an axe to grind, and some haven't even used the product, but feel they need to chime in on it anyway.
    Kinda like /. in that regards though!
    Happy hunting!

  5. Pimsleur by max+born · · Score: 2, Interesting

    If you're going to be living in the Middle East and are more interested in conversation than writing, try Pimsleur.

    I've used the "Living Language", "Berlitz", and a few others but always found the Pimsluer method to be more effective. Evan for a guy like me who considers himself hopeless at learning languages. I used Pimsleur for German, French, Russian, Spanish, Herbrew, and "Eypptian Arabic" and was quite surprised at how much I'd learned when conversing with native speakers.

    The Pimsleur method is based on immediate feedback. Within a about a minute of the first lesson you're asked questions to which you have a few seconds in which to respond. The other methods I found boring, almost like leaning by rote.

    You can find plenty of Pimsleur MP3s on the gnutella network. Get the gnutella software here.

    1. Re:Pimsleur by foidulus · · Score: 1

      Or...you could PAY for the program like you are supposed to. Just because you can copy something doesn't mean you should. I like the Pimsleur program and am proud to have paid for it. If it's worth listening to it is worth supporting.
      P.S. Please don't include any of that "Pirating isn't stealing" bs.

    2. Re:Pimsleur by pphrdza · · Score: 1

      OR you could check it out from your local public library...

    3. Re:Pimsleur by max+born · · Score: 1

      You may be right. If the copyright laws were abolished, would there still be Pimsleur?

      I like to think yes, there would. But if there would not, then I would agree with you
      and say that people should encourage talent and creativity (as Pimsleur obviously is)
      and do the right thing and go out and buy Pimsluer and support the source that provides it.

      But if the copyright laws were recinded, do you think there would be no Pimsleur? Is that your argument?

      Would somebody fill the void? What would Pimsleur have done if he had not been able to make the high return afforded him on the investment of his idea?

      I believe, and I may be wrong, he would have promoted his langauge method anyway and accepted less money.

      Shakespeare, Mozart, Newton, Einstein, Charlie Parker, The Beatles, Feynmann, (and evidendtly Michael Moore) did not and do not do it for the money.

      Would you perhaps agree that the GNP is more significant when goods and services exclude entertaintment as a standard of living factor.

      Then again, I could be completely wrong.

    4. Re:Pimsleur by Spamsonite · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I'm entering the Navy in a few months as a linguist, and if I get the option of which language to learn, I plan on choosing Arabic. To get a start on things early, I've been using Pimsleur's Arabic, and have been impressed.

      Pimsleur's conversational approach recognizes that language is fundamentally an excercise in speech, and that orthography is merely an extension of the communication and mental processes that already exist in the spoken word. There are huge numbers of languages that never developed a writing system - but (next to?) none that are only written. Pimsleur says to learn to speak first, and learning to write what you've learned later on will be much easier.

      The interactive feedback/reminder system seems to work for me in a way that no other computer-based language-learning method has. Both my Dad and I are having lots of fun with this, and I'll recomment Pimsleur to anyone who asks.

    5. Re:Pimsleur by daveashcroft · · Score: 1

      Am i missing something? I thought to be employed by the armed forces as a linguist, you have to be fluent in a foreign language already. Are you saying that you are going to be employed as a linguist and then they will teach you the language from scratch???????

    6. Re:Pimsleur by lowmagnet · · Score: 1

      exactly, a foreign language. My cousin was fluent in Japanese, and they taught her Arabic in their Carmel school.

      --
      Heute die Welt, morgen das Sonnensystem!
    7. Re:Pimsleur by Gaijin42 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Um. Shakespeare and Mozart in fact did do it for the money, but in general they created works for hire.

      The Beatles definately did it for money, as I didnt notice them giving away all of their profits and living in poverty. (Not that they didn't enjoy it, but if you go ask paul, I bet he would say Piracy is wrong...)

      Michael Moore lives in a huge Manhattan apartment, worth several million dollars. He did it for the money (and because he hates his targets)

      Einstein did it because he was a geek, and patriotic, and thought it was the right thing, but he wasn't making music was he.

      Newton did it because he was a geek. To the point where people had to force feed him because he would pull all nighters for several days straight without eating. But again, he wasn't really a musician...

    8. Re:Pimsleur by dubl-u · · Score: 1

      Um. Shakespeare and Mozart in fact did do it for the money, but in general they created works for hire. [...] The Beatles definately did it for money, as I didnt notice them giving away all of their profits and living in poverty.

      This is pretty sloppy logic. I know a number of musicians; some of them get paid for it and some don't. But pretty much all of them make music because they want to make music; getting paid is a nice bonus, and much of that money goes right back into the costs of making music.

      The better techies I know are the same way. I didn't stay up 'til all hours hacking away on my dad's Apple ][+ because I looked forward to a lucrative career; I did it because I had to. I feel fantastically lucky that I can build cool things and make a living at it. But if the bottom dropped out of the market tomorrow, I'd just have to go out and get a day job to support my coding habit.

    9. Re:Pimsleur by Gaijin42 · · Score: 1

      My logic is not sloppy at all, you named musicians, and I noted that two of them got directly paid for their work, as work for hire, and the others got quite rich off of their music. There are other musicians that do their work for free (most likely because they cannot get paid for it) and are doing it for the joy.

      The fact that those people exist has no impact on the rights of people that want to make music for pay. You have the choice to support (or leech) from whichever musicians you want. Because B does it for free does not mean you can take A's without compensation.

      much of that money goes right back into the costs of making music

      Oh, so there is a cost to making music. And the copyright allows the musician to get paid. And getting paid allows them to make more music? Amazing!

      BTW, for the techies, you are mixing types of people. (As you did before with Newton and Einstein)

      The motivations for science are often quite different than the motivations for music.

      As for your specific example of you :

      Yes you would code if the market dropped out. But how about if you worked for a year, and then your company just decided not to pay you? Would you just happily go out and get a day job without complaint? Thats what piracy is.

    10. Re:Pimsleur by dubl-u · · Score: 1

      You're not paying attention. I'm not saying piracy is good. I'm not saying that content creators shouldn't be rewarded for their work.

      All I'm saying is that Mozart didn't "do it for the money". He made music, and he did get paid, but the causal connection is pretty weak.

      BTW, for the techies, you are mixing types of people. (As you did before with Newton and Einstein)

      Now you're really not paying attention. This may amaze you, but a number of entirely different people post on slashdot. If you have arguments with ones other than me, then you should talk to them directly.

    11. Re:Pimsleur by eliza_effect · · Score: 1

      I think the causal connection is pretty strong. Let's roleplay this.

      Patron: Hey, Mozart, I'll give you these fat sacks of cash money if you write me some music. Mozart: Ok!

    12. Re:Pimsleur by raju1kabir · · Score: 1
      But if the bottom dropped out of the market tomorrow, I'd just have to go out and get a day job to support my coding habit.

      If you're willing to relocate, I might be able to hook you up with a gig importing and supporting grey market computers for a client named Nigel.

      --
      "Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it." -- GBS
    13. Re:Pimsleur by rapett0 · · Score: 1

      I too have been trying hard to learn various languages over the years to varying degrees of success. I took Spanish through all levels of education (elem->uni), French at the uni, Japanese, Mandarin, etc. However, I decided to focus on Cantonese and realized I had to change from the book method as I was going tremendously slow. Pimsleur has worked very well for me. I am on Lesson 8 in the Cantonese CD's and my friends (from Hong Kong) are completely blown away. Sure, its just beginning for now, but they never expected me to do it on my own and its given me that ability. 30 minutes one way to work (or home) so I do each lesson twice a day (or sometimes several times over a few days if I am stuck) and its working great. Honestly, up to this point, my retention rate is probably near 100%. *However* there is one issue, so far they have explained almost no grammatical rules, so sometimes its very hard to know when to say words in one order or another. However the lessons are laid out so that you can memorize by situation, which I guess is what native speakers of any language by in large do anyway.

  6. Some sites I found by casuist99 · · Score: 3, Informative

    I don't know about software, but I was dabbling in learning the Arabic alphabet and language this Summer. In the course of my searching, I found one site called Fun With Arabic that does a pretty good job teaching some things. You can learn the alphabet, some common words, and eventually learn to write Arabic script. A second site which I haven't even checked out yet is Babel Arabic.

    I hope these prove useful. I learned a bit just playing around with the sites last week. Good luck - Arabic is a step harder to learn than German or French because you have to learn the alphabet first.

    If you're just looking for conversational Arabic, I don't think the sites address that as much. I found a few that do, but if you're planning on being in the Middle East for any period of time, I'd assume you'd like to learn to read and write, as well.

  7. special savings on Arabic software by Anonynus+Covvard · · Score: 3, Funny

    "I will be spending a year in the Middle East."

    We have a great package deal:
    -- Arabic-language-learning software
    -- one-way airfare
    -- software for writing your own Last Will & Testament
    -- titanium and carbon-fibre high-collar turtle-neck vest
    -- discount coupon for a burial-plot & coffin, sized for your current height from your heels to your collar-bone

    1. Re:special savings on Arabic software by Doc+Squidly · · Score: 1

      Thanks, you are absolutely no help.

      --
      I think I think, therefore I think I am.
    2. Re:special savings on Arabic software by davidsyes · · Score: 1

      Is there a "huked on fonix" ware for this? Then, someone could proudly report:

      "Huked on fonix wurked fore mee".

      Immersion learning will be the best way. Probably DLA Monterey/Carmel has a Arab specialy team who'll make everyday a non-english day...

      David Syes

      --
      Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
  8. Re:Porno! by pjay_dml · · Score: 1

    I use to work in a kitchen with a guy, who knew a little german that he had tought himself. He had learnt it all from looking pr0n! NO KIDDING!!! We called him 'Pommy-John'.

  9. Not CIA by Doc+Squidly · · Score: 1

    I'm not CIA but, a Navy Reservist.

    Thanks for the input.

    --
    I think I think, therefore I think I am.
    1. Re:Not CIA by acceleriter · · Score: 1

      And a pecker checker, by chance, going by the "Doc?"

      --

      CEE5210S The signal SIGHUP was received.

    2. Re:Not CIA by Doc+Squidly · · Score: 1

      Sound like you're a Marine who had his shot record shredded after pissing of the Corpsman.

      --
      I think I think, therefore I think I am.
    3. Re:Not CIA by acceleriter · · Score: 1

      Actually, no, a bubblehead squid who has always been very good to the doc but who is not afraid to poke some good natured fun :).

      --

      CEE5210S The signal SIGHUP was received.

    4. Re:Not CIA by davidsyes · · Score: 1

      Ahoy, moyt, just don't "sqawk diddley" (a spoonerism....)

      Check with the DLI, or Defense Language Institute, in Monterey.

      If worse comes to worse, you can do what the IMCO (International Morse Code Operator) students did before and after my RM "A" time at NTC/SSC/NTCC (Naval Training Center/Service School Command/Naval Telecommunications Center, (I forget now) did:

      -Get a tape recorder/player
      -Insert checked-out tape
      -Play, all night long in ears, "di-dah-dah, di-di-di) (or, if using tones at the proper Hz, deeu-deeu-deeu-doo-doo-doo-doo"

      It was funny as hell, making my roving rounds at bldg 575 or the ones across from the old BOOST (Broadened Opportunities for Officer Selection and Training) BEQ/barracks. I don't think I woke any of them up by laughing.

      So, "fahh-lalala-shah-lahh" will be meaningless in writing here, (just inserted as a filler for sound effects, not as in insinuation or disparagement of a language of which I know nothing and might be incapable of assimilating...).

      Honestly, now that it's been long since March 1986, I can say I convincingly flunked IMCO pre-screening. But, I wizzed thru RM "A" school with all "A"s and was in the top 10% allowed to select our follow-on command. However, my physical aptitude got me assigned to Savin Teletype repair schools, (liquid and dry toner), as well as Teletype Repair Hi and Lo Level (Mech and Electronic) and those pieces of shit TTY machines cost me a lot of sleep after my ship lost 2 or 3 qualified TTY techs, leaving my butt awake so much I once slept thru the GQ klaxon, was ordered to lay to the Bridge and "politely" interrogated by the XO. I politely told him, "XO, I know GQ was scheduled. I just got relived, had chow (breakfast) and laid in my rack with the curtain closed, but my legs out in the aisle... Every body jumping down from their racks and checking the compartment probably didnt' rouse me and drag me.

      I never thought I'd ever sleep thru a GQ klaxon, but I sure heard "RM2 Syes, LAY TO THE BRIDGE!"

      But, try some tapes for the foreign languages. DLI can get you up to speed if you can get the orders cut to Monterey, California. If you're a reservist SEAL or some critical billet, it might do well to have your detailer trump up those P/S NECs (Primary/Secondary Naval Enlisted Classification codes) for you. Make sure your activity's NC/career advisor is actually working. Mine skylarked enough that instead of getting my orders to RM "A" for Dec 85 or Jan 86, I was delayed till March 86.

      Anyway, "Turn to! Commence ship's work!"

      David Syes

      --
      Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
  10. I know! by cookiepus · · Score: 1

    Your Uncle will teach you

    --
    Ecce Europa - Web Design for Business
    1. Re:I know! by Doc+Squidly · · Score: 1

      That's good because I'm one of Uncle Sam's children.

      --
      I think I think, therefore I think I am.
    2. Re:I know! by kunudo · · Score: 1

      That's good because I'm one of Uncle Sam's children.

      He can't be both your dad and your uncle, can he now? Unless, of course, he married your aunt after fathering you with your mother? Nah, uncle Sammy wouldn't do that...

    3. Re:I know! by Doc+Squidly · · Score: 1

      Uncle Sam is your Uncle.

      For those in the military he can be considered parent.

      --
      I think I think, therefore I think I am.
  11. You WILL NOT learn Arabic from computer software by stevejsmith · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You are not going to learn Arabic from software. In the U.S. foreign service's ranking system, they rank lanugages from easiest to learn by a native English speaker -- 1 -- to hardest -- 5. Arabic is one of the few languages that is a five. Not only does it use an entirely different character set (duh...Arabic), but it is a very highly inflicted language. Your subtle body motions and intonations can completely change what you mean. If you want to learn Arabic, take a class. A computer program will not help you in any way other than maybe memorizing a few phrases and possibly learning the letters.

  12. apology by Anonynus+Covvard · · Score: 1

    Doc Squidly, I'm sorry if I was in any way responsible for the melt-down from that anonymous poster.
    It was totally inappropriate.

    As for my original post, I plead temporary inability to resist the temptation of scoring some karma points from an all-too-obvious opportunity for a joke.

    1. Re:apology by Adam9 · · Score: 1

      "Note that being moderated Funny doesn't help your karma. You have to be smart, not just a smart-ass."

  13. apology by Anonynus+Covvard · · Score: 1

    . . . near here.
    http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=113781& cid=963 9378

  14. find someone who speaks arabic by theradixhunter · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I took two semesters of Arabic in college and I found I didn't actually get much out of the class itself. I learned the most when I sat down with my friend and just tried to have a conversation with her in Arabic. By practicing how to speak and listen to it the writing and reading bit came much more easily (since, after all, writing is supposed to be a graphical representation of a spoken language).

    If you don't know anyone who speaks Arabic then I'm sure you could find a college student or something that needs a little money. Pay them to sit down with you for an hour each day and just speak with you. Don't use them as a tutor for the reading and writing except for the odd question or two! You should be able to figure most of it yourself from a textbook or something if you take it seriously.

  15. FSI and some other suggestions by bluethundr · · Score: 1

    Not entirely certain on software, but as far as books go The Arabic Alphabet by Awde and Samano got me reading and writing in a jiff! An excellent resource is Audio Forum who sell the kits that the Foreign Service Institute (FSI) uses to train its diplomats. I believe Saudi Arabic is one of the few courses that the FSI has released the material on CD-Rom. Other dialects, such as Iraqi and Palestinian (to name a couple) are also available. But Saudi, far as I know is almost the lingua franca of the middle-east. Could be off base on that point though. But the FSI courses (whether on prehisoric blech *tape* or CDs) have proven extremely useful. Pricey, in some cases. But thorough and useful. Some folks have spoken highly of Transparent Language, at the very least you might find some web links there. The Center for Applied Linguistics might also be of help to you. The The Pimsleur Method is pretty smokin' IMO. Flash cards are EXTREMELY useful to have/make yourse'f - well nigh indespensible in learning the written form of the language IMO. And finally, there are some I've known who've praised the "Talk Now!" approach.

    --
    Quod scripsi, scripsi.
  16. the one word you'll ever need to know by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    JIHAD!!!!!

    you can blow yourself up for extra emphises .

  17. Only you... by bw5353 · · Score: 2, Insightful
    One of the most common traps when it comes to learning languages is that there is a "better" method and a "worse" method. In the end, what matters is how much work you invest yourself. No software and no other method will learn the language for you. You have to spend a lot of time and energy regardless of method.

    In my experience you have to try methods out yourself. Do you like learning things from a computer screen? Do so. Do you like reading grammar books? Do so. Do you like learning long lists of words from phrase books? Do so. Do you have a beautiful girl/boyfriend, who is a native speaker? Use him/her a lot (chatting, reading and writing - romantic staring can be pleasant as well, but that alone will not teach you the language). But whatever combination of activities you choose, do it a lot.

    1. Re:Only you... by davidsyes · · Score: 1

      "Do you have a beautiful girl/boyfriend, who is a native speaker? Use him/her a lot"

      No, this means one is likely to learn the "International Language" instead of the stated language, heheh".

      The tones are likely flat, the body inflictions pleasing to the touch, and guttural sounds understood, but maybe overstated...

      David Syes

      --
      Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
  18. Key phrases to know in Arabic: by Chagatai · · Score: 2, Funny
    "Good morning, kind sir."
    "Could you please direct me to Ramallah?"
    "Into the van? If you insist."
    "I triple guarantee you, I am not a member of the CIA."
    "No, thanks. I've grown rather attached to my head."

    --
    --Chag
  19. ...and beware of different dialects. by DrCode · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Some time ago, I tried to learn a bit of Arabic from some "Saudi Arabic" tapes. One thing I learned is that the written language is the same all over the Middle East, but the pronunciation varies tremendously through the region.

    1. Re:...and beware of different dialects. by An+Elephant · · Score: 1

      Actually, the spoken language is different in every country, and they're all different from the written language. The written language _is_ used orally in formal contexts; these include the media.

      As an example, in the written language, "I learn" translates to something like "Ana a'limu" (where the ' stands for the "ayin" consonant which does not exist in any Western language I'm aware of); in Egyptian and Palestinian spoken Arabic, this becomes "Ana Bat'alam", a totally different inflection. This is not a pronunciation issue: It's an entirely different form.

      Besides, there are issues of pronunciation w.r.t to the written language. E.g., Arabic has a letter pronounced like "J" in most places, but "G" (as in "go") in Egypt.

  20. Use Meetup to find people by wonkavader · · Score: 1

    I don't know much about meetup.com, but I know the Arabic group I've been to uses it to organize, as do many other arabic groups. They're evangelists for Arabic (not Islam, usually) and you can find them at http://arabic.meetup.com

  21. US army has a game by way2trivial · · Score: 1

    maybe you could find a copy of this click here
    June 14 issue - Army Special Operations soldiers may soon get a high-tech computer game to teach them Arabic. Now being designed at the University of Southern California, the Tactical Language Training System helps students learn "situational Arabic" by

    --
    every day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
  22. While we're on the topic... by Lazyhound · · Score: 1

    ...does anyone have any links to Tagalog-language material?

    1. Re:While we're on the topic... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Bahala Na, friend.

  23. Use an iPod by bw5353 · · Score: 2, Interesting
    A handy way to carry around a language course is an iPod. What you need is:

    1) The dialog CDs as mp3-files.

    2) The dialog texts as text files.

    Upload the mp3-files to the iPod and upload the texts as Notes. Then you can sit and read the texts at the same time as you listen to the voices. In an airplane, in a waiting room, at the dentist's, in the underground. In the car, you should not read the screen obviously, but you can still listen to the mp3-files, and then read the texts once you arrive at your hotel, the boring party you have to be at or wherever.

    This may actually not work with Arabic. I'm not sure how good the iPod is at displaying Arabic characters. But I know you can make it work with most European languages, Japanese and Chinese.

    Have fun!

    1. Re:Use an iPod by treerex · · Score: 1

      This may actually not work with Arabic. I'm not sure how good the iPod is at displaying Arabic characters. But I know you can make it work with most European languages, Japanese and Chinese.

      The iPod does not display Arabic or Hebrew. Latin-script based languages, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Japanese, and Korean all work fine.

    2. Re:Use an iPod by bw5353 · · Score: 1
      "The iPod does not display Arabic or Hebrew."

      Pity. Still, not all is lost, if you anyhow happen to have an iPod, and if you can get the written text transliterated to latin characters. It's much less useful than seeing the "real" Arab letters, at least when you're past the stage of being a complete novice, but it might be better than nothing.

      Good luck, anyhow!

  24. Do-it-yourself by 3rdShift · · Score: 3, Informative

    My native is Russian and when I had decided to learn English well, I looked around for Linux apps and couldn't find what I wanted. So I wrote a coupe of applications myself.

    granule is my indexcard program. It's UTF-8, so you can use and keyboard bindings you want.

    gwavmerger is a memory-training program targeted for learing foreign languages. All you need is a microphone and a sound card to make your own lessons for your own level. I tried to explain the process in its manual.

    I have been using both programs on a daily basis for several years now and they helped me to make a giant leap towards my goals.

    For an on-line dictionary I highly recommend StarDict.

    The skeleton of studying any foreign language is, of course, its grammar. Don't overlook it.

    Don't believe all the BS teachers say about submerging into the environment and making friends with native-speakers. It is all baloney. Grammar, and daily practice of memorizing words and text senteces will do the trick.

    Hope this helps,

    --3rdShift

  25. I'll also vouch for the Rosetta Stone by biafra · · Score: 1

    I'm in the middle learning Spanish and it's been working out quite well for the wife and I. I guess that airport kiosk at Regan International has paid off :>

    --
    :wq
    1. Re:I'll also vouch for the Rosetta Stone by CoolMoDee · · Score: 1

      what you forgot to mention is that you get more fluent with the more margaritas you drink :-)

      --
      Jisho - A Japanese English German Russian French Dictionary for the rest of us.
  26. Re:You WILL NOT learn Arabic from computer softwar by lachlan76 · · Score: 1

    I sgree to that: I'm learning Japanese. I have used computer software, and it had absolutely no help at all. The best way to learn is to actually talk to an Arabic person. Actually getting feedback on what you're saying is different to comparing strings. Especially in a language where a lot of stuff can mean the same things. The answer to the question "o namae wa nan desu ka" can be "rokuran desu", "boku no namae wa rokuran desu", or "watashi no namae wa rokuran desu". Translation: What's your name, Lachlan, My name is Lachlan (Male), My name is Lachlan (Female). Add to the fact that subtle differences in language can make a huge difference in meaning, especially since in Japan, politeness is everything (for example, when comeone gives you a business card, you NEVER put it in you back pocket). You need to understand culture, there is more to a language than words.

  27. Arabic in one place isn't Arabic in another by pdp1144 · · Score: 1

    Another issue you will find is Arabic isn't the same in all countries ... or even in the same country. From what I've seen Arabic is just a reference to a character set, not the language. It would be like calling all languages that use the Roman / Latin alphabet (German, French, Spanish, Italian, English, &c.) Latin.

  28. Re:Porno! by jrockway · · Score: 2, Funny

    It seems that most of my friends "know" Japanese from watching anime. They all talk like small girls, but oh well. It's funny to those who actually studied it (and Japanese people).

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    My other car is first.