![]() Linkua is like an online hub to connect with real flesh-and-bone language teachers. It’s a pretty comprehensive package you get, but you will need to have the dedication to stick to the lessons. Prices range from around $100-$200, depending on whether you’re looking to learn on the go, or at home. Mango is geared more towards travelers and should provide a good foundation to build conversational skills, but it is unlikely to deliver total fluency – that will only happen if you live and breathe a language. Its methodology follows what it calls ‘intuitive language construction’, focusing on the four key components of speaking a language: vocabulary, pronunciation, grammar and culture. Mango Languages offers Mango Passport, which is downloadable language-learning software that teaches basic conversational skills and cultural practices. However, serious language-learners will probably be looking at spending at least some money to ensure their studies are properly structured and, to be honest, if you’ve spent money on something you’re more likely to follow through and learn. Heck, they even send you a certificate once you’ve completed the course. The BBC also offers 12-week beginners’ courses in FIGS, whereby they teach you the basics and send you weekly email tips, this is followed by an ‘end of course’ assessment to see how well you’ve done. Here’s one of the videos that’s available: It contains 24 units with video, key phrases and games, including 12 mini video lessons, weekly tips and many other resources and worksheets. French, Italian, German and Spanish (FIGS) is covered, as well as Greek, Chinese and Portuguese.There are short audio and video courses for starters, including Ma France which is designed for “French improvers”. ![]() The BBC has an excellent – and free – online resource for language-learners. So here’s a look at some of the tools available to help you learn and improve your foreign language skills. Well, the same technology that has helped make the world a smaller place can also be used to learn any number of languages. That’s fine if you’re on a gap-year or your work happens to take you there, but if you’re unable to up-sticks and move abroad, what are your options? The best way to learn any language is to immerse yourself in it, which usually requires living abroad. There are actually plenty of native English speakers who do speak additional languages, but the point is overall we’re not that multilingual. Growing up as a native English speaker, school is all about Maths, English and Science – foreign languages typically find their way onto the syllabus for a couple of years, but they almost feel peripheral to the subjects that are going to get us jobs when we leave school or university. The older we get, the less time we have and the harder it is to pick up new languages.Ĭountless people say that they wish they’d taken advantage of the language-learning opportunities presented to them at school, but hindsight is a wonderful thing. However, everyone else seems to know English, so there’s little incentive to learn a second tongue, especially if multilingualism isn’t instilled in us at a young age. But if you were born as a native English speaker, there’s a good chance you’re monolingual, a fact that rears its head whenever you travel the world or simply go on a two-week break to the Mediterranean. With globalization comes the need for multilingualism, and speaking multiple languages helps bridge linguistic and cultural divides which are the last remaining barriers in creating the global village McLuhan envisaged. But whilst technology has helped bring the world closer together, some things haven’t changed all that much. McLuhan was sharp to notice that new media was making the world a smaller place, metaphorically speaking of course.
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