Learning another Language

[jaycee]

Japanese isn't easy. It would help a lot if you already know Chinese, say.

There is a decent japanese community in Sydney. A lot of them are students or learning english so language exchange is always popular. There are a few free papers which advertise these, such as www.cheers.com.au and www.info-m-jenta.com

The beginner classes would probably just be the two simple alphabets and a few phrases. You'd get to maybe Level 2 in the proficiency exam by pure study alone. To actually be able to speak it properly, you really have to go there.

As an aside, I know Chinese, did Japanese classes for 3 years, then went to Japan and realised how crap I was. Shaved off most of the accent in 9 months but didn't achieve fluency for a year or so.

LOL I still maintain that I am not fluent in any language that I know, despite hearing and trying to speak them both for nearly 40 years...

I would have thought becoming "fluent" in 12 months an acheivement.

 

[bluestorm]

ld prefer an asian language due to interest in their cultures. Any ideas welcome.

Also wouldn't mind hearing the experience from other people here that learnt a second language as an adult.

If you want an asian language then Mandarin Chinese is probably the one to go with. Could be useful when China is a superpower in 20yrs time.

You can use a combination of CD's or books. There a some good books with flash cards, etc to test your progress. The books are good for learning the basics of the words, and the audio CD's are good for getting the pronunciation correct.

Just do a bit each day. Also found watching some SBS movies handy once you know a little more. And just head down to China Town to test your skills with people.

 

[vbplease]

I suggest to you and anything others looking at studying a language to take a gander at the cd's of Michel Thomas.

I agree, the Michel Thomas method is pretty amazing.. you can learn basic conversations in a few hours. But unfortunately he doesn't teach asian languages..