As I’m getting more and more time to myself, overnighting in the lorry, I thought I’d put the time to good use and try to brush up / learn some languages. I’m at basic level in Dutch, intermediate in French, and between the two in German (and OK in Latin!), but would like to improve. What methods have people on here found to be most effective in learning - much as I’d like to, moving to the Netherlands isn’t an option (wife says we’d have to take her mother with us, which defeats the object mostly )
I had a horrid French teacher, so i learnt nothing in his class, i taught myself by reading childrens books in French in the school library, if you start very basic then work up through the ages, it is not long before you can read adult novels in French.
While driving in Europe you sit with nations of drivers and pick it that way.
When getting stopped by traffic officers abroad, they are impressed that you make an effort and most time i was let go in a few minutes of being stopped for a control.
Before long i picked up Spanish, Portuguese and a smidge of Italian.Go to the library to read foreign language books and magazines, while abroad you can get the tv in that language and get a grasp that way, even better when they show sub titles in English,or an English film with a foreign language subtitled.
What’s the deal with this site then? I’m very sceptical about signing up for anything that’s free because it invariably isn’t. Is it a site you’ve used?
I’ve never signed up for it, i just mooch around it. It’s interesting to see his approach to learning a language and how many he’s learnt - partly as you said by immersing himself in the culture - only a bit more ■■■■■■■■!; he goes somewhere and does not speak any english at all. IIRC, there is a page with a discussion about the audio courses.
Another way to learn is to tune the radio to the medium or short wave to pick up European radio stations, i left the radio on all night, so i was learning when i was asleep, when driving in Europe in was in their language.
In France there is a radio network that broadcasts traffic bulletins in English, think it is 103.3 or 107.7, mainly on the toll roads for the tourists.
They run a course in Lampeter for Welsh learners (you’d be surprised how many people sign up from all over the world). It’s residential and they are only allowed out to pubs that are known to have Welsh speaking staff and sympathetic customers and are not allowed to speak English at all while there! When I lived locally we would occasionally find “asylum seekers” who had managed to escape for a night of speaking English in another pub. But they did have a very good success rate - most left after a couple of weeks speaking average conversational Welsh.
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