Are you wanting to learn another Language? Here are some tips and resources. :)

How many of you keep thinking how cool it would be to learn a new language? I know there are many Otaku out there that would love to learn Japanese, and many Hallyu fans that would love to learn Korean. There are many reasons to learn a new language such as for: work, school, friends, or just because. It can be very intimidating and stressful learning a new language but also fun!

I started learning Japanese about 10 years ago and was able to get my feet in the water with the best ways to go about that. I started by buying lots of learn basics books and daily exercises. You can learn a lot from books but nothing is like being able to talk with some one else. Thankfully I was very lucky to have a very sweet Japanese Sensei who helped me get a good base for the language and I also was able to help her with some English along the way. It was really neat being able to exchange like that. From there I was giving the Japanese Rosetta Stone which to me worked very well for retention and immersion.

I got to speak a little Japanese and began learning a little Korean when a few students from Japan and Korea come to my school for a Foreign exchange program. I will say that the more you are around people talking another language the more able you are to figure out what they are talking about. One of the most important things when learning a language is to completely surround yourself as much as you can in that language. Watch shows in that language and listen to music and work at reading news papers and books.

While learning Korean I have been  using many online sites to learn Hangul and basic sounds and phrases as well as several apps. Talk To Me in Korean is a great site to go to to learn real Korean and get comfortable with it. I was giving a Living Language Book set for my Anniversary and so far I really like it for the Text Book Study part of Learning. A BIG help is Apps you can get on your phone for sure. You can find lots of little dictionary’s and exercise games to assist with learning on the go as well as a REALLY cool app called ” HelloTalk”.

HelloTalk is an app you can get where you make a small profile and put what language you know and what you are wanting to learn. It will match you up with many people from all around the world that are wanting to learn your language and know the one you want to learn. It is a great way to meet people and make friends all over the world or just in the country you are interested in. You are able to text chat as well as send audio recordings to one another. In this way you can learn written and spoken language with another person. Through the app you can also Call and talk to one another. There are many different ways to jump into another language and different things tend to work for different people.

Do you have any advice to learn a new language? Any cool websites to check out? Please let me know in the comments. 🙂