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Do learn some of the native language of your target country before you apply. Having that on your resume and being able to handle small talk in an interview dem

Do learn some of the native language of your target country before you apply. Having that on your resume and being able to handle small talk in an interview demonstrates that you are serious about staying in the new country for some time. There is lots of good advice on the Internet on how to learn a foreign language fast and it does not include "take a course" because the rigid structure of courses impedes more than helps. Just do it, practice it every day in every way that you can, starting today. No excuses. EVERY DAY. If you have nobody else to talk to then talk to yourself in the foreign language. This is brain training and requires practice. And just like compound interest, working for an hour or so every day pays off big in language learning.

tom_mellior 10y ago
> the rigid structure of courses impedes more than helps That's also my impression, having learned some languages in traditional courses and some others using Duolingo. It's not completely clear cut because there are presumably different types of learners, but yes, there are easier, cheaper, better resources than traditional courses.
SyneRyder 10y ago
If it helps others, Duolingo is obviously a good starting point for this (and free), but I also liked LingQ because you can import articles from the web and learn to read them word by word, building up your own personal dictionary in the process. So instead of pre-defined lessons, I learned by reading German song lyrics. (Unheilig is now my favorite band.) Speaking / conversation is really important though, and I haven't solved that yet. iTalki looks good, but I've not yet tried any of the Skype sessions yet. [0] https://duolingo.com/ https://duolingo.com/ [1] https://www.lingq.com/ https://www.lingq.com/ [2] https://www.italki.com/ https://www.italki.com/
Broken_Hippo 10y ago
As part of my immigration requirements, I took 2 years - 550+ hours - of Norwegian instruction. I was in class for about 18 hours a week. And the truth is, this has helped far beyond whatever I tried to piece together myself. I never actually found it as an obstacle. And the truth is, I found that when I spoke Norwegian badly, the norm was to switch quickly to English - both because most Norwegians learned it and it is more efficient communcation (and helpful).

tom_mellior 10y ago

> the rigid structure of courses impedes more than helps That's also my impression, having learned some languages in traditional courses and some others using Duolingo. It's not completely clear cut because there are presumably different types of learners, but yes, there are easier, cheaper, better resources than traditional courses.

SyneRyder 10y ago

If it helps others, Duolingo is obviously a good starting point for this (and free), but I also liked LingQ because you can import articles from the web and learn to read them word by word, building up your own personal dictionary in the process. So instead of pre-defined lessons, I learned by reading German song lyrics. (Unheilig is now my favorite band.) Speaking / conversation is really important though, and I haven't solved that yet. iTalki looks good, but I've not yet tried any of the Skype sessions yet. [0] https://duolingo.com/ https://duolingo.com/ [1] https://www.lingq.com/ https://www.lingq.com/ [2] https://www.italki.com/ https://www.italki.com/

Broken_Hippo 10y ago

As part of my immigration requirements, I took 2 years - 550+ hours - of Norwegian instruction. I was in class for about 18 hours a week. And the truth is, this has helped far beyond whatever I tried to piece together myself. I never actually found it as an obstacle. And the truth is, I found that when I spoke Norwegian badly, the norm was to switch quickly to English - both because most Norwegians learned it and it is more efficient communcation (and helpful).