Language courses

[beeseejay]

Has anyone learned a language with a language course? If so how good was it and how expensive? I would like to have a go at Danish but I'm cracking on in years and I've never been a great one for self motivation. Thanks for any tips.

[maggiebee]

Tried French a couple of years ago which was free because I qualified under the Scottish Government's Independent Learning Account Scheme which gives me up to £200 a year for study. Afraid it wasn't too successful for me, too much like school and I became bored very quickly. Maybe conversational French would have been better. Good luck.

[naomi24]

Contact your local authority. Ours offers 10 week courses for around £125 - although I think you'll be hard pushed to find Danish among the languages available. Failing that, if it's Danish you really want, perhaps you can look for a home tuition course, but I think they can work out to be quite expensive.

[Brenden]

I believe the Rosetta course is brilliant but very expensive.

[Prudie]

I've been trying for a year with Rosetta Stone Spanish, which although a present cost over £200. I've not had much success because it doesn't actually teach you much you can actually say when in Spain and I think I need a more traditional method that involves learning grammar and written work. I would go to evening classes but there's little available without travelling about 20 miles in my area and I don't have the inclination after a full day at work.

[coccinelle]

When learning a language on your own you have to be really motivated and be quite strict with yourself as to when and how long you'll work at it. It can be done. Other than books and CDs it's a good idea to watch DVDs in Danish with Danish subtitles (might get these through amazon). Any chance of speaking with fellow Danes would be a bonus.

[nannybooby]

like Naomi I went to a counsil funded course for Spanish ,it was absolutly brilliant.Write to your local council to find what courses are available.

[TWR]

Bee, go on Google & type in Free Danish Language Courses, what you want will come into view.

[theshedman]

Hi Prudie, I also have Rosetta Stone Spanish and I find it difficult to use and learn from. I know some people like it but it's not for me. I much prefer the Michel Thomas course. After getting used to his accent it is easy to learn from and when in Spain find I can make myself understood so it must work. Well it does for me. beeseejay you are never to old to learn.

[Prudie]

Hi theshedman, you're not the first that's recommended the Michel Thomas course, wish I'd known earlier! I certainly have little praise for Rosetta Stone. I can follow it easily and understand it and get great marks in the assessments BUT I still can't string a meaningful sentence together when I want to (apart from 'the woman runs with the small white dog' or 'the milk smells bad' LOL).
BSJ i wouldn't fork out a lot of money until you've had a go and see which learning style suits you.

[MarkRae]

Online and CD / book courses are OK, but no substitute for a "real" course e.g. at an adult education class with a real teacher, preferably a native speaker of the language you want to learn...

[theshedman]

Prudie, got my Michel Thomas course off e-bay, a full advanced course paid a fiver for it. Just got to look around and hope to get a bargin.

[beeseejay]

Thanks for all your responses, much appreciated. I will try the google approach and possibly e-bay. Don't want to spend too much as motivation is not my biggest thing! Shedman - I think I may be too old! I am for many other things!

[theshedman]

Hi beedeejay, forgot to put you can get free ones on-line but if you find it difficult getting Danish then Swedish and Norwegian are very similar. Not many countries use these languages so they will be harder to get than say Spanish or French. As Mark says picking up the language from books and cds isn't the same as leanring from native speakers but you can still learn quite a bit from them.