Unforgettable Languages - Pluses and Minuses

The other day, I got a special offer for unforgettablelanguages, and decided to give it a try. I've used the mini-courses before, as well as the linkword book for Spanish, but had never used the software. So I ordered Chinese. In retrospect, I wish I'd gotten it for a European language.

The linkword system of necessity has its pluses and minuses. Since you're relating what you're learning to similar sounding phrases in your own language, there are going to be some deficiencies - the pronunciations aren't going to line up exactly. What's more problematic for the Chinese, however, is that 1) it works quite differently from English and 2) you have to decide how to represent it. Since the program is supposed to have you learning from the get-go, it doesn't take the trouble to teach pinyin. Unfortunately, it's not exactly written in pinyin either. Sometimes the transcriptions are quite close to English; other times they're nearer pinyin, but there doesn't seem to be a solid system in place. As a result, if you use this as a way to add some vocabulary fast before tackling, eg, a children's reader (these often have the pinyin below the characters), you're going to be spending some time on sounding things out and wondering (even more than you would anyway!) whether the word you're looking at is in fact the word you learned in the linkword course.

I haven't tried this program for languages written with a Latin alphabet, so I don't know how they are for teaching authentic spelling with accents, etc, but for Chinese you're definitely going to have some unlearning and relearning to do if you want to transfer what you've learned to other courses and to expand your use of the language in general. Be forewarned.

If you're looking for a way, then, to get some vocabulary and basic structures and, most importantly, build a little confidence for a new language, these courses aren't bad to start with. But be aware that for building toward fluency, this is a small first step in spite of how much vocabulary you can acquire and in a relatively short time.

Another Language Book...

I love language memoirs like those of Barry Farber and, of course, Steve Kaufmann. They provide inspiration and lots of great advice from someone who's been there. But there is another perspective out there... yours.

The other day, Simon at Omniglot received a review copy of Ultimate Language Secrets. I read about it, got the free sample introductory and bought the damn thing. Ultimate Language Secrets, like all books, draws on the authors biases and experiences. But the perspective is slightly tilted. In style, at least, this is a book about how you are going to learn new languages, not how someone else already did. The advice is practical, step by step, and is better than most at addressing the biggest challenge most self-taught learners face - finding the time and the motivation to keep going till you've actually accomplished your goals.

Readers of Ultimate Language Secrets probably won't find anything they didn't already know at some level - especially experienced learners. But Socrates already noted that we can only be taught what we already know, which means the big problem is taking stock of what we know and doing something with it, not actually finding some great secret. If you're going to learn a language but can't seem to get started, or if you're learning a language but can't seem to keep going, visit the ULLS home page (linked above) and check it out. This might just be what you need.