Coolhandluke8b 10 Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 (edited) I was born and raised in the USA and never had to learn any other language, I'm older so I don't know if that has changed since the late 80's to mid 90's. I took french when I was in 3rd grade but it was not a required class, it was more for fun. I don't recall any of the french I learned then so there ya go. After that I never took any class's for language, wish I had though (not that it was a option after I changed schools). My son is now in high school and has not learned any language other than English. School did not teach me shit, guess you need money and a private school... Edited September 20, 2013 by Coolhandluke8b Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest loppez Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 the problem about teaching at school is 1. teachers don't care 2. like obama said: No Child Left Behind (one of the worst thing i have ever seen. and it is not only in usa). i have friends who actaully learnt english at school. their teacher was good and they didn't have idiots in class which means the teacher could do more with them. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
OneManArmy 82 Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 To sum this thread up. School sucks. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dubs 13 Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 If you were judging on learning something from school.. wouldn't it depend on the teachers capabilities? ;s As far as I can see teachers have different teaching techniques even when teaching the same course as the other teachers so that may change how affective their teaching is ;o But seriously if you really want to learn another language, I'd suggest looking up an online tutor or a Language learning program like Rosetta Stone of course I'm not sure if that's available in your country, the only problem with these methods is that they're overly expensive but hey nothing is free in this world and after all they ARE teaching you a language. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SaruDa 11 Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 If you were judging on learning something from school.. wouldn't it depend on the teachers capabilities? ;s As far as I can see teachers have different teaching techniques even when teaching the same course as the other teachers so that may change how affective their teaching is ;o But seriously if you really want to learn another language, I'd suggest looking up an online tutor or a Language learning program like Rosetta Stone of course I'm not sure if that's available in your country, the only problem with these methods is that they're overly expensive but hey nothing is free in this world and after all they ARE teaching you a language. I could be wrong, but isn't rosetta stone mostly for learning to speak? Would it be useful for a pictographic language like Chinese? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
killerinsidee 14 Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 I would say hell no to Rosetta Stone. If you have money to burn, buy some some textbooks instead. I think it does teach you some basic writing, but it's fucking silly http://cdn.lingualift.com/blog/wp-content/files/2011/01/rosetta2-560x418.jpg. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dubs 13 Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 (edited) I could be wrong, but isn't rosetta stone mostly for learning to speak? Would it be useful for a pictographic language like Chinese? Ahh I forgot about things like that, I wouldn't suggest them for languages like Chinese, Russian where the alphabets are completely different to that of Latin/ basic English and I also forgot to add that the courses aren't short either ( I've not taken Language courses before out of school so I've no idea how long a normal course would take ) Also I doubt the free trial of Rosetta offers what one of their actual courses would ( Where you're given your own tutor to verbally talk to and everything ) Scrap that... You actually have to pay extra for those things which are pathetic... http://puu.sh/4vRcT.png Edited September 20, 2013 by Dubs Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest loppez Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 I could be wrong, but isn't rosetta stone mostly for learning to speak? Would it be useful for a pictographic language like Chinese? no way you can learn chinese by some shit like rosetta. you need to listen and speak in chinese. it is more important than in any other language because of shit called tones. i wanted to learn chinese once but i could not find any private teacher near so ended up learnin japanese. i like sites like this one: Conversation Exchange - Language learning with native speakers Quote Link to post Share on other sites
killerinsidee 14 Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 ^ I'm glad I don't study Chinese, it seems way worse then Japanese. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dubs 13 Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 i like sites like this one: Conversation Exchange - Language learning with native speakers I wasn't aware of that site, It actually seems like a handy thing, instead of having to pay for it, you teach them your language and they teach you theirs, I'm looking up their Japanese penpals as I'm writing this ;o Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gerard the Lone Wolf 10 Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 I'm glad I don't study Chinese, it seems way worse then Japanese. Hah, I actually knew some Chinese who can't even read Chinese writings. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChexGuy 13 Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 Hah, I actually knew some Chinese who can't even read Chinese writings. Like me. :B Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dan. 11 Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 Guys, don't forget this is the internet, so Rosetta Stone is free. In the Japanese one you choose romaji/hiragana/kanji+hiragana for the writing system when you learn. It's mostly for hearing and speaking though, not writing. There's a website, LiveMocha, that is basically a free, online version of rosetta stone, but includes text and voice chat with people learning other languages and learning activities that include writing and speaking that are "graded" by other users. So if you speak English and are learning Japanese, you find a couple people on there who speak Japanese and are learning English and you grade each other and help each other learn. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SaruDa 11 Posted September 20, 2013 Share Posted September 20, 2013 Hah, I actually knew some Chinese who can't even read Chinese writings. >.> That's just called illiteracy. Although admittedly I imagine it's more of an issue in China. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gerard the Lone Wolf 10 Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 (edited) >.> That's just called illiteracy. Will it still be illiteracy if they know how to write in other languages? It's a pain to learn the Chinese characters, so they know how to speak it, but they don't want to learn how to write or read the Chinese language, and it corresponds to killer's post. It's fine since Chinese language is the third main language in my country after all, with English and Malay being the first and second. Edited September 21, 2013 by Gerard the Lone Wolf Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SaruDa 11 Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 Will it still be illiteracy if they know how to write in other languages? Depends. Are they fluent in aforementioned other languages? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gerard the Lone Wolf 10 Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 They are fluent in English. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rauthaz 10 Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 I'm Chinese but grew up in the UK so I'm fluent in English and can only speak some Cantonese and only know some characters but I'm not bad at listening. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
boukyaku 10 Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 Yes, after a certain point, school is absolutely worthless in this day and age and is actually interfering with the progress of ones growth instead of promoting it. I am just surprised it is taking so long to get rid of this horrible system. Maybe another 30-40 years. Oh, right, language exchange, at least in my experience (mainly a bunch of college language brats), is a waste of time. If you truly want to learn a language, go live in that country and figure things out for yourself. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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