learn language before visiting

[Siobhan]

Not sure if it will be useful to anyone but if you are thinking of going somewhere strange this year, there is a great online language course you can take for almost every country.

The site is called BYKI (http://www.byki.com) (before you know it) and has the following languages


Albanian
Arabic
Armenian
Azerbaijani
Belorussian
Bulgarian
Chinese
Croatian
Czech
Danish
Dutch
English
Farsi
French
Georgian
German
Greek
Hebrew
Hindi
Indonesian
Irish
Italian
Japanese
Kazakh
Korean
Latin
Macedonian
Malay
Norwegian
Polish
Portuguese
Romanian
Russian
Serbian
Spanish
Swedish
Tagalog
Turkmen
Ukrainian
Uzbek
Vietnamese

on a free download... For those more adventurous, you can upgrade (cost $50) to the full version and is available via exe download so you get it immediately..

[alan45]

Its really one of those things you wish you had paid more attention to at school. I wish I had. I can understand French if spoken slowly but could not carry out a full blown conversation. Stll I can order a pint of Beer and a glass of red wine in about 12 different languages so at least I wont die of thirst (unless I go to a dry Islamic country)

*** Runs off to look at how to order a galss of water in Arabic ******:ninja:

[Chloe O'brien]

good to know you have you're priorities right Alan. As long as you can ask for food drink and where the loo is you'll get by. :)

[Meh]

I need to learn German so I can communicate with my nephews and nieces. I'm normally good at languages but its a case of having the motivation.

[Siobhan]

I need to learn German so I can communicate with my nephews and nieces. I'm normally good at languages but its a case of having the motivation.

Then this is perfect for you TM... I am doing the german course and I am surprised that it is all stay in my head.. I have to learn it cause I want to be able to talk to my son

[alan45]

I have downloaded the Spanish one Its great. Cheers again Siobhan

[Siobhan]

I have downloaded the Spanish one Its great. Cheers again Siobhan

np alan.. just wonder which country speaks Tagalog

[Meh]

I have downloaded the Spanish one Its great. Cheers again Siobhan

np alan.. just wonder which country speaks Tagalog

I think that indonesia? One of the Malay languages? Could be wrong.

[alan45]

I have downloaded the Spanish one Its great. Cheers again Siobhan

np alan.. just wonder which country speaks Tagalog

I think that indonesia? One of the Malay languages? Could be wrong.

I googled it because I thought it was some kiddie talk but actually

TAGALOG is one of the major languages spoken in the Philippines, mostly by people from the Tagalog regions in the main island of Luzon. It is the lingua franca in Metro Manila, the national capital region of the country. It also serves as a base for Filipino, one of the two official languages of the Philippines (along with English). Read this interesting essay on the metamorphosis of Filipino as national language.

[laurouski]

Thanks, Siobhan, I downloaded the French one, and have completed the animals section so far, and I didn't think it would be as good as it is, but it really does help you to remember! :eek:

Oh, and Tagalog. I know you've googled it, but I have a friend who has Filipino roots, so I might as well tell you what she said. She speaks Tagalog, and she said that, when she used to live in northern Philippines (I'm not sure which area), she spoke Tagalog, and that was the main language there; but now, when she visits, she goes to a more southern area, and they don't speak it very much at all there.

It is very tempting to learn some of the language just to shock her! :rotfl:

[di marco]

i forgot about this thread, my mums just bought some cd/book thing so we can try and learn italien, if id remembered we could have got it for free lol!

[Abigail]

I downloaded the German one to see how much I remember since I did my GCSE a year ago and I've forgotten so much. I think this might be my summer project - learn as many languages as I can in 6 weeks.

[Tori]

i'm attempting to learn hungarian, ahead of my visit thre this summer and i think im gonna try and continue it after i get back as its a really interesting language to learn! shame not many places offer hungarian materials!

[JustJodi]

Hmmm I guess it is up to me to learn sign language for each country I visit :lol:

[Jessie Wallace]

Hmmm I guess it is up to me to learn sign language for each country I visit :lol:

Good luck with that one Jodi! lol I'll be even more impressed if you can lipread for each language too :p
Lucky your only going home to usa this holiday babes

[di marco]

I downloaded the German one to see how much I remember since I did my GCSE a year ago and I've forgotten so much. I think this might be my summer project - learn as many languages as I can in 6 weeks.

that sounds like a good idea lol! doubt id remember anything from german!

[Abigail]

Slightly related... For all the parents on here :)

My niece is three next month and I'm wondering if she is old enough to start learning a new language (German). Just the basics mind, numbers, colours, days of the week etc. She's been able to count to 20 since her second birthday and she knows the days of the week too.

She lived in Germany until she was one and I'm sure she can speak some German, just single words like Guten Tag/Hallo (hello), Bitte (please) and Schnell (quick). She used to say an awful lot more (more than in English), none of which we could understand, when she first came back to England but most of it has gone now.

Do you think this is a good idea? Is she old enough? Your thoughts please :D

[~*~Leanne~*~]

im not a parent but i think it would be a great age to start learning as they learn so quick at a young age and it is always good to know other languages

[di marco]

Slightly related... For all the parents on here :)

My niece is three next month and I'm wondering if she is old enough to start learning a new language (German). Just the basics mind, numbers, colours, days of the week etc. She's been able to count to 20 since her second birthday and she knows the days of the week too.

She lived in Germany until she was one and I'm sure she can speak some German, just single words like Guten Tag/Hallo (hello), Bitte (please) and Schnell (quick). She used to say an awful lot more (more than in English), none of which we could understand, when she first came back to England but most of it has gone now.

Do you think this is a good idea? Is she old enough? Your thoughts please :D

i think it would be a good idea, like leanne said, children learn things a lot quicker when theyre younger. in other countries i know children start learning languages in school a lot younger than we do over here. my little cousin got a kiddies french book when she was about 5 (shes 7 now) and i was surprised how much she learnt (things like animals, numbers, clothes, food etc). i dont know how much they are but most come with a cassette with little songs on and stuff to make it more fun

[Chloe O'brien]

I think its a great idea the young children being taught a second or third lauguage JB. Children's brains are like sponges they absorb everything. Marley is 8 now and she has been learning french since P1 she went to a french class once a week after school and in the last year its part of the sylabus.

[Rain_]

If it's any help Jelly, i'm not english i'm Ukrainian. I always spoke to my son (now 13) in english first, as in all fairness England was where he was born, then repeated it in Ukranian. Word association sunk in and now he speaks English, Ukrainian, Russian, and Belarusian, and it's fluent too. He uses it quite wrongly at times (like when he doesn't want his friends to know what he's talking about) but i for one am glad i taught him at an early age. I found that by teaching him one language it spurred him on to learn others...in his words "just to see if i can" It doesn't do them any harm

[Siobhan]

Slightly related... For all the parents on here :)

My niece is three next month and I'm wondering if she is old enough to start learning a new language (German). Just the basics mind, numbers, colours, days of the week etc. She's been able to count to 20 since her second birthday and she knows the days of the week too.

She lived in Germany until she was one and I'm sure she can speak some German, just single words like Guten Tag/Hallo (hello), Bitte (please) and Schnell (quick). She used to say an awful lot more (more than in English), none of which we could understand, when she first came back to England but most of it has gone now.

Do you think this is a good idea? Is she old enough? Your thoughts please :D

JB.. my son is 2, half german and his dad only talks to him in German, me in English.. he is speaking both languages well and understands both too. As a result of speaking German in the house, my 5 year old Daughter is picking it up too.. she knows colours/numbers etc. I have started german (from this free site and the BBC site) so I can understand them both cause I know they will start speaking German to each other.

I would highly recommend anyone teach their kids a second language and this package is brilliant cause it give pictures and the words so your kids can associated them. It is repeative and sticks in your head. All my boyfriend relatives commented on my improvement in German and that is down to BYKI free download...

[Siobhan]

Just wanted to remind everyone of this thread and to see how everyone is getting on with a new language.. Also for those learning German.. DS is bring out "Mind your language" course in March... "my spanish/french coach" is currently available

[moonstorm]

Slightly related... For all the parents on here :)

My niece is three next month and I'm wondering if she is old enough to start learning a new language (German). Just the basics mind, numbers, colours, days of the week etc. She's been able to count to 20 since her second birthday and she knows the days of the week too.

She lived in Germany until she was one and I'm sure she can speak some German, just single words like Guten Tag/Hallo (hello), Bitte (please) and Schnell (quick). She used to say an awful lot more (more than in English), none of which we could understand, when she first came back to England but most of it has gone now.

Do you think this is a good idea? Is she old enough? Your thoughts please :D

Here in Gibraltar all kids learn both English and Spanish from birth. As far as I am aware it does not slow them down in starting to talk, all mine started to talk very young (and have not shut up since!!) It is very common to hear someone here speaking a sentence in both English and Spanish.