Linglot

One day while browsing my favorite store ever, Barnes and Noble, I checked the clearance shelf, and sitting there was Michel Thomas Spanish Language Builder. It was cheap, so I thought I’d try it out. When I first listened to it, I knew I was hooked.

I listened to the CDs and read the accompanying manual over and over until I had the entire thing committed to memory. And that didn’t really take very long, because (in my experience) the Michel Thomas method is really effective. After I had mastered this, I went to the library and checked out a ton of Spanish learning material, and also found some free podcasts on iTunes. I basically tried to completely immerse myself in the language, as that’s the way to be the most successful when studying language.

And so here I am, working on my second foreign language, and also tinkering with a couple others. My experience in Spanish has made other languages easier to learn. I believe that when a second language is mastered, others are easier to learn, even if they are not even related. I’m not completely fluent in Spanish yet, but I can converse and read quite well. I still dedicate 20 minutes or so each day to it, and frequently chat with Spanish speakers via SharedTalk, instant messenger, and on IRC (Internet Relay Chat).

I’ve never taken a language class, and all of my language education has been self-taught. I’ve been considering taking a conversational Spanish class at the college here sometime, because I don’t get consistent opportunities to meet with people and talk in Spanish. As I said, complete immersion is the key to being successful in a language, and the more ways that can be found to practice and study a language, the easier it will be and the less time it will take.

Learning is an ongoing process, and there always are new things to learn.

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