Self-Teaching Language...things

An-D

My goal for this summer is to become somewhat familiar with Sign Language and some other important foreign language (really haven't decided which one). Mostly through self-teaching.

So, right now, I'm looking for podcasts, interactive websites, good books...anything like that with a focus on a/a few foreign languages.

I'd love to to hear people's suggestions on what I should focus on.

I will be entering my second year of Chinese next semester (going to be doing an independent study-deal) and I've had a couple of years experience with Latin in high school and its never really left me (maybe a little, but I could refresh myself fairly quickly). I've been on and off teaching myself Italian for a while now.

That's my experience. I am going into sign language pretty blind - but it seems like it'd be an amazing thing to learn. If anyone has practiced this, it would be great to learn about your experience/what you used to learn.

So...yay!

Awk

Why not become fluent in italian? Whats with the diversifying?

kaliyama

it is better to achieve fluency in one language than a vague knowledge of several, because you're going to lose the vague knowledge much more readily in 3 or 4 years. I'd take a community college class in italian if i were you.

Thanatos

Take a summer course on Chinese if you can, bone up, get ahead.

It's a difficult language (I'm guessing you're referring to Mandarin), but ridiculously valuable to know, especially in conjunction with English.

I'd Fuck Chuck Lidell Up

i don't know how useful sign language is really, mainly because i took the time to learn it and walked up to a deaf kid at a camp i went to and started talking in sign language only to find that, not only could he read lips, but he had an implant that made it so he could still hear and my sign language skills were useless

i have never felt like such a jackass.

i also find it hilariously ironic that you say you are "going into sign language pretty blind" as it's the one language no blind person knows. i know what you mean it's just hilarious.

just get really good with mandarin

it's one of the more usefull languages especially when china becomes our overlords thanks to all the money we owe them

MagicToaster

Spanish rocks. Es el mejor idioma que puedes aprender.

The_Glad_Hatter

I don't know if it's like that in the states, but here in europe, every country (about the size of one of your states) has its own sign language (or its own "dialect" if you will.. with some massive variations), which pretty much sucks.

RUNN1NGMAN

Reasons to learn sign language:

1) You are deaf.
2) You have a deaf child/sibling/etc.
3) You want to get a job as a translator.
4) You want to date one of the many hot girls who take ASL in college.

Other than that it seems like something that you wouldn't use very often, and if you don't use it you lose it.

RUNN1NGMAN

The_Glad_Hatter wrote: »

I don't know if it's like that in the states, but here in europe, every country (about the size of one of your states) has its own sign language (or its own "dialect" if you will.. with some massive variations), which pretty much sucks.

The US has a universal sign language, ASL; however, ASL is completely distinct from other sign languages, even British Sign Language. Someone from England wouldn't understand anything that someone from the US was signing. It's like Chinese and English; two distinct language systems that share no common source and were developed virtually independent of the other.