What programme to learn a new language for someone that really cant seem to learn a language

[soupyspoon]

Not sure if this is in the right section, might have to move this somewhere but I was scrolling through the list of subjects and really couldnt see a section that would suit

Inspired by another thread, I wonder what alternative there is to Duolingo type things. I need something I can access on a lattop/computer as I cant use a phone for it.

I was going to go back to Duolingo but the thread I was reading put me off to be honest, I had been on it for a while and then sort of fizzled out.

Any ideas?

Might help if you say which language you want to learn.

Yes good point, Spanish and I should point out as well that Im not looking for something to give me perfect grammarr and vocab as I struggle enough with that in English let alone another language!

I just want something where I can make myself somewhat understood in a shop, a taxi, a restaurant, asking or giving directions etc etc

Spanish isn't my language but I know people like all the Language Transfer courses, including the Spanish one. Its on Youtube. There is an active reddit sub for language learning and probably one for Spanish learners too, so you could do a search or read their FAQs, as this question will probably have been asked before.

I want to learn European Portuguese. That rules out Duolingo as it only does Brazilian Portuguese.

I have found watching Portuguese TV channels with English subtitles useful, along with a couple of good YouTube channels.

ETA - some Spanish TV channels may be as useful for you.

Is it realistic for you to join a class or find a one-to-one teacher, online or in person?

When I switched from Duolingo to a class it made a massive difference.

It's really hard to learn a language using just something like Duolingo.
The best way to learn is being sorted of immersed, when I lived in a foreign country that is when I've always learned best. Clearly that's not possible so you have to find ways to surround yourself.
Some useful hacks

• listen or watch spanish children's programmes. These will use simpler language and are slower so easier to get started on
• change your phone language to spanish so you see Spanish words for everyday things all the time
• see if you can find a meet up or local language conversation group
• try chatting to an AI in Spanish (never tried this but just wondered if it would work)
• read kids books
• look out for podcasts in Spanish for learners. I am learning Japanese and a guy does a slow Japanese podcast for beginners where he picks one topic or word and talks about it and is great to practice listening skills

Good luck

Me too!

I’ve been doing Duolingo for about 18 months but really feel I know nothing and I don’t know which words are Brazilian and which are Portuguese (apart from ones I’ve noticed myself like pineapple!). I have tried to find a in-person class but the only one I could find was also Brazilian.

Would love an alternative if anyone can suggest one.

https://youtube.com/@talkthestreets?si=tOrF39SYnQonSoVp

I have found this channel very useful, and was also able to have some private lessons to get me started.

Wife and I go regularly, and although most people speak English, the locals are often delighted that I am making an effort, and help me as much as possible.

I found the Michel Thomas approach helpful - I bought cds years ago but it’s on Spotify and I think you can try some lessons for free. He takes the approach of helping you structure basic sentences and also identifying words that are common to Spanish and English (albeit pronounced differently) so you have a reasonable vocab quite quickly. I found it a really useful
course, but it’s not a tourist phrase type course so if that’s what you want it may not be that helpful. (He also has quite a strong accent, which is not Spanish…)
If Im in a country where I don’t speak the language, I sometimes use google translate - you can click on it so it says the phrase out loud and then try it out IRL. If I think the phrase will be useful in future, I also note the phrase phonetically on my phone and end up collecting a few useful
phrases on each trip.
i think there is a language learning extension you can do with Netflix so if you have Netflix might also be worth looking at that?
Good luck!

@soupyspoon

have just seen this post so am a little late to make a suggestion for you.

Michel Thomas is excellent for new language learning

Here is a free lesson to introduce you to Spanish.

He's a little laborious at the beginning but his method is easy and quite exciting.

Good luck 💃

Dreaming Spanish is great for learning more 'naturally' i.e not having to learn grammar rules etc, but I think involves a lot of time invested up front on listening before you're expected to be good at speaking, may not be what you're after if you just want to get by on basic tourist-y type interactions, but it's an easy method - literally just watching videos. Worth a look, a lot of the content is free

I'm a bit late to this party but in case it helps someone.

https://portuguese.global/

https://lifelong-learning.ox.ac.uk/about/portuguese-language-courses

UCL also has lots of language evening courses but sadly not Portuguese.

Language courses have been defunded savagely, but it's worth checking local universities for continuing education (adult education) or evening classes that are open to non-students. The other one to check is whether there's some form of language institute for your target language that offers structured online or in person lessons.

The most successful way to learn a language is through active interaction. If you cannot find group lessons it's worth exploring individual tutors. The good ones will bring you on in leaps and bounds.