Post: #1

I was recently thinking that in daily, mundane conversation, we probably use no more than a few thousand words even though there are hundreds of thousands of words in use in the English language. You could probably get by in basic conversation in another language just learning a couple thousand words. After that, everything is just grammar, pronunciation, and being able to comprehend at conversational speed.

I like the way they break this plan down for rapidly learning a new language. Sounds very pragmatic and methodical and without having to go to language school or shell out for an expensive home course. I'm going to give this a shot.

http://lifehacker.com/5903288/i-learned-...-heres-how

Post: #2

I think language school is a great idea to either get laid (the ratios are often very favorable) or find other speakers to practice with literally 24/7. Education is a racket in the US, overseas you can often go to school for serious credits on like a thousand dollars.

Thanks for the link, gonna print it off as a pdf.

Post: #3

The insight that there are a small amount of high frequency words that are used all the time is very useful. I've used the Pimsleur program to learn Portuguese, which focuses on these common words in the context of conversation.

The entire program consists of conversational use of language, you're never learning words in isolation, but in full phrases and sentences that are 100% useful in conversation.

Of course, after completing a basic language course like this, you'll want to continue to expand your knowledge of the language to other areas depending on your goals. But Pimsleur definitely offers a strong foundation in basic inter-presonal communiciation, ie. social chit chat, which is what we mostly want when traveling/meeting new people