i'm tryin to find a quick way to learn because my parents don't want me to take up any of my high school credits while i'm already taking Spanish3 and ASL2. I really want to learn more though, and French is a necessity because I'm moving to Montreal immediately after highschool.
201330
Well, to speak fluently you really have to practice with real people, in real everyday life contexts. That goes for any language!\n\nBut just to get you started, you can look for the TV5 and the Alliance Française sites online and look for exercises and grammar examples. \n\nOr... the best way is to use the sites to look for the nearest real Alliance Française school and take some classes. This is the official french school, a bit like the British Institute for English.\n\nAnother suggestion would be to try to find if the Canadian Government also has an official institute for the french language with classes near your home.
256452
Everything is relative from your mother tongue. You could say that Spanish is easy for you if you speak Portuguese but it might be not so easy for English speakers. Gaelic is such a small language that is really worth learning just so you can say you speak a rare language. GO FOR IT!!
12704
Right now I'm in the middle of learning Spanish.  I'm in highschool, but I am progressing rather quickly.  I just started this year, but I have been taking french for a few years, and I am also learning italian.  That has really helped me with vocab and such.\n\nA few tips...\n\nWhen learning a language, the key is practice, practice, practice!  Learn with a friend... you guys can have conversations with eachother and that really helps.  \n\nRent movies that were originally in spanish.  Watch it first without subtitles and see how much you can understand, then watch again with the subtitles so you can get a better understanding, and pick out some words.\n\nMusic.  I'm telling you, it's the best.  Listening to music in Spanish will really help your pronunciation, even if you dont understand all the words.\n\nKeep a notebook of words that you want to know how to say in Spanish... for example, since you don't speak fluently yet, your conversations may be in a sort of "spanglish".  Any words you don't know in spanish, write down and ask your tutor for a translation and proper usage.\n\nI hope that was helpful!
539141
listen to someone else speak it, buy a tape, find a station or movie in french... something that really helped me was watching subtitled movies.  i had a hard time learning french too, and the best way to learn is to always hear it and try to understand what your hearing.  even if at first you only understand a word or two, or just pick out something and are like, hey! i know that word!  the rest tends to fall into place.  as for things like learning to conjugate verbs and what not... i'm afraid my dear, you might just have to study ;)  haha.. but yeah, subtitled movies!!  i highly recommend!  good luck!
332835
Just start talking to people. Americans love helping out. Your written English is very good. Find a friendly girl in one of your classes and ask her to PLEASE correct you if you say something wrong in English. Also avoid hanging out with people that only speak French/Arabic. That way you will improve quickly. Also read as much English as you can and listen to the radio. You could also let your parent's know that you would like to watch TV in English to improve your language skills.
268107
No doubt! My 7th-grader learns a foriegn language every 2 weeks in school. 2 weeks is not enough time for one thing. It only causes them to run all the languages together. And why should they even do it? The language in America anymore seems to be Spanish. You can't even order a cheeseburger without hearing a foreign language. It kills me to go to the counter of McDonalds,speak to an American,in American, & watch them turn around and yell in Spanish so they can be understood. We have to many homeless people here to have all the foreigners over here working our jobs. The high school kids needing a summer job is gonna have problems finding them because they've been givin' to foriegners who can't even speak our language!! Gets me fired up fast!!!
52326
Some schools should look for ways to offer options, but actually- Spanish is becoming the second most important language in this country!   French is next to useless in many states.  Latin is barely useful- its helpful but has little application in the job market.  A great school might offer a remote classroom where motivated students could learn japanese, urdu, german,arabic, or russian or whatever.  Basic comprehension of spanish is important. If the student wants to study french, italian, or latin- then a background in spanish will still be useful due to some similarities in structure.
123595
I think it is great that you are thinking of taking a language, being bilingual is always helpful and it opens up many, many doors.  I can't promise it will be easy if you have never taken spanish before, but it is one of the easiest languages to learn and if you really are interested in learning you will learn it nonetheless.  I suggest that while you take the course you check out some spanish music and movies.
431484
There's a website just for this sort of thing...\n\nhttp://oraweb.aucc.ca/showdcu.html\n\nYou can search a database of every province, field of study, and language that you're interested in.
612319
I will help you with French if you help me with Spanish!  I am French Canadian but I lived in Uruguay for 3 years.  I'm starting to forget my Spanish but I'd like refresh and learn more.
271867
Nobody learns to become fluent in a language by taking two years of it in high school, regardless of the language. We really should be starting foreign language study much younger if we wish to obtain fluency. However, two years of a foreign language in high school will give you a good base upon which to continue studying the language. In fact, even if you plan to learn it by immersing yourself in the language overseas, I definitely recommend taking a couple of years of the language in high school (or at least one in college) before you go there. Otherwise, you'll be lost.\n\nAs to whether a native speaker or an American speaker is the better teacher, I actually find that American speakers, assuming they have an advanced degree in the language, are better language teachers. At the university where I teach French, my former students who end up in one of the native speakers' classes after mine continually complain about how bad their professors are and how they wish they had me instead. A native speaker may have a more authentic accent, but very few American students are talented enough to emulate a native accent anyway. And if they are, strangely enough, they seem to pick up the accent regardless of whether the teacher is native or not. American professors have the advantage of understanding the difficulties that an American student will have in attaining the language.\n\nIf you are serious about wanting to acquire French, then I recommend the following:\n\n1. Whenever you learn a new verb or a new verb tense, make a flash card for it promptly. Keep these in a recipe box and review them weekly.\n\n2. Listen to your favorite DVD's in French with the English subtitles on. If you this over and over again, you start to memorize certain lines. Choosing your favorite DVD's is helpful because you're already familiar with the story line and the scenes.\n\n3. Try to go overseas to study for at least a summer semester once you've taken a couple of French classes in college. Most universities have summer French language classes or programs, and partial scholarships to attend are usually available. Studying a language overseas is an investment not only in your knowledge of that language but in your understanding of the world as a whole. It's a mind-opening experience.\n\nIncidentally, ignore those who tell you to take Spanish because it is "practical." You'll be in competition with 80 bazillion people in the U.S. who speak Spanish, not to mention the effects of the anti-immigration sentiment around here these days. Besides, French is spoken world-wide, whereas Spanish is only good in the Americas. If you go to Africa or the Middle East, French will come in handy, and Spanish will get you nowhere. More importantly, the only way you'll become proficient enough in ANY language for it to be of value is if you love the language enough to actually pursue it past your two year requirement. Take the language that interests you, and you'll go farther than with one that is forced down your throat.\n\nBest of luck! \nor should I say\nBon courage!
346372
I know English and I am learning French. I know a lot of Urdu and understand it, but I cannot speak it fluently. My first choice to learn another language would be French cause it is really beautiful, but i am already learning it. I would choose Greek because it is rich in history.
600806
I can't say one is easy than the other for sure, but I'd recommend french if your field is the arts, but spanish if u want flat useability. Also, as a tip, to help with fluency and vocabulary watch movies in whatever language you choose (Alot of DVDs have other language tract besides English) Start off with english subtitles, then subtitles in ur forign language, then none at all with just the audio in the language. Trust me, it helps alot. Personally I'm in French and love it.
150421
It depends if you want to make money with the language or not.  There are many Indian languages not just one. So choosing one may be hard.  Urdu and Hindi are almost the same so I would start there.  And there are many Indians in the US so there is a market for interperitors if you can become fluent. Right now the biggest market for interpertors is in Arabic due to the political situation.  But Spanish is an easy language to learn and very similar to French.  You could learn Spanish and then pick up french in no time because they are so similar.  My husband knows french I know Spanish and most of the time I can understand him.
644850
Take a class. My girl friend and I are learning Spanish. We did 101 and got a lot out of it. Now we're trying to learn on our own. There's always a reason to put it off. Without deadlines and tests it just doesn't get done. Your local community college will have languages and it should be cheap for residents. \n\nOtherwise: I'd go Pimsleur.
577096
What type of studying are you talking about?  Like at a university?  I doubt it unless you have one hell of a scholarship.  And I've never heard of a scholarship that is given simply because you learn to speak French.  If you're going to France to study, I think it's kind of implied that you'd have to learn to speak French to do so.
190747
Here's a tip.  Go to France on an exchange program.  You will learn more French in one month than in a year of study.  Check around.  There are some summer programs that are not that expensive.