Best way to learn a language (Opinions, please)?

Question

If any of you out there know me, you'll know I'm eager to learn just about any language I can find. My question is though, what do you guys think is the best way to learn one?

The two different systems I've used and both work are: Rosetta Stone and Pimsleur Approach.

Opinions on both:

Rosetta Stone: A great program because it teaches you the grammar, and requires you to have an IQ to learn, it really immerses you into the language, but doesn't really teach you anything useful to say. The fact that it has an equivalent amount of written material to accompany the audio helps quite a bit.

Pimsleur Approach: I'm using this one to learn Russian currently. It seems promising, but it feels more like a phrase teacher, as opposed to really 'teaching' you the language. It took me hours to find the root of understand in Russian, ponyematye, the audio tracks don't explain anything about the conjugations, it more so expects you to find out on your own, which is terrible. The written part is very sparse, and doesn't really tell you much. Better if you need basic speech fast.

Final thoughts: Rosetta is better for med/long-term learning, a full comprehensive course of the language, won't teach you anything useful for a couple lessons. Pimsleur is more like a phrasebook that talks to you, and has sort of a learning element. It seems promising, but I may have to switch over to Rosetta to learn Russian, because I hear it's infamous for being the most-conjugating language on the planet. Hearing conjugations isn't the same, well for me isn't.

I would really like to hear from people who have learned using both systems, and others if you think they compete with these two.

I've heard of BYKI but I've used it and to be honest, it's terrible. So, people who have used one or the other, tell me your opinions on each, I wanna learn Russian, but learning a language like Russian you can't dive headlong into before you've done the latework.

Thanks,

Nick

Answer 1

Your analysis is pretty thorough, but you still need to consider that language is learned through constant repetition of certain key phrases, which form a knowledge foundation to branch from.  Learning the conjugation rules and grammar will absolutely help you recognize words and learn, but the key is to just associate words at first and then recognize them when they pop up in conversation.  As for the Russian language itself, its conjugating and inflection is vast, but not as unlearnable as some would make it seem.

     Then again, everyone learns differently, so you will have to find a way that suits you best.  In regards to which program works the best, Rosetta has helped me much more than Plimsleur, along the guidelines I described in the previous paragraph.

Answer 2

Honestly, I have both and they both work amazingly well. It all depends on what kind of time you have to devote to it. Pimsleur (the complete version, not just the 8 cd's) is great if you don't have a lot of time because you can listen to it in your car or add it to your ipod and listen any time. Rosetta stone is fantastic if you are serious about learning a language because it immerses you in the language and the culture but since it's on your computer, you have to set aside time to do it. But the both work wonderfully. I would suggest buying the small collection of CD's from pimsleur (the 7 or 8 cd one) and see how you like it. If you really like it buy the full version. But if you would like to also see how to spell the words written I would suggest Rosetta Stone because its program envelopes you with listening, pronouncing, spelling, and hearing the language and charts your progress and teaches you the culture in the process.