Monday, February 13, 2012

Are Language Learning Software Programs the Best Way to Learn a New Language?

Happy to Use Computer SoftwareHappy to Use Computer Software (Photo credit: Old Shoe Woman)By Ryan Thomas P

When you decide to learn a new language, it's pretty obvious that you're going to need the best resources available to help you achieve that goal. There are many different avenues that you can take to learn a language and some of these are as follows: personal tutor, college classes, textbooks, and language learning software programs.

In this article, I will inform you of the positives and negatives of each language learning software and why learning a language with a language learning software will provide with the best likely hood to successfully learn a new language.

Tutors

One of the oldest methods of learning a language is with the help of a personal instructor or tutor. You learned your native language by listening to your parents or guardian. So in an essence, they were actually a tutor to you. Having a tutor to teach you a new language is a great way to learn a language! Your tutor can plan out a study schedule for you and keep you on track.

One of the biggest challenges that students face when learning a new language is pronunciation. With a tutor, you will not have to worry about this aspect as much because your tutor should have a solid understanding of how the words are spoken and be able to teach you that same solid understanding.

The unfortunate part of using a tutor to learn a language is that tutors are expensive. The average price of having a personal tutor is in the range of twenty-five dollars an hour. This is just an average figure and I have personally seen this price much higher! Overall, having a tutor teach you a language is a great option to have at your disposal if you can afford to pay the necessary dues.

College Classes

College classes are another great way to learn a language. By taking advantage of college classes, at either your local college or a local university, you will be providing yourself with a teacher who can teach you how to communicate in another language. Your teacher will define a study schedule for you and help you over come any obstacles that you may encounter. Some of these obstacles may be pronunciation, verb usage, and listening comprehension.

In addition, you will have the added benefit of having classmate to learn with. This is a great tool to have because it allows you to ask your classmates questions and help answer any questions that your classmates may have. The major fall backs to learning a language by using a college course are time and progress.

Unless you are taking an online class, your college class is usually on a set schedule. This means that you show up at a specific time no matter what you may have going on in your personal life. Progress is the other problem and becomes evident very quickly when taking a college course!

A professor will do his or her best to ensure that each student is learning the material and this usually decreases the amount of material you will learn. A semester in college usually last around five months and at the decreased learning rate you will probably be able to only learn the basics of the language. If you have all the time in the world and you don't mind waiting on your classmates then this may be the perfect option for you.

Textbooks

The best thing about using a textbook to help you learn a language is that you can learn at your own pace. You can take your time or you can kick everything into high gear and drive right through the material. Either way, you can learn a lot about any language you choose to learn. The major down side to using textbooks to learn a language is that you are severely limited in what you can learn.

For instance, if you're studying Spanish and your textbook only list 20 verbs for you to learn. Obviously, there are way more than 20 verbs in the Spanish language! You may also face problems in learning how to correctly pronounce words or letters. Altogether, textbooks are a great supplement to another learning method but on their own they can do very little to help you become fluent in another language.

Language Learning Software

One of the most effective ways to learn a language is through a language learning software program. These programs provide you with an array of learning tools and in most cases they cover all of the basic language fundamentals such as reading, writing, speaking, grammar, vocabulary, and listening comprehension. Having a strong grasp of these six areas is essential if you want to be able to communicate effectively with a person in another language.

In recent years, most language learning programs have really advanced in their ability to successfully teach a student a new language. Some programs offer you guided learning tools, progress tracking tools, and speech pronunciation tools. Having these tools in addition to the lessons that cover all the basic fundamentals are very important to helping you learn that language.

If you choose to learn a language with language learning software then you should really take advantage of their customer support. These individuals can really help you out with any questions that you may have with the software. The disadvantages that are associated with language learning software programs are based on the individuality of each software program.

One program may focus on immersion methods where as others may use a combination of methods. So take your time and figure out exactly how you learn best and look for a software program that teaches in that format.

For me, personally, a language learning software program would provide me with the best opportunity to learn a language. The reason for that is because a language learning software provides me with all the learning features that I can get from a personal tutor, a college course, and a language textbook. In addition, I will have access to customer service, FAQ boards, learning tools, detailed lessons, and a money back guarantee if it's needed.

If you would like to find out additional information in regards to language learning software programs written by Ryan Thomas P then visit the previous link. You can also find reviews on several of the top Spanish software programs by visiting TopOnlineReviews4u.com.

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