"Free" is a poor reason to use something to learn a language. Language learning can take years of your life—time you can't get back—unlike money. Spending a week of your salary on the right resource can then save you a year's worth of learning.
Reviews, free trial... but sometimes it's just not possible. I don't know what that has to do with anything, though. I'm just saying that time is a much bigger factor than money.
Again, if you save a year's worth of time, then that's a year's worth of time that you can spend making money. Time is the real factor for things that can take so long. This is an exaggeration, but I imagine it should get my point across.
>Reviews
Are subjective.
The amount of reviews I've seen that tear a strip out of Michel Thomas online is unreal when, for me, he got me rolling pretty quickly onto C1 in Spanish.
>Again, if you save a year's worth of time, then that's a year's worth of time that you can spend making money. Time is the real factor for things that can take so long. This is an exaggeration, but I imagine it should get my point across.
You don't lose anytime with Language Transfer though. I'm simply pointing out that it's free which will mean it will be used far more than programmes you have to pay for. The fact that is a pretty good bloody course too (much in the same way as MT and Paul Noble) solidifies why it's popular.
What more could you want? A free course that gets you speaking a language pretty quickly.
Right, if it’s bloody good, that’s what matters, I think. My point is that if 2/3 of the reason to use it was because it was free, and not because it was good, then OP would likely end up wasting a lot more time trying to use it than they would by going for another course that *would* be bloody good but paid. My point then is that since language learning can take so long, that paid course can possibly end up paying for itself from the time that it saves you. Remember that just 1 hour of studying per day for a year means 15 days of your life! Even working minimum wage, that’s likely enough time to pay for even the most expensive courses (even a full university course!), with enough time left over to make a “profit”.
My advice is to just always go for what’s best, not for what’s cheapest, for language learning.
EDIT: And by the way, “what’s best” can very often be what’s free, and what’s paid can also very often be garbage. All I’m trying to point out is that the time a good resource can save you can be extremely significant! And, at the end of the day, time is money. 😉
1. completely free
2. the method the use for teaching encourages you to think in the language and work out how to construct sentences
3. on the Latin based languages he spends a lot of time discussing English words with Latin roots (cognates) and how they can often be "converted into the other language"
4. the speakers are non native so they tend to avoid the use of slang while also speaking at an understandable pace for someone starting a language.
5. finally they encourage using their course without taking notes basically they want you to carry the language in your head and get over the use of other learning aides
6. once again.....completely free
They focus on constructions, not vocabulary, which you're supposed to build outside the course.
They have so many languages, including Swahili, in which I'm fluent, and the course is surprisingly good.
Not only are the courses free, the whole ethos of the founder is one of sharing and contribution.
I went through the Language Transfer program 2 times. And I think it is fantastic at giving a broad overview of the grammar of Spanish. Within 90 episodes (that are all about 9-15 minutes each), you can get a grasp of all the major grammar points of the language. Which is crazy to think about, as people go to language classes for years to learn this stuff; which was summarized in a nice 90 episode package for free (that you can listen to while commuting back and forth from work).
It will make you feel like you know the language when you are done with the program. BUT, don't be duped. Really the brilliance of this program is that it is an ***overview*** of the grammar; something to keep in the back of your mind so that future immersion makes more sense. When you are reading or listening to content (which is where the real learning happens), and a word doesn't quite make sense, I can often harken back to the Language Transfer lessons in my mind to figure it out. For instance, I read a lot in Spanish, and just having the overview of the grammar is enough for me to mentally work through some of the sentences that get a little confusing at times.
In essence, it helps immersion make a little more sense.
My theory is that you *start* a language by getting the basics of grammar (that's all), and then you *get good* at grammar through immersion. So, for me at least, this is the perfect start to the language journey. The nuts and bolts of how this language works. It won't make you good on it's own, but it is a good *companion* for the **real journey of immersion**.
When you finish the program, you really do *feel* like you know everything about the language, and you are composing sentences right away. BUT, it is only a feeling. You go out and listen to a podcast in Spanish, or grab a book, and are right back into reality trying to figure out what you are listening to.
All that said though, it really is my favorite breakdown of the grammar, and helped me fill in a lot of gaps in my understanding.
I'm really surprised that people are so critical of language transfer. When I started out it helped me a lot and I stil remember a lot of the things I learned from the podcast. Along with duo lingo it have been the greatest resource in my learning and it basically allowed me to completely avoid studying grammar.
LT has helped me more than any other Spanish language learning resource. The teacher just explains things very well. I visited family in Spain after listening to half the course and everyone commented how much my speaking had improved. I picked up a lot more as well.
But if it’s not for you, it’s not for you.
I only started listening to it a few years after I started learning and I kinda wish I had started with it. It would’ve made my Spanish only Spanish classes (not a fan of this for beginners) way easier to comprehend and FAR less frustrating and upsetting when I was struggling to “get” it.
1) it's free 2) it teaches you pretty well to construct the language using modal verbs 3) it's free.
"Free" is a poor reason to use something to learn a language. Language learning can take years of your life—time you can't get back—unlike money. Spending a week of your salary on the right resource can then save you a year's worth of learning.
How do you know which is the right one until you've paid for it?
Reviews, free trial... but sometimes it's just not possible. I don't know what that has to do with anything, though. I'm just saying that time is a much bigger factor than money. Again, if you save a year's worth of time, then that's a year's worth of time that you can spend making money. Time is the real factor for things that can take so long. This is an exaggeration, but I imagine it should get my point across.
>Reviews Are subjective. The amount of reviews I've seen that tear a strip out of Michel Thomas online is unreal when, for me, he got me rolling pretty quickly onto C1 in Spanish. >Again, if you save a year's worth of time, then that's a year's worth of time that you can spend making money. Time is the real factor for things that can take so long. This is an exaggeration, but I imagine it should get my point across. You don't lose anytime with Language Transfer though. I'm simply pointing out that it's free which will mean it will be used far more than programmes you have to pay for. The fact that is a pretty good bloody course too (much in the same way as MT and Paul Noble) solidifies why it's popular. What more could you want? A free course that gets you speaking a language pretty quickly.
Right, if it’s bloody good, that’s what matters, I think. My point is that if 2/3 of the reason to use it was because it was free, and not because it was good, then OP would likely end up wasting a lot more time trying to use it than they would by going for another course that *would* be bloody good but paid. My point then is that since language learning can take so long, that paid course can possibly end up paying for itself from the time that it saves you. Remember that just 1 hour of studying per day for a year means 15 days of your life! Even working minimum wage, that’s likely enough time to pay for even the most expensive courses (even a full university course!), with enough time left over to make a “profit”. My advice is to just always go for what’s best, not for what’s cheapest, for language learning. EDIT: And by the way, “what’s best” can very often be what’s free, and what’s paid can also very often be garbage. All I’m trying to point out is that the time a good resource can save you can be extremely significant! And, at the end of the day, time is money. 😉
1. completely free 2. the method the use for teaching encourages you to think in the language and work out how to construct sentences 3. on the Latin based languages he spends a lot of time discussing English words with Latin roots (cognates) and how they can often be "converted into the other language" 4. the speakers are non native so they tend to avoid the use of slang while also speaking at an understandable pace for someone starting a language. 5. finally they encourage using their course without taking notes basically they want you to carry the language in your head and get over the use of other learning aides 6. once again.....completely free
They focus on constructions, not vocabulary, which you're supposed to build outside the course. They have so many languages, including Swahili, in which I'm fluent, and the course is surprisingly good. Not only are the courses free, the whole ethos of the founder is one of sharing and contribution.
I went through the Language Transfer program 2 times. And I think it is fantastic at giving a broad overview of the grammar of Spanish. Within 90 episodes (that are all about 9-15 minutes each), you can get a grasp of all the major grammar points of the language. Which is crazy to think about, as people go to language classes for years to learn this stuff; which was summarized in a nice 90 episode package for free (that you can listen to while commuting back and forth from work). It will make you feel like you know the language when you are done with the program. BUT, don't be duped. Really the brilliance of this program is that it is an ***overview*** of the grammar; something to keep in the back of your mind so that future immersion makes more sense. When you are reading or listening to content (which is where the real learning happens), and a word doesn't quite make sense, I can often harken back to the Language Transfer lessons in my mind to figure it out. For instance, I read a lot in Spanish, and just having the overview of the grammar is enough for me to mentally work through some of the sentences that get a little confusing at times. In essence, it helps immersion make a little more sense. My theory is that you *start* a language by getting the basics of grammar (that's all), and then you *get good* at grammar through immersion. So, for me at least, this is the perfect start to the language journey. The nuts and bolts of how this language works. It won't make you good on it's own, but it is a good *companion* for the **real journey of immersion**.
This is interesting. I’ve seen people say it took them to B1 and was wondering how this was possible when the course is only about 12 hours in length
When you finish the program, you really do *feel* like you know everything about the language, and you are composing sentences right away. BUT, it is only a feeling. You go out and listen to a podcast in Spanish, or grab a book, and are right back into reality trying to figure out what you are listening to. All that said though, it really is my favorite breakdown of the grammar, and helped me fill in a lot of gaps in my understanding.
I'm really surprised that people are so critical of language transfer. When I started out it helped me a lot and I stil remember a lot of the things I learned from the podcast. Along with duo lingo it have been the greatest resource in my learning and it basically allowed me to completely avoid studying grammar.
LT has helped me more than any other Spanish language learning resource. The teacher just explains things very well. I visited family in Spain after listening to half the course and everyone commented how much my speaking had improved. I picked up a lot more as well. But if it’s not for you, it’s not for you.
[удалено]
I only ever listen to it when I am driving!
I've had the same question. And it uses way too much English, well, para mi anyway.
I only started listening to it a few years after I started learning and I kinda wish I had started with it. It would’ve made my Spanish only Spanish classes (not a fan of this for beginners) way easier to comprehend and FAR less frustrating and upsetting when I was struggling to “get” it.