Learning a language... whilst driving!

thebyp

Hi All

My next holiday is to France, and for the first time i thought i ought to actually be able to communicate with the natives

Since I have changed my location for work I now have an hour plus journey each way, so thought I would learn a language in this time.

Has anybody learned a language in the car before? Is it actually effective?

If so, can anybody advise any (preferably cheap) ways to learn a language in the car?

Thanks

Benjamin

pcg2001

thebyp wrote: »

Hi All

My next holiday is to France, and for the first time i thought i ought to actually be able to communicate with the natives

Since I have changed my location for work I now have an hour plus journey each way, so thought I would learn a language in this time.

Has anybody learned a language in the car before? Is it actually effective?

If so, can anybody advise any (preferably cheap) ways to learn a language in the car?

Thanks

Benjamin

I have never learned a language driving, but I listen to a lot of audiobooks and language courses in my car (languages I already know). Not sure where you livr, but there are language courses available in your local library. In London Westminster libraries they have all sorts of Michelt Thomas courses etc, some on cd some in cassette. You need to pay £4, if I recall correctly, to borrow these for a 3 or 4 week period. These are really expensive courses, so i would say this is the cheapest way to have access to a complete thourough course.

serena

Do you have a MP3? You can download lessons from i-tunes - there's an education section. Look out for coffee break French.

Keep concenttrating on your driving though!

nic_santorini

I was just going to recommend the I tunes freebies, but I tried and as I was concentrating trying to recall how to turn left in Greek, I nearly ran into the back of the car in front, it certainly takes my concentration away from the road, but that may be an individual thing.

M4RKM

I've tried, got a freebie cd from the guardian. It's too difficult whilst driving, as you have to repeat what is said to fully learn, and it's probably worse than talking on a mobile phone IMO. I drive A LOT for a living, most days more than 2 hours a day that is...

M

Emma37

Can you download i-tunes lessons onto an ipod, or does it have to be an MP3 player? I've never had one before, and have just bought a beginners' language CD with the idea of putting it onto an ipod or MP3 player. I tried to buy an ipod and the assistant seemed doubtful if I could use it for that purpose.

I would really appreciate any advice on this please.

juliescot

Emma37 wrote: »

Can you download i-tunes lessons onto an ipod, or does it have to be an MP3 player? I've never had one before, and have just bought a beginners' language CD with the idea of putting it onto an ipod or MP3 player. I tried to buy an ipod and the assistant seemed doubtful if I could use it for that purpose.

I would really appreciate any advice on this please.

Can't think of an obvious reason why you could not rip the CD onto an mp3 player or ipod

People rip CDs into iTunes all the time (there are alternatives to both iTunes and ipods of course)

budgetflyer

You can use "real player" free media player to rip CDs to mp3.

www.Radiolingua.com has "podcasts" that you can download as mp3s and play in any mp3 player.

As well as their flagship "Coffe Cup Spanish" they also have FREE (I love that word:D) French, German + Italian courses.

In addition They have a "1 minute lesson" series on lots ofother languages.
Im doing Greek at the moment:cool:

gedebage

Have a look at www.earwormslearning.com. I use it all the time when I am driving. There is music in the background and the language seems to stick in your mind even when you are not listening to the CD. If you go to the website you can listen to demos. I have had my earworms cd's for over a year. From memory they cost me £9.99 from Amazon.

Pee

Earworms are brilliant. Pretty basic, but either enough for a holiday or a good start for you to move on from.

thebyp

pcg2001 wrote: »

I have never learned a language driving, but I listen to a lot of audiobooks and language courses in my car (languages I already know). Not sure where you livr, but there are language courses available in your local library. In London Westminster libraries they have all sorts of Michelt Thomas courses etc, some on cd some in cassette. You need to pay £4, if I recall correctly, to borrow these for a 3 or 4 week period. These are really expensive courses, so i would say this is the cheapest way to have access to a complete thourough course.

I have to confess I hadn't thought of the library - given my location though I am not sure they will have anything. I shall have to make a special trip into town where they have a bigger one, and hopefully they will have something

sereena wrote:

Do you have a MP3? You can download lessons from i-tunes - there's an education section. Look out for coffee break French.

Keep concenttrating on your driving though!

I do have an MP3 but not an ipod so I think i am right that I can't use itunes?

budgetflyer wrote:

You can use "real player" free media player to rip CDs to mp3.

www.Radiolingua.com has "podcasts" that you can download as mp3s and play in any mp3 player.

As well as their flagship "Coffe Cup Spanish" they also have FREE (I love that word:D) French, German + Italian courses.

In addition They have a "1 minute lesson" series on lots ofother languages.
Im doing Greek at the moment:cool:

I do love the word free

Thanks all