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Hey! Not sure if I placed this in the right section, feel free to move it to the correct one. Anywho,

 

Now that I'm done school I have a ton of free time (when work permits it) and I thought it would be a good idea to spend that free time learning a new language (and brushing up on an old one). I'm looking for good self-taught books for this. I want to brush up on my french (which I've almost completely lost after not using it for many years) and I'm looking to learn German as my third language. Any book suggestions? Are the Dummies books any good? I was told to check out the "Teach Yourself" line of books. Any help is greatly appreciated :D Thanks!

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Since you have the free time and enthusiasm for learning a new language, why don't you try one with a different alphabet? Like Hebrew, Arabic or Persian (which uses a 'modified'(extended) Arabic script: the Perso-Arabic script). Or perhaps Latin, as interesting texts are in Latin (from the Romans and from the 16th century onwards (apparently)(due to its usage in Academia) and since the Romance languages are derived form Latin, you can see the similarities. Just a thought before you settle on your choices!

Somehting relevant: I;ve used the Teach Yourself books, which are quite good, the Hebrew has a few mistakes (I think... though don't quote me!). I also use children's books: I have 'First 1000 words in Hebrew', and there's also an Arabic one.

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I've used the Routledge Colloquial Russian book and I quite like it.

The concept is good, there's a text at the begining, there's grammar notes, a list of new words in every unit/lesson, questions, writting and speaking excercises, and it comes with CDs :)

 

And I see on their website that they have textbooks for both German and French.

Hope it helps. Good luck with the studying :)

Edited by Brida
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I've used the BBC website in the past as well. They often tie in the website with a series of programmes and accompanying book as well, so you can use any or all of the content depending on how indepth you want to go, and they often have different learning levels as well depending on your experience.

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The Dummies books can be hit and miss - some are really useful, whilst others are weighed down by the necessity to impart information needed though not entirely central to the core of the book. If it is languages you are specifically interested in, then take a few minutes to look through the Rosetta Stone book and CD packs. They seem to have a very good success rate from everyone who has used them.

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