My Favorite Language-Learning Resources
Hey, guys! So this post is going to be a list of my favorite resources to use when learning a language. These are all available for a variety of languages.
I’ll avoid putting software in here, as it’s ridiculously expensive and minimally useful, but if you want a software recommendation: go with Fluenz (they have great Cyber Monday deals). The downside to Fluenz is the lack of language options and the high price.
CEFR Levels (take a look at these, as I reference them in this post)
Know your goals for the language. Do you just want to know the very basics? Do you have a linguistic interest in its grammar or history? Do you just want to pass your university final? Do you want to achieve eventual fluency? Etc. Etc. Etc. Knowing your goals helps give your study a clear focus.
Know if your language uses a script you’re familiar with. If it doesn’t, I would suggest taking the time to learn it before you continue your study (this obviously wouldn’t include Chinese characters or Kanji, etc).
The absolute minimum you should start out with is a course book, a grammar book, and a good dictionary. While the course will likely cover the basics of the grammar, having the grammar book will give you a much more detailed understanding of how the language works.
Complete ________ (Teach Yourself)
These books, in my opinion, are amazing introductions to a language. Depending on the language, you’ll end the course at a B1-B2 level of ability, which is quite conversational. The introductions at the beginning of these books are normally a fantastic way to start off, giving you lots of background about the language. They have courses in a wide variety of languages.
Note: you can just buy the book, you don’t need the accompanying CDs if you can’t find them.
The best places to find these books are Amazon and used book stores.
See “Beyond the Essentials” below for the ‘sequel’ to these books.
Colloquial ________: The Complete Course for Beginners (Colloquial Series)
These books are much more fast-paced and, in my opinion, are much denser than the Complete ________ (Teach Yourself) books. They also offer a TON of languages to choose from. I would recommend going with Complete ________ (Teach Yourself) if you haven’t studied a foreign language before, as I find it to be more simplistic and clear.
Note: you can just buy the book, you don’t need the accompanying CDs if you can’t find them (also the audio is available online).
________ Grammar (Barron’s Grammar)
These books are brilliant, clear, and well-organized. They are useful for learners of all levels, so I’d definitely recommend buying one. It’s the perfect supplement to a textbook/course book/school course.
Essential ________ Grammar (Dover Language)
These are wonderful grammar books. They are very short (around 100 pages), yet they offer a great amount of insight. They cover all the grammar you need to know and are useful even to upper-intermediate and advanced learners. I find their explanations of otherwise difficult topics (like noun cases/declintions, unfamiliar tenses, etc.) to be very straightforward and clear. It also explains grammatical terms you may not know very well.
________ Verbs & Essentials of Grammar (McGraw-Hill)
These are very similar to the Essential ________ Grammar (Dover Language) books. I would say this series is much better at explaining verbs, but slightly less detailed when it comes to other aspects of grammar.
As grammar books like this are often rather inexpensive, I would suggest buying multiple.
The Oxford New ________ Dictionary
This is my personal favorite. It’s small enough to fit anywhere you’d need it, yet it is very complete. It has over 100,000 words and even notes slang. As with most language learning dictionaries, it has both target-English and English-target.
Larousse Concise Dictionary: ________
This is a slightly more extensive dictionary and a good alternative to The Oxford New ________ Dictionary. That being said, I still favor the above, as I find it more aesthetically pleasing (the font & the covers) and simplistic.
Enjoy ________ (Teach Yourself)
This is the ‘sequel’ to Complete ________ (Teach Yourself). Its goal is to take you from the B1/B2 CEFR level reached in the first book to the C1 CEFR level.
1001/2001 Most Useful ________ Words (Dover Language)
This is a great resource for vocabulary. It’s super easy to go through it and make flashcards.
Barron’s 501 ________ Verbs
This is a resource that isn’t necessary, as you could find it all online, but it’s nice to have it all in one place. For Spanish specifically, I wouldn’t recommend this as the SpanishDict app has it all and more.
Berlitz Pocket Dictionary: ________
Not the “pocket” dictionaries that are actually in no way pocket-sized. I’m talking about the tiny adorable palm-sized dictionaries.
Duolingo is an app to use to supplement/review everything else you study. I’ll stop here as I’m sure you already know all about it. I, personally, think it’s useful but overrated.
You can get free access codes to this at most libraries. It has an extensive array of languages, from Azerbaijani to Tuvan. Their app is very well-made, in my opinion.
This is an amazing app that helps you remember words through various memory techniques.
Quizlet (or another flashcard app)
Flashcards! Are! Your! Friends! (Also SRS [like Anki or Flashcards Delux] can be your friend, depending on your study methods/style.)
Google Translate/iTranslate/etc.
While we all know online translators like Google Translate are pretty awful at times, they can be very useful at others.
Online dictionary with a lot of languages, but mainly just popular ones.
This isn’t doable for everyone, but if you can, try to befriend a native speaker. They will be of endless value to you (and you can probably make a good friend in the process).
Thanks for reading this guys! Hope it helps you in any way!
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