Best products from r/language
We found 7 comments on r/language discussing the most recommended products. We ran sentiment analysis on each of these comments to determine how redditors feel about different products. We found 7 products and ranked them based on the amount of positive reactions they received. Here are the top 20.
1. A Frequency Dictionary of German (Routledge Frequency Dictionaries)
- Routledge
Features:
2. Learn Ancient Greek (Greek and Latin Language)
- Bristol Classical Press
Features:
3. Fluent Forever: How to Learn Any Language Fast and Never Forget It
- Harmony
Features:
4. 501 Italian Verbs (501 Verbs Series) (Italian and English Edition)
Used Book in Good Condition
5. New Practical Chinese Reader: Textbook 1
- Used Book in Good Condition
Features:
Routledge has a nicely edited frequency dictionary series (English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and Japanese).
For example A Frequency Dictionary of German: Core Vocabulary for Learners.
However, unless you have a photographic memory or enjoy creating language mnemonics for fun, I wouldn't recommend memorizing frequency lists. I rather use them after I've learned the basics to make sure that I know the most frequent words and then focus on the ones that I don't.
As for Ancient Greek, I liked Learn Ancient Greek by Peter Jones, which teaches just enough Greek to read a couple of carefully selected texts. (It's not a book that teaches you every aspect of the grammar.)
This is a pretty great book that outlines how to use free internet resources to learn a language of your choosing. It relies heavily on google images and the spaced repetition program called Anki.
Duolingo is a good app for Smart phones, also I recommend Barron's 501 verb dictionary (https://www.amazon.com/501-Italian-Verbs-Barrons-English/dp/0764179829). Nouns and adjectives are important, but verbs will help you understand context. Also, the book includes some examples and basic terminology.
I bought some great material the other day on Amazon.
[This is the book](
http://www.amazon.com/New-Practical-Chinese-Reader-Textbook/dp/7561910401/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334379917&sr=8-1)
And here are the CDs
You'll see that both things are available used for very reasonable prices. It's the best language learning self-teaching system I've seen out there in a long time. It seems to be thorough, and the student is expected to learn and use that knowledge in the exercises - just like a student would with a real elementary school lesson book.
It's a refreshing departure from most language learning materials I've found out there in bookstores and on the net, which are woefully inadequate.
I think the book Complete German (from the Teach Yourself series) is a good, and popular, book. As far as language books go, it is reasonably priced. https://www.amazon.com/Complete-German-Two-Audio-CDs/dp/0071663827