Thanks for checking out my blog. This is the first post of many to come, and will serve as an introduction to the self-study language learning programs that I will be reviewing. I'll give a bit of information about the price, how they're set up, and my first impressions. In later posts, I'll go into more detail about what I like and don't like about them.
Living Language: Complete Korean
Price: $50 retail (cheaper on Amazon)
General Info: This is the main reason I started this blog. I feel like Living Language courses are highly underrated, but there isn't much information about them out there. There are several kinds of LL courses, but I'll be focusing on this complete edition. It comes with 4 books (beginner, intermediate, advanced, and a book for learning the writing system hangul), 9 audio CDs, and a blank notebook. Throw in a native speaker to practice with and presumably, you should be set to learn Korean! LL also offers an "essentials" edition ($22) of the same course only includes the beginners' book and CDs. If you're a big spender, they have a "platinum" edition ($179) that gets you access to more material, such as an e-tutor.
Style: The books are a mix between textbook and workbook. There's a bit of reading to do, but it's very interactive. You listen to the CD while going through the chapter for pronunciation and speaking and writing activities. Online games and things are also available so I'll be trying those out.
First Impressions: It seems like my perfect course so I really hope it meets my expectations. Ahh!
Other Courses: Arabic, English, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish
[image coming soon]
Novus Language: Swedish
General Info: Novus Language is an online language learning website that uses remastered versions of FSI language courses. It's just starting up, but I've agreed with the owner to do a review and provide feedback while using the site. With all new things, there are areas that need to be improved upon. I'll briefly discuss those and how they were later resolved, but mostly I'll be focusing on the language learning experience. I will be reviewing the Swedish course, but they should all be similar enough that the one review covers most of the others as well.
Price: $40 per year for one language; $100 per year for unlimited access to all languages
Style: A cleaned-up version of FSI courses. From what I know, they're pretty straight forward with conversation examples, vocab, and grammar points. The site emphasizes that Novus Language is a no gimmicks way to learn a language, so I take that as meaning it's going to be more like a classic textbook experience.
First Impressions: This may be a bit challenging for me since I tend to prefer having a workbook or something more "interactive" to do while learning, but I should get the hang of it! It'll be especially handy since the audio is built in to the course.
Other Courses: French, Japanese, Norwegian, Cantonese, Finnish, Czech, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Korean, Arabic, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Vietnamese
About Me:
I am a 22 year old language nerd studying linguistics at the University of Oklahoma. I've studied several languages in school including three years of Japanese, two years of French, two years of German, and some Spanish (although the only thing I can say in Spanish is "mi cara se esta callendo"). On my own, I've been learning Irish and the tiniest bit of Swedish.
I studied abroad in Japan in the spring of 2013. While there, I took six intermediate-advanced Japanese language classes and one Korean class. I'm sure this prior knowledge will make it easier for me to pick up Korean for the Living Language course, but I'll try not to let it get in the way of giving an honest review!
I will update this blog as often as possible, but because I'm a busy college senior, the posts may be sporadic.
Thanks for checking out my blog! Feel free to send me feedback, questions, complaints, or random messages on here, via email, or on Facebook.
facebook: facebook.com/lily.oliver
email: lsaoliverster@gmail.com
