12 FREE Foreign Language Supplements

Here are some different resources for you to learn a language for FREE. You will have to do a lot of research and personalization for each language. Spanish and French resources will be easier to find than Danish resources.

Why learn another language?

In Germany, children are taught a foreign language in elementary, another language in middle school, and another language in high school. With German, by the time they graduate they will know four languages. I believe everyone should know at least two languages. Knowing another language gives you great cultural insight! I have always been fascinated with other cultures.
In the following, I will use Hebrew, but you can change it with whatever language you want to learn.

Introductory

  • Read this article that includes information, polls, tips and resources for learning a language.
  • Choose a language and culture you are interested in. The more you want to speak it, the less likely you will want to give up.
  • When choosing the language, also remembering you’re studying the culture, too.
  • Be sure you won’t be burnt out in a week of trying to learn that language. Make sure you are REALLY interested in it.
  • Know your learning style.
  • Try to find somebody who also speaks the language.

CHOOSE A LANGUAGE AND CULTURE YOU ARE INTERESTED IN

To truly excel in a language, the language’s culture must interest you. I would highly encourage you to not just pick a language that interests you, but a culture. Learning Hebrew would be meaningless if you didn’t either have knowledge of Judaism or a desire to learn about Judaism.

BOOKS
There are 5 resources your library may have for learning a foreign language:

  1. Books that teach Hebrew (That are meant for non-native speakers)
  2. Kids books in Hebrew
  3. CDs (music) in Hebrew
  4. CDs (for people trying to learn the language)
  5. Kids movies in Hebrew
All of the language resources at your library will be in the 400 section. Ask a librarian for assistance.
 
BIBLE
This is easiest for Hebrew. There is the Orthodox Jewish Bible (OJB), which is in English with certain words in Hebrew. When reading a NIV Bible and OJB simultaneously, you will learn Hebrew.

For example:

Genesis 1:1 NIV In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:1 OJB In the beginning, Elohim created hashomayim and haaretz.

You learned two main words: the heavens is hashomayim and the earth is haaretz. When you see these words in whatever program you’re using, it reinforces it (and makes you feel smarter). I have learned many words this way.

Psalm 121:1-2 NIV I lift up my eyes to the mountains – where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
Psalm 121:1-2 OJB I will lift up mine eyes unto the harim, from whence cometh ezri. Ezri cometh from HaShem, oseh shomayim v’aretz.

From Genesis 1:1, we know aretz is earth. We also learned to help (ezri) as well as hills/mountains (harim). They say you will be able to hear a language before speaking it. Lyrics in hymns especially will repeat, and when you listen to a song and are able to pick out a few words you learned from other songs, you will be thrilled!

Bible Gateway has nearly every single Bible version for free, including foreign language Bibles. For Hebrew, I found qBible, which has the Bible in Hebrew, Hebrew transliteration, and English – and all three are beside each other.

Challenge: Instead of trying to memorize a verse/chapter in English, try memorizing a verse/chapter in the foreign language.

MUSIC
I am always listening to music. I also find myself humming and singing the song I learned – so why not learn some Hebrew? Listening to music in a foreign language is a fun and easy way to learn some of the language. When you listen to music in that language, you get a feel for how it’s supposed to sound.

I started to dissect songs and find the meaning of each word, which has helped improve my Hebrew. YouTube is full of Disney music dubbed in foreign languages, a favorite of mine. Challenge: Spend a week looking for music in the language you want to learn. For a week, only listen to music in that language. Listen to it while you work, while you’re doing school, have it on the radio. No English music for a week.

MOVIES AND TV

You have two options: watch it in English with foreign language subtitles, or watch it dubbed in a foreign language with English subtitles. I think using both methods would be best. Or, you can watch foreign language films, like watch Life is Beautiful in the original Italian!

The Voice has an episode in nearly every country/language. I watch The Voice Israel often; YouTube has full episodes. Watching TV shows in native languages is a way to immerse into the language.

So, I highly recommend trying out movies and TV shows of the language you’re learning!

PODCASTS

I first tried podcasts for Hebrew, Learn Hebrew Pod and Hebrew Podcasts. They gave me a basic knowledge of the Hebrew alphabet, introductions, and just stuff I will need to know in Israel. Many podcasts come with transcripts for spelling and better pronunciation. For me, podcasts failed because I am a visual learner. If I hear, I normally forget.

YOUTUBE
HebrewPod101 on YouTube was a great resource, and they have SpanishPod101, TurkishPod101, DutchPod101. etc.

TECHNOLOGY
Set your Facebook, Pinterest, iPod, iPhone, iPad, etc. to that language. Unless its in Hebrew, Arabic, Chinese or Japanese, this should be pretty easy!

ITALKI
iTalki is a paid tutoring resource. However, it also has tons of free resources!
Notebook Entries
Resources
Q&A – ask questions, get answers
Discussions

 
APPS
Go to the App Store and type up your desired language. “Hebrew” “Spanish” “French”, whatever. Then, go and download every free app you think would be helpful. If it looks good, no matter the rating, download it. Then, go through all of the apps you downloaded, weed out the unhelpful ones, and then use the “good” ones. I have found tons of great Hebrew flashcard/letter games and stuff. I have been enjoying the series Nemo Apps for Hebrew. They have tons of flashcard-based resources for a bunch of different languages.
 
KIDS PRINTABLES
Go to Google and type up “Hebrew color worksheets”. I printed off a bunch of kid resources for myself, teaching me the Hebrew alphabet (Almost have down!) and numbers/colors.
 
I have only tried a bit of Mango, but I love it so far, and it’s a great alternative to podcasts for visual learners. I got Mango for free from my (awesome) library. I have downloaded the Hebrew and biblical Hebrew.
What I love about Mango:
  • It’s free (for those whose libraries have it)
  • It’s easy to use
  • It has literal translations
  • It has pronunciation guides
  • It has grammar tips
  • It allows you to repeat the translation as many times as possible
  • You can work at your own pace
  • It keeps track of time spent.
  • You can download it on mobile devices

TO USE:
Go to http://www.findmango.com/. Enter your zip code and find your library. If you can find it, enter your library account number, and then create a Mango account. Creating a Mango account allows you to do Mango on your iPad, iPod touch, or iPhone.

Tips for learning a foreign language

Get the feeling for the culture.

The best thing about learning a language is you get to learn about another culture. Gustave Flaubert said, “Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.”

Look up some French recipes or celebrate a Swedish holiday! (depending on what language you’re learning, obviously)

Learn the first 100 words.

According to this article, the 100 most common words in any language account for 50% of total spoken communication. The 1,000 most common words account for 80% of all communication.

And to tell you the truth, I believe those numbers are probably pretty accurate.

Practice for 15 minutes daily.

It is recommended when learning a foreign language, practice for fifteen minutes every day. Every. Single. Day. Not a half-hour every other day, fifteen minutes every day. More than thirty minutes daily is too much and you may get burnt out and not continue it.

Don’t give up.

You won’t learn any language in ten days. It’s frustrating, but don’t give up!

Immerse yourself in the language.

Rosetta Stone claims immersion. Frankly, you can’t get immersion just by using a computer program. Some people recommend putting sticky-notes around your house. Label lamps, beds, food, and other household items with their respective names. Listen to the language as much as possible. Once you have learned numbers, try to really only use those foreign numbers until they come naturally to you. Talk to yourself in the language, even if it’s only a few sentences. Best of all, find a friend who speaks this language fluently.

Visit the country.

This is not cheap. But, it is a great opportunity for an experience of a lifetime.

Do you have any tips for learning a foreign language? Let me know!

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Samantha Shank has been an entrepreneur all her life. She started an educational blog and store, Learn in Color, at 14 years old. Within 3 years, she was making a full time income as a freelance graphic designer and marketer as Learn in Color grew. Samantha holds a MSEd in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus on Gifted Education.

12 COMMENTS

  1. Samantha this is such an amazing post! I’m obsessed with foreign languages. Honestly I think American has put themselves at a huge disadvantage by not pushing learning/speaking a different language. The whole ‘America culture or change’ is just sad because there are so many things you can learn from other cultures. Anyhow I speak a little bit of Spanish (not near as much as I want) as well as French. This school year I’m also starting to learn German (my family is from Austria) and Italian. After that I would love, love, love to learn Hebrew. My dad speaks a little and read it. It even looks like a beautiful language. And wow, this was way longer than I intended it to be.

    • Having spent 4 years learning Hebrew in Israel in the state ulpan system I can tell you that the Pimsleur language learning system available in the states is a fantastic way to learn this language. You can usually find a set of the first level CD’s in your local library or through an inter-library exchange.

  2. I love and agree with all these suggestions! As a foreign language minor I love learning new languages. I’m currently studying Spanish in college and I have the chance to go live in Costa Rica over the summer, so learning a language’s culture is a big deal for me.

    • Hey Sierra! I noticed your Travel board on Pinterest..that’s awesome! hehe I just looked down and noticed you commented on this post a little more than a year ago…I do that too 🙂

  3. I really enjoyed this post. I too have been learning Hebrew and I have done many of the same things you have suggested. I also wanted want to add that Israeli Messianic Jews have recorded albums of worship songs. You might want to check out Praise to Our God (tehilah l’Eloheinu) series recorded at the Pavilion or, my personal favorite, Let Us Return by Judah and Jennifer Morrison. These are great for learning more “Christian” vocabulary and to be familier with the songs they sing in Israel.

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