The key is to choose what works for you. Decide how much you want to spend, and what the greatest source of your audio material will be.
Language content from the Internet can be downloaded in MP3 or other formats and listened to while you’re doing menial tasks.
You will also need a good online or offline software dictionary which gives you instant explanations in the language you are studying, as well as the all-important translation into your own language.
Contrary to the view of some language teachers, we recommend to see the translation of a new word into your own language, rather than decipher an explanation in the language you are learning.
However, a dictionary can only provide you with a partial meaning of a new word. It will take time and significant exposure to the word in a natural context before you acquire a wider sense of the meaning of the word and the confidence to use it properly.
You can also expect to forget whatever you look up in a dictionary pretty quickly. That is why it is so important to save all new words into a system like a database for further review and study, in conjunction with your reading and listening.
And while tools and resources are essential, they are not a substitute for immersion. Exposure to the language in its natural environment, whether through travel, living with a native speaker, or engaging with native media, is invaluable for language acquisition.
It’s through immersion that you’ll truly internalize the language, picking up not just vocabulary and grammar, but also idioms, expressions, and cultural nuances that dictionaries and translation tools can’t capture. In the end, a more holistic approach to language learning that includes immersion and active engagement with the language is pretty much vital.
