by Author Name Withheld 135

Created on: July 20, 2009   Last Updated: July 23, 2009

Learning a foreign language is hugely beneficial, both for practical uses and for stimulating the brain. But why should it cost the Earth? For adults, who are no longer in a state funded education, anything you want to learn seems to cost a small fortune. Since when did expanding one's knowledge have to have such a price tag? A quick look around online will bring back language courses (home based and carried out online) that will only take you to a beginner's standard and that cost hundreds and hundreds of dollars. In the particularly tough economic climate facing us today, many people simply do not have the infinite budgets for non-essentials.

But, fortunately there are ways and means of learning a language that are free and almost free. In the first instance, what it is worth remembering is that the key to mastering any foreign language is immersion in that language. We learn by means of copying in much the same way that babies learn to speak their mother tongue by copying and mimicking those around them. If you are reading this article then you are on the internet. As such, you have the biggest and best resource for learning anything right at your fingertips. The internet brings together information in all languages worldwide, brings together people from all corners of the Earth and this is essentially all you really need to learn a new language - information and people!

Of course, before you even begin immersing yourself in audio files, it is a good idea to find some written resources and references so that you can learn the basics and grasp the grammar. I particularly recommend the BBC for almost anything education related. Their education website is fantastically well put together, informative and hugely easy to navigate. The languages website can be found here http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/ and has a variety of audio and video courses, completely free, in French, German, Spanish, Italian, Greek, Portuguese and Chinese. There are also grammar resources and vocabulary lists available here too. In addition, they have a cost free course in Italian, French, Spanish and German which lasts 12 weeks. These are known as the 'Steps' courses and essentially are loosely guided learning. In fact, they even provide you with a BBC certificate at the end of the course. This is a beginner level course and actually makes an incredibly good starting point to get you grasping the basics before moving on to the tougher stuff.

Once you have the basics and you start looking

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