IN GENERAL
1. Study every day
Try to set aside some time every day for your studies, ideally when your brain is at its most receptive. It's better to study for 30 minutes every day than for 3 hours once a week. If you can spare an hour a day, break it up into two or three sessions to avoid brain overload.
If you decide to study for half an hour a day for example, try to stick to that time. It's often easier to get started on an activity if you know you'll finish it after a certain time.
Go over each lesson several times, perhaps once in the morning, once in the evening and once several days later. Give your brain time to digest the material, but make sure the gaps between periods of study are not too long.
Setting reasonable targets is a good way to motivate yourself. You could set yourself a time limit or aim for a certain level of proficiency.
Once you have got to grips with the basics of the language, learn to talk/write/read about the things that interest you. In this way you are more likely to remember to the words, phrases and grammatical constructions you encounter.
You will find that at times you're making fairly rapid progress, while at other times you seem to standing still or even going backwards. This is normal when learning a language, so don't be discouraged. If you feel like you are making little or no progress, try going over earlier lessons/exercises to see if they're easier now than when you first tried them.
You probably make the occasional mistake when speaking your native language, so making mistakes in a foreign language is nothing to worry about. What matters is getting your message across, not whether you use all the right words, inflexions, tenses, cases, etc. If you cannot think of the exact words, try using other ones. For example, say you were talking about your office and didn't know the word for photocopier - you could try describing its function: "a machine for making copies" instead. You could also try drawing pictures and/or miming if you can't think of the words.
Learn how to say things like "How do you say X in your language", "What's the word for Y?", "What's that called?", "What are they doing?", etc.
Find ways to make language learning fun. This could involve games, songs, stories, tongue twisters, jokes and anything else you can think of.
Before you start trying to speak a foreign language, spend some time tuning your ears to its sounds and rhythms. You can do this by listening to the language as much as possible via the radio, TV, movies and native speakers in your neighbourhood. There are online radio stations in a wide variety of languages.
When you first try listening to your chosen language, you'll understand only a little or nothing at all, other than perhaps the names of people and places and the odd word, unless you're learning a language closely related to your first language. You may even find it difficult to believe that what you're listening to is a real language that people are able to converse in. However if you continue to listen to your second language as much as possible, you will gradually become familiar with the the sounds and rhythms of the language and start to be able to pick out words and phrases. Eventually you'll be able to understand most if not all of what you hear in your second language.
There are a number of things you try to help you understand radio and TV broadcasts:
Listening to songs in your second language is another way to improve your listening comprehension, especially if you have the lyrics written out so that you can follow them as you listen.
Learning Vocabulary
Learning long lists of unrelated words is boring, difficult and doesn't help you much when you come across those words in a different context. If you focus on learning words in the context you're most likely to find them, you're more likely to recognize them when you encounter them or need to use them again.
When learning food words, for example, think about when you'd be most likely to use them, i.e. when cooking, eating, shopping, etc, and learn other words related to those situations. Then try constructing sentences using the new words. Good dictionaries contain examples of usage which you can use as models for your own sentences.
As your knowledge of your second language improves, using a monolingual dictionary is a good idea. This helps you to understand words through their meaning rather than relying on translations into your first language
Practice Reading.
Online newspapers and magazines in several languages
Tips and Tricks for Learning a Language- from http://www.omniglot.com
GENERAL
Tips and Tricks for Learning a Language- from http://www.omniglot.com
Try to set aside some time every day for your studies, ideally when your brain is at its most receptive. It's better to study for 30 minutes every day than for 3 hours once a week. If you can spare an hour a day, break it up into two or three sessions to avoid brain overload.
If you decide to study for half an hour a day for example, try to stick to that time. It's often easier to get started on an activity if you know you'll finish it after a certain time.
Go over each lesson several times, perhaps once in the morning, once in the evening and once several days later. Give your brain time to digest the material, but make sure the gaps between periods of study are not too long.
Setting reasonable targets is a good way to motivate yourself. You could set yourself a time limit or aim for a certain level of proficiency.
Once you have got to grips with the basics of the language, learn to talk/write/read about the things that interest you. In this way you are more likely to remember to the words, phrases and grammatical constructions you encounter.
You will find that at times you're making fairly rapid progress, while at other times you seem to standing still or even going backwards. This is normal when learning a language, so don't be discouraged. If you feel like you are making little or no progress, try going over earlier lessons/exercises to see if they're easier now than when you first tried them.
You probably make the occasional mistake when speaking your native language, so making mistakes in a foreign language is nothing to worry about. What matters is getting your message across, not whether you use all the right words, inflexions, tenses, cases, etc. If you cannot think of the exact words, try using other ones. For example, say you were talking about your office and didn't know the word for photocopier - you could try describing its function: "a machine for making copies" instead. You could also try drawing pictures and/or miming if you can't think of the words.
Learn how to say things like "How do you say X in your language", "What's the word for Y?", "What's that called?", "What are they doing?", etc.
Find ways to make language learning fun. This could involve games, songs, stories, tongue twisters, jokes and anything else you can think of.
Before you start trying to speak a foreign language, spend some time tuning your ears to its sounds and rhythms. You can do this by listening to the language as much as possible via the radio, TV, movies and native speakers in your neighbourhood. There are online radio stations in a wide variety of languages.
When you first try listening to your chosen language, you'll understand only a little or nothing at all, other than perhaps the names of people and places and the odd word, unless you're learning a language closely related to your first language. You may even find it difficult to believe that what you're listening to is a real language that people are able to converse in. However if you continue to listen to your second language as much as possible, you will gradually become familiar with the the sounds and rhythms of the language and start to be able to pick out words and phrases. Eventually you'll be able to understand most if not all of what you hear in your second language.
There are a number of things you try to help you understand radio and TV broadcasts:
Listening to songs in your second language is another way to improve your listening comprehension, especially if you have the lyrics written out so that you can follow them as you listen.
Learning Vocabulary
Learning long lists of unrelated words is boring, difficult and doesn't help you much when you come across those words in a different context. If you focus on learning words in the context you're most likely to find them, you're more likely to recognize them when you encounter them or need to use them again.
When learning food words, for example, think about when you'd be most likely to use them, i.e. when cooking, eating, shopping, etc, and learn other words related to those situations. Then try constructing sentences using the new words. Good dictionaries contain examples of usage which you can use as models for your own sentences.
As your knowledge of your second language improves, using a monolingual dictionary is a good idea. This helps you to understand words through their meaning rather than relying on translations into your first language
Practice Reading.
Online newspapers and magazines in several languages
http://www.omniglot.com/links/news.htm
SPANISH
Quizlet: http://quizlet.com/subject/ap-spanish-literature/
Study Spanish: http://www.studyspanish.com/
College Board:
. AP Spanish Language: http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/courses/teachers_corner/3499.html
. AP Spanish Literature: http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/courses/teachers_corner/3500.html
Podcasts and videocasts to improve your listening skills
http://www.laits.utexas.edu/spe/
Grammar and reading practice
http://www.colby.edu/~bknelson/SLC/index.php
Grammar practice
http://conjuguemos.com/list.php?type=verbs&division=verbs&language=spanish
http://www.trinity.edu/mstroud/grammar/index.html
http://grammar.spanish.sbc.edu
http://www.indiana.edu/~call/ejercicios.html
http://www.verbix.com/languages/spanish.shtml
Grammar review guide
http://www.bowdoin.edu/~eyepes/newgr/gramguid.htm
Radio, Video, News in Spanish- help keep on up on reading/listening skills
http://www6.district125.k12.il.us/~mrider-s/televisionyvideo.html
Idiomatic Dictionary in Spanish
http://www.wordmagicsoft.com/diccionario/tools/index.php
Spanish Cultural Sites
http://www2.d125.org/~lpolin-silva/culturalsites.html
R Algunos Recursos para español AP
PRENSA
Podcast de BBC Mundo
ENLACES
http://www.retoricas.com/2009/06/definicion-de-simil-o-comparacion.html
http://faculty.marianopolis.edu/spanish/SpanishIII/span3c7et2t2.html
http://www.colby.edu/~bknelson/SLC/index.php
http://www.epa.gov/earthday/espanol/podcasts.htm
LITERATURA
http://amediavoz.com/mediavoz.htm
LIBROS
A toda vela http://irc.emcp.com/index.php?titleID=1623&title=%A1A%20toda%20vela%21%20Advanced%20Spanish
LATIN
1. Get to know the textbook.
· You’ll notice that some of the Latin words in the book are italicized and some are not. Words that are italicized are common words that appear in dictionary all the way at the end of the book (depending on your edition). You should memorize the full forms of these words. Words that are not italicized are provided in the vocabulary list on that page; however, after these appear more often, they will not appear in the list, so you should learn these words over time as they are encountered more often.
· The notes on each page provide valuable information that will help you translate or understand what you are translating. Often words are left out of the Aeneid due to the meter, so translating can be confusing at times. The editors of the textbook have often supplied the words you need to make sense of a passage. These are usually in parentheses. Additionally, special uses of cases or verb forms are usually listed at the bottom as well. Longer descriptions of certain constructions are located in the appendix of the book and can be found by checking the appendix number immediately following a note. For example, “App. 315” means section (not page) 315 in the appendix and describes the use of the accusative called “place to which/place whither). You will also find many other types of notes at the bottom of the page such as historical descriptions, textual comparisons, figures of speech, etc. If you are ever confused about the meaning of a note do not hesitate to ask me. All of the signs and abbreviations that are used in the notes are located in the front of the book on page xxxvii (in at least one of the editions).
2. Use the long marks/macrons in the book to help determine forms. It will help to rememorize the charts with the long marks at this point in your study of Latin.
Exempli gratia: puella = nominative/vocative vs. puellā = ablative
3. Use scansion to help determine length of vowels when no long marks are given. Consider the following line. Which word does sua modify? Is it fors, fortis, f or tempestas, tempestatis, f? Scan to figure this out.
forte sua Libycis tempestas appulit oris.
4. Watch out for shortened forms of words, which are called syncopated forms. See Appendix 204 for full description. These are usually given in the notes, but it will help to be familiar with the most common types, which are:
· um = (or)um, masculine or neuter genitive plural. E.g. I.4 superum = superorum
· ēre = erunt, 3rd person plural perfect active indicative form. E.g. I.84 incubuēre = incubuerunt
5. Keep an eye out for archaic forms. These will also be pointed out in the notes, but the most common one (depending on your edition of the book) is the alternate 3rd declension accusative plural ending as īs instead of ēs.
6. Don’t let Greek forms mix you up. These will also be given in the notes and should be thoroughly noted when they are encountered. These are most common for proper nouns such as names of people and places.
https://sites.google.com/a/eths202.org/latin/latin-courses/ap-latin
http://archives.nd.edu/words.html
http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/
GERMAN
AP German study sets http://quizlet.com/subject/ap-german/
sites with authentic materials that are geared toward teenagers
Interpretive listening and reading: www.logo.de
Interpretive reading:www.planet-wissen.de
another interpretive reading site: www.blinde-kuh.de
Best online dictionary:www.leo.de
FRENCH
AP French study sets http://quizlet.com/subject/ap-french/
Listening and reading videos to prepare and synthesize for the test http://www.quia.com/pages/tresorstemps.html
Listening practice http://www.canalacademie.com/apprendre/
Healthy podcasts http://www.mespodcasts.fr/index.php?fuseaction=podcasts_main.ShowAllPodcastsForCategory&categoryID=9
French Today listening and text http://french.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=french&cdn=education&tm=40&f=20&tt=14&bt=0&bts=0&zu=http%3A//www.frenchtoday.com/blog/
Articles and listening recordings with scripts http://www.laguinguette.com/lejournal/archives/2010.php
African resources from many countries http://www.stjohns.edu/academics/undergraduate/liberalarts/departments/languages/programs/ba_french/circle/news.stj
Online practice tests from a variety of resources
TELC test http://www.telc.net/unser-angebot/franzoesisch/telc-francais-a1/uebungsmaterial/
Transparent Language http://www.transparent.com/learn-french/proficiency-test.html
La Franc Bis- listening and reading activities http://www.lafrancebis.com