My father's girlfriend is trying to learn English, and we were wondering if there is any good computer-based course, whether online or on CDs. (CDs would be more convenient.)
Of course, I can Google, but I wouldn't know anything about the quality of the stuff I turn up, so I was wondering if anybody on Hatrack had any knowledge about this sort of thing.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
One of the local community colleges offers ESL courses online. Said CC is one of the best in the country, but I don't know much about the courses specifically.
I don't know much about online ESL courses, but I highly recommend the Rosetta Stone cds. I've used them for Hindi and German, and both times found that they were very helpful in building up listening and writing skills. Unless you have immediate feedback from a fluent (preferably native) speaker, it's typically quite difficult to develop good pronunciation if you're just starting the language (unless it's very similar, like, say Dutch and Plattdeutsch).
Actually, I just remembered a recent Economist article on the use of Skype for learning foreign languages. There might be other similar services for English around.