By way of taking my own advice about the value of learning languages, after last Thanksgiving I started studying Mandarin Chinese using Pimsleur Comprehensive Mandarin, Level I, which is an absolutely outstanding tool for anyone who wants to learn to speak a foreign language. You learn a new language the same way you learned your first language: by listening and responding to what you hear. The Pimsleur method paces the instruction to a very manageable rate, introduces new material, and reviews what you’ve learned seamlessly. It’s really quite astonishing. In just a couple of months I was able to carry on simple conversation and I’m confident that my pronunciation and accent are very good for a western barbarian. The set is a little pricey, but for sheer effectiveness and ease of use it’s worth every penny.

The trick with these kinds of “audio only” programs (Pimsleur is by far the best in my very well-informed opinion) is that you have to make sure you expose yourself to the language frequently; every day if you can manage it. You’ll also do much better if you disallow any chance of interruption. Take the phone off the hook. Turn off the pager. Close the door and lock it. Disconnect the damn doorbell if you have to.

Another thing to remember is that this method demands that you respond out loud to the lessons. It’s far more effective if you respond in a normal speaking voice. So if you feel self-conscious about babbling snippets of a strange language to no one in particular, you might want to do this where you’ll have some privacy.

As of this writing, I’m about a week or ten days away from finishing Level 1, which consists of 30 lessons. I’ve obtained Level 2 (there are three all together for Mandarin), and if Level 1 is any indication, in another two months or so I will know enough to get around and expand my knowledge of Mandarin on my own to encompass my personal interests.