My husband is Vietnamese, and I’m trying to learn the language so I can communicate better with his family. I’m basically trying to teach myself, but it helps that I can go to my husband and sister-in-law when I need help.
I’ve checked out a lot of books from the library, as well as various tape/CD sets and the starter set for Rosetta Stone, but nothing has been as useful to me as the Pimsleur program. My library only had the basic Pimsleur (10 lessons), but a few days ago I broke down and bought the full series (30 lessons). I’m just waiting for them to arrive in the mail. The place I bought the cds from offers $120 cash if you return the series within a year, so I’m planning to make copies for my personal use and then return it.
The site offered me free software called “Before You Know It” that gives you flashcard sets for a number of languages. I’m finding it pretty useful as a refresher course. The flashcards run both ways (eng-viet, viet-eng) and higher versions of each lesson make you type in the answers (in english first, and then in vietnamese using a special keyboard). It’s a good way to make sure you’re learning the various accent marks, which I’ve been really struggling with.
