How do you learn Foreign Language SLANG, IDIOMS, etc, when you have no plan in going to the country?

Question

I've been learning a language, and somtimes i try to read serious books, but even serious books have SLANG and idioms which i don't understand. Sure i could go head and buy books, but there's books for every little thing, it's not all in one book, example: I bought 2 books ,Idioms and Onomatopoeai. that's pretty expensive already... but then i see the bookstore has a bunch other books like HOW TO TALK ABOUT LOVE IN JAPANESE, and many others like this. .

i don't want to have to buy all the books in the store. So how do i learn if i'm not a rich person who can afford to travel to the country and stay there for years. And i don't want to have to buy videos either, as i am poor and don't like watching too much tv.

Are there any books that would have a thorough introduction to slang , idioms, and everything?

I also don't have opportunities to speak to people from those countries. So, should i just forget it and accept that i will never be as fluent as people who travel?

Answer 1

I've actually pondered that same question myself...I took 6 years of German yet there is a lot of "street German" I don't know. Here are a couple of suggestions.
First, try your local library. They have an interconnected system and may be able to help you find the books you seek through interlibrary loan, rather than buying them and finding out they don't have the info you need.

Second...Here's something that helped me out. In my case, I looked up my local German-American society and went to a couple of their functions. They are happy to help someone learn the nuances of the language. You mentioned "Japanese" in your post; I assume you're working on learning Japanese. Try looking up a Japanese-American group or society in your area. I'm sure they would help as well.

Hope this info helped you a little.

Answer 2

You probably don't need to understand every single word to understand the books that you are reading. If you don't plan to go to an environment where that language is used, you don't need to be able to produce them, just understand them. Therefore, you can probably guess the meaning of the words you don't know in context. Otherwise, just ignore them and move on. You'll probably be able to get the main idea of the reading anyway.

Answer 3

Come to France and be my guest ! - There is no better way to learn than in the country obviously but having said that I d rather Learn French in France German in Germany and Italian in Italy but then just like their football I am rather Neutral about the Swiss ..Lol

Answer 4

I am sure that you can ask the good people on Yahoo! Answers to help.

I have a Mac and typed 'merde' into Sherlock and it correctly translated from French to English.

You could also write down the idiomatice expressions and run to your local apple store if one is close and type them in yourself to get the translations.

Answer 5

learn spanish...
if you learns spanish you will learn a language that is spoken in many latin countries...

look for a spanish book that is used to teach students in highschool and do the exercises on paper. its really hard to learn a language by yourself. you need someone who already knows the language..

once u learn spanish u will be able to go to mexico, cuba puerto rico and other countries in south america. you can even go to spain and communicate with minor changes in spanish. good luck.

Answer 6

Maybe chatting or entering to web pages in that language

Answer 7

find an internet chat buddy

or someone in your hometown that is from there, someone from every country and ethnic group is in the USA right now.

Answer 8

watch the tele