Learn a New Language

How many of you have found that your ancestors come from a foreign country?  I'd say about 99 percent of you.  So, chances are you will be confronted with looking at documents that will be written in a foreign language at one time or other.

Who knows how to read these foreign languages?  Many researchers can, and YOU can too.  Yes, you can.

Take a look at www.familysearch.org  and you will see a "Learn" tab.  There you will find many guides to help you translate your documents written in foreign languages.  Give it a try.

There are 6 online lessons in video and slide formats that help you to translate your documents and navigate your way through Italian records. In addition, there are lessons in Dutch, German, French, Norwegian, Polish, Russian, Portuguese and Spanish.

In addition, there are skill levels, ranked Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced.  What more can you ask for?  Well, you can ask if these lessons are free....YES, they are FREE.

So, learning to read these documents is one thing.  What about learning to pronounce the words correctly as you translate?  Take a trial of the many language tutorials that are out there ready for you to succeed.  My favorite is Rosetta Stone www.rosettastone.com   They have a free demo on their website.

 Also, try Babbel
learn.languages.online.babel.com   which also has a free demo.  You can always browse your local library for a taste of what kind of textbooks are available.

 And, don't forget Worldcat  www.worldcat.org that can help you to locate where you might find resources in your area.

Several schools, Junior Colleges and Institutes offer foreign language course for the general public.  Check out those catalogs, or visit their web sites to see what they might offer.  Its a bit more fun to take these courses, as you will mix with other who are interested in the same subject and you can learn to converse with others, instead of a computer screen.

Have fun.  Ciao!