rdearman wrote:I would suggest the following.
- One course book. Assimil is normally recommended but Teach Yourself or others are also fine.
- One TV series which you like in the audio in the target language, with sub-titles. (Watch it religiously until you can almost repeat it verbatim.)
- One Book to read, either fiction or non-fiction. Read this book. Underline words you don't know, look them up, create flashcards, repeat.
I love the simplicity of this approach.
With regards to the TV series (I assume that you need to find one that is natively in the target language):
1. Is it crucial that the subtitles are an exact match for the audio? I have had a look on Netflix and, as a French learner, have found that this is virtually impossible to find.
For example, I was watching a film yesterday (10 jours en or) and quickly realised that the soundtrack and subtitles bore very little resemblance to each other.
I realise that, sometimes, you have to say things differently to get the message across before the scene changes.
However, as a perfect example - at the beginning of the film, a man walks up to another and says "salut". The subtitle said "bonjour".
This makes no sense at all - not only do the two words have the same number of syllables, but the words are different. Salut is more informal and you immediately change the perceived relationship between the two actors on screen.
2. Are there any particular genres of TV show that are better for beginners than others?
I made the mistake of trying sitcoms at first - my premise being that episodes would be short and the language would be simple.
However, I understood virtually nothing.
I looked into this further and realised that sitcoms are one of the most difficult thing for non-natives to understand as the comedic element leads to the mass use of puns, colloquialisms, unnatural language, references etc. just to make the jokes work.
I watched a murder mystery, however, and found that I understood much more.