How to Learn a Foreign Language Without Taking a Single Class

1. Find someone to talk to who speaks the language. You can do this by visit international markets to find an immigrant who enjoys speaking her native language and sharing her culture.

2. Label your home. Stick post-its to everything from the lamp to the dishwasher with its foreign name.

3. Buy a music CD in the language you want to learn and play it until you have memorized the words. Make sure to get a copy of the lyrics and a translation. Or you can try translating them yourself for an extra challenge.

4. Check out several children's picture books from the library and try reading them without consulting your dictionary the first time. You'll get the gist of the story from the pictures. Once you understand the basic story, use a dictionary to look up words you don't know.

5. Buy a learn in the car CD or tape so you can learn during your commute or during trips around town. You local bookstore should have a selection or you can purchase one online.

6. Find a pen pal or an email pal to correspond with who is fluent in the language you want to speak. Remember that if your child or teenager is keeping up correspondence with a stranger, as a parent you need to monitor their correspondence.

7. Keep a master list of words and phrases you look up and learn. Write the word, its translation, and the context you saw it in the first time. Remember to review the list occasionally in order to refresh your memory.

8. Commit to learning a certain amount of words or phrases a day. Even if it is just one word a day, by the end of the month you will have learned thirty words and at the end of the year you will have learned 365 words! Do not go to sleep at night without learning that word. Set aside one day a week to review the words that you have already learned.

9. Check your favorite DVD to see if it has subtitles or dubbing in the language you want to learn. Or go online to find a version that is in the language that you want to learn. Since you are already familiar with the movie, you can focus on the words and sounds of the new language.

10. Immerse yourself in the culture of the language that you are learning. Learn to cook a traditional dish or learn a traditional dance. Find documentaries on public TV or cable or read a book.

Finally, do not forget to keep track of your progress and celebrate how far you have come.