Self-Study vs. Classes

'Sup /lang/.

Which is better when learning a foreign language? Self-Study or classes? Which do you prefer?

Ah of course, I guess video games are a great way to encounter some nice everyday language, Spanish and Japanese. Probably not Japanese just yet, but I got through a trial (with a dictionary for a few words) on Phoenix Wright on my DS in Spanish and that really boosted my confidence. As for learning the script for Japanese I guess I had a sort of head start. When I was a little younger I was even more of a loser than I am now and I was completely obsessed with writing scripts. So I effectively learned Korean hangul, katakana/hiragana, hebrew and some arabic just because I liked the idea of writing with a different system. All in all that took me just over a year when I was about 11.

Some Japanese games do have hiragana, sort of, like Taiko No Tatsujin for the DS, which has hiragana in brackets after certain kanji (as the screen is too small for furigana). It can get a little annoying, though. I also got the first Harry Potter book in Spanish, to see what of that I could get through. It turns out it wasn't very much, but I hobbled through the first 20 or so pages with a dictionary and the English version of the book.