Online foreign language courses?

[sanantone]

It takes awhile before you fully get a grasp of grammar in Rosetta Stone. I couldn't really tell you how long it would take in Pimsleur since I only tried Farsi and they only have one level for that language. I took Spanish for 3 years in high school and have a pretty good grasp of Spanish grammar. I tried using Rosetta Stone to pick up on vocabulary, which it seems to be good for, but I personally wouldn't recommend it for grammar. You could probably learn grammar faster by picking up a book. Michael Thomas' program is supposed to be really good for grammar.

[Yenisei]

Athabasca University in Canada has quite a few options and they have US regional accreditation. The University of Louisiana-Monor actually offers a BA in French via distance learning so you may be able to pick up some UL courses there assuming they allow non-matriculated students to take those courses.

[Snickerdoodle]

If you just want to learn a language at home, it doesn't really get any faster/easier than Pimsleur + a good reading/writing book. I cannot recommend Pimsleur for Chinese though because they teach the Beijing dialect which is regarded quite poorly outside China and even in some parts of South China.

I've used Pimsleur, and I can say that it'll at least help you get used to the "sound" of the language and help with listening comprehension. But TBH, all the courses and programs out there are going to teach the Beijing dialect, because whether one prefers it or not, that is the standard. (Unless you take classes in Taiwan...) Yanji, if I may ask, have you had trouble with negative perceptions of the Beijing dialect? It's more of a cultural than linguistic hangup, and if the OP is not of Chinese heritage, it won't be much of a problem. *sticking my neck out here* No offense, please. Unfortunately there truly is some negativity about the Beijing dialect, but from experience, I don't think that should be much of an issue.

As for a reading/writing program, try this series. Choose from traditional or simplified characters. Amazon.com: CHINESE MADE EASY TEXTBOOK 1 (WITH CD) - TRADITIONAL (2ND EDITION) (English and Chinese Edition) (9789620425943): Yamin Ma, Xinying Li: Books

It really depends on your goals. Is this for personal enrichment, college credit, or work? Whatever you do, all the best!

[NAP]

I did not get to follow this all the way through to earning credit for CLEP, but here is another resource to consider for French:

Français interactif - by the University of Texas - It has a nice combination of vocabulary and grammar lessons, listening practice, exercises/quizzes, plus short videos.

It also has this link, which may offer materials for other languages:

COERLL | Center for Open Educational Resources and Language Learning

[Yanji]

Oh yeah, I forgot about Oregon State. They offer a few languages online and enough German courses to earn a minor designation on your OSU transcript.

But TBH, all the courses and programs out there are going to teach the Beijing dialect, because whether one prefers it or not, that is the standard. (Unless you take classes in Taiwan...) Yanji, if I may ask, have you had trouble with negative perceptions of the Beijing dialect? It's more of a cultural than linguistic hangup, and if the OP is not of Chinese heritage, it won't be much of a problem.!

I have to agree with you there. The issue of Simplified/Traditional characters will be a thorny question to OP as with everyone, but he'll just have to decide what his goals are and take it from there. I used to speak a Northern dialect of Chinese when I was a kid but I dropped the erhua and "sh" sounds fast when I moved to Taiwan... but that won't be an issue for someone who doesn't look Chinese as you said.

[Snickerdoodle]

I have to agree with you there. The issue of Simplified/Traditional characters will be a thorny question to OP as with everyone, but he'll just have to decide what his goals are and take it from there. I used to speak a Northern dialect of Chinese when I was a kid but I dropped the erhua and "sh" sounds fast when I moved to Taiwan... but that won't be an issue for someone who doesn't look Chinese as you said.

And besides, it's difficult for a non-native speaker to really develop any type of Chinese accent. I grew up listening to Cantonese, and my Mandarin does not have a Cantonese accent. It has a terrible, horrible, American accent and lies somewhere between the Beijing (my textbooks) and Taiwanese (my friends and relations) dialects. XD That's the curse of being born in America.