advice for language learning, from someone who dislikes formal academic rigor
wrote this as a comment for someone but thought this information might be useful to anyone learning a language -- my friend spends all his free time learning languages, here's a list of stuff I see him do:
has native social media apps for the language (xiaohongshu for chinese, for example)
reads stories/webnovels written by native speakers. he reads first the translated-to-english version and then the native version to identify grammar structures and whatnot (although try to switch it around and see how far you can get). hes also very interested in how interpreters choose to interpret things, like names, phrases, slang, and this gives him active insights into the process
has some browser extension - i think he uses rikaikun for japanese - that automatically translates when you hover your cursor over it. it gives a list of possible translations/character groupings and the context of each of them so he can quickly learn when he comes across something he doesn't know.
extensively uses wiktionary - it provides deep context and etymological history of every word, including slang. this one is also because he is very interested in how words and languages evolve, so not directly related to learning modern languages, but it can help with building connections between words within the language you're learning, by learning how they're related to each other
he also spends a lot of time on google translate translating and practicing writing whatever phrases he wants to know. this is like idle practice, he's not rigorous about it at all.
i dont know how to format tumblr posts. i dont konw how to end the bullet points. im sorry
notes:
he doesn't use flashcards or textbooks or reviews stuff daily, he just (relatively) passively consumes it all day. Most likely, a combination of the two would be optimally efficient, but I think the way he does it gives him the most authentic and fun learning experience possible without having to live in the country. he learns both formal and colloquial language, which is something really lacking in formal traditional language education imo
you will notice there is no speaking practice, unfortunately i don't know what he does for that. you can always talk to yourself throughout the day - it genuinely helps! lmao. just describe what you're doing, describe what you're thinking about. anything
