Okay so full disclosure: I'm currently sitting at a genuinely irresponsible number of languages, and no, I do not study all of them every day, my brain is not built like that and neither is a 24-hour day. At some point you accept that you're frying yourself and you just get more organized about it. This post is for everyone learning any language (yes, including those of you studying Latin, Ancient Greek, OCS, Biblical Hebrew or any other dead or liturgical language (I see you, I respect you, I’ll be joining you (eventually)). I'm skipping the basics because you've seen them a hundred times. Let's goooo!!
Tip #1 — Color code everything
If you're learning multiple languages at once, get notebooks in different colors. It sounds too much but when you're switching between languages regularly, the color association becomes almost automatic. Russian is purple, Bulgarian is green, German is yellow, Greek is blue. Your brain just figures it out and honestly it's one of the few things keeping me organized. Before starting a new language, actually think about how it connects to what you already know. If you speak French, study Spanish through French rather than through English: the vocabulary overlap does a lot of the work for you.
Tip #2 — Actually have a plan
Make a curriculum or at least something that works like one. Know what you actually want to do with the language. Going from B2 to C1? What does C1 even mean for you? Reading academic papers, understanding legal stuff, getting through a novel without crying? "General fluency" is really hard to work toward because it doesn't tell you what to do on any given study day, and vague goals are very easy to just... not do (speaking from experience). Once you're at a decent level, mix up what you read and watch on purpose. Most people stick to one type of content, usually news or casual videos, and then completely freeze when something more formal comes up. Try something academic, something legal-ish, and something embarrassingly casual in the same week. It feels weird but it works. And at some point just stop studying the language and use it for something else. Watch stuff about topics you actually care about in your target language. Once your brain stops treating it as homework and starts treating it as actual content, something clicks and that's usually when things start moving faster.
Tip #3 — For liturgical and classical languages: lean into the ritual
If you're studying Latin, Ancient Greek, Coptic, OCS, Classical Arabic, Biblical Hebrew: listen to choirs, follow religious livestreams, read the actual texts they come from. The repetition and formality of liturgical contexts stick in a way that isolated vocabulary lists simply don't. There's a reason people have been memorizing these texts for centuries and it works. You can find a lot on YouTube.
(Be respectful with religious material. Goes without saying, but here we are anyway.)
Tip #4 — Photos on flashcards, not translations
If translation is your actual goal, ignore this. But for most learners, using images instead of translations pushes your brain to map concept directly to word, without routing through your native language first. It's closer to how children learn a language, and over time it changes how you engage with the language (less translating in your head, more just... thinking in it, which is the whole point). Sticky notes around your house, a diary in your target language, even your grocery list, small things that quietly add up more than you'd expect. Also, record yourself shadowing a native speaker and listen back. Nobody wants to do this, it's uncomfortable, but the gap between what you think you sound like and what you actually sound like is exactly where pronunciation improvement lives. Just do it.
Tip #5 — Music (my personal favourite)
Listening, singing along badly, translating lyrics, paying attention to how the language moves rhythmically etc. It keeps you engaged even when you're not formally studying, which means you actually do it consistently instead of finding reasons not to. One thing to keep in mind though: songs take a lot of liberties. Metaphors, figurative language, grammar bent to fit a melody. Cross-reference what you pick up, especially if something seems off, because sometimes you'll learn a construction that sounds completely normal to you and then use it in a real sentence and confuse everyone around you.
Bonus: a little historical grammar goes further than you'd think
For any language you want to go deep with, understanding even a bit of its history explains a surprising amount of why it looks the way it does now. Why are German strong verbs like that? Why does Lithuanian look like it barely changed since Proto-Indo-European?. Knowing the why behind irregular forms makes them stick far better than grinding flashcards and hoping for the best. It's also one of the unexpected payoffs of studying classical languages: they make the modern ones make more sense at a structural level. The languages you're studying aren't as separate from each other as they sometimes feel, which is either comforting or slightly alarming depending on how many you're currently juggling.
One last thing: you have to actually produce the language
Consuming content feels productive, and it is, but speaking and writing have to be a part of the routine too. The gap shows the moment you try to produce the language under any kind of pressure. You won't feel ready to start? Do it anyway, earlier than feels comfortable.
Take what's useful and leave the rest. The best method is the one you'll actually keep doing.
