#language learning advice

[adhd-languages]

Keeping up your Languages when you’re Busy

Confession: I’ve been slacking on Japanese recently because my life has been so hectic recently. So here are some of the ways I’ve been trying to keep it in my brain when I can’t dedicate a lot of time to studying.

CHANGE YOUR PHONE LANGUAGE

This applies to computers as well! This is the easiest way to ensure you see at least some of your target language every day. It’s good for any level, even beginners.

If you haven’t already done this, do it now. I understand that some things are important and you need to be sure you understand them — in that case, you can always change individual apps to have different languages, just look up the app name in settings.

Podcasts/Music

Find some podcasts in your target language and listen to them before bed, during your commute, whatever. There are lots of podcasts made specifically for learners, or you can look up topics in your target language to find a podcast you might enjoy.

Music is also an amazing way to hear your target language being used. If you find an artist you like, that’s another good way to study your TL! Follow them on socials, look up interviews with them, etc.

Talk to Yourself

Any spare minute you have, talk to yourself in your target language. It doesn’t need to be out loud. You can have a conversation with yourself, try to express how you’re feeling, make up stories, or just describe the things around you in your target language. This is also a good way to see what kind of vocabulary you’re missing.

Apps

Duolingo has fired a ton of translators and started using crappy AI translations — so they’re probably not the best choice.

I’d recommend dictionary app that has some sort of flash card feature is also good, or an anki deck. Drops is good, and has a lot of languages, but keep in mind you’ll need audio. Anything that’s easy to get out and do for even just a few minutes is perfect.

Apps won’t teach you a language on their own, but doing a little every day helps remind me the language exists and keeps it in my mind.

Texting/Writing/Posting

Whether your friends know your TL or not, force them to experience it by randomly messaging in Japanese! Or, if you feel fancy, download an app like “HelloTalk”, “Tandem”, “Speaky”, “Tabee”…there are a lot.

If you keep a digital journal (like I do…inconsistently), try to write some entries in your TL.

If you have a blog, which I assume you do, post in your TL. Even if you’re a beginner, you can make a sideblog dedicated to saying stuff like “I’m hungry” and “Green is my favourite colour” in your target language.

Open your notes app and just write random words you can remember or sentences you can string together.

I know it’s really difficult, and don’t beat yourself up because you aren’t studying as hard. A language can be a lifelong companion — you’ll have phases of studying constantly, and sometimes it’ll take the back seat, but there’s no rush to learn it. Have a great day :)!

[ahojojoj]

not gonna use duolingo anymore cause of ai

please advice on how to learn czech

sorry it took time to answer i was busy and then i had a hard time remembering everything i did as a beginner

i might also reblog this post with more concrete resorces

but here is my advice

1 join czech discord servers or language learning discord servers to practice texting in czech

2 look up (your contry) + czech center/czech embassy sometimes they have events to learn more about czech culture, they might also know information on where to study czech.

3 go to a multi language library to see if they have czech books for kids. krteček is a huge favorite in czechia and for czech learners.

4 blog in czech or ask the czechs on čumblr questions. this way you will document your progress and you can look back years from now and see how much you learned. czech people on tumblr are some of the nicest most helpful people in the world. don't be afraid to ask "dumb" questions or make mistakes, they will appriciate you for trying in the first place.

5 make sure to celebrate your progress every step is a step forward. i have a day counter on my phone and i celebrate when i reach milestones. it motivates me a lot. tomorrow is day 1111 of czech and i will eat a marlenka/honey nugget to celebrate.

💬 81  🔁 1124  ❤️ 2129 · Czech(o)Slovak Films - Google Drive · I added some requested Czechoslovak films (with English and Czech subtitles) o

czech movies for free can be found here.

[poorsignaltonoiseratio]

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

[minimalist-language-learning]

Talent & Language Learning

What do you think when you hear the word "talent“? Do you think talent in language learning exists and — if yes — that it makes a great difference?

I think that some people learn pronunciation and other things more easily than others, for example, but I don’t think that "talent“ is the only reason to this. There are so many other factors that can influence how well you learn, but these are easily overlooked. That’s why I don’t like it when someone is called "talented“ just because he or she is good at something. That’s not the whole story.

Why believing in talent is problematic

Another reason why I’m careful when it comes to "talent“ is that it makes many people think that if they don’t have this talent, they should give up. Believing in talent can destroy your motivation and joy to learn a new skill. When you feel stuck or when you made a mistake it’s easy to think "This is because I have no talent. I will never learn this language“. Thoughts like these can make it more and more difficult to continue. And if you give up, you stop improving completely. Believing that you can't learn something because you don't have talent is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Maybe there are things you have trouble with but please don’t discourage yourself by thinking that you need a special talent to learn a language (or whatever you want to learn). Learning a language is challenging. It's only natural that you struggle. But focusing on "I don't have talent" won't help you to overcome your struggles.

I think that everyone learns a bit differently. That’s why not every method works equally well for everyone. If your current way of learning doesn’t work well, try to find out where the problem is and try something different. If you hate using flashcards, for example, then try other methods and see which works better for you. In most cases there is more than one way to learn something. Try to find solutions instead of thinking that you don’t have "talent“.

Shift your Focus

Don’t forget to look at your life situation, too. Is there something in your daily life that makes it more difficult to learn your target language? Noise, anxiety or stress are not good for your well-being and they have also an effect on your ability to concentrate. Work on these things first. Try to find a room or a location that makes you feel comfortable. Plus, try to change your schedule so that you can learn regularly (a little bit every day, if you can). The better you feel during your learning sessions, the better.

I think that it’s important to keep your goals and expectations realistic. If you fail to reach your goal of passing the language exam after only six months learning the language, it’s probably not because you are not talented enough. Maybe there are people who reached the exact same goal, so it’s not impossible.

But how much do you know about these people who claimed that they passed the exam in this time frame? Do you know how their daily life looked like? What about the amount of free time, responsibilities, job / university / school, etc. ? Did they really start as complete beginners? Their life is probably different from yours. That’s why a fair comparison is not possible in many cases.

Make sure that your goal is realistic under your circumstances. If you need more time to pass this exam, for example, that’s fine. There is no reason to feel ashamed. It’s not because you have less talent but because you have to deal with a different life situation. Learning a language is a very personal process.

Some people need goals to motivate themselves. But big goals can also make some people feel stressed. If big goals and competition make you feel anxious, try a more relaxed approach. You don’t need to reach a high level in a short period of time.

To me, learning languages at my own pace is such an enjoyable hobby! No, I won’t break any records but that’s not my goal anyway. Learning languages makes me feel relaxed and I want to keep it this way.

That’s why I don’t care about „talent“. It doesn’t matter if some people learn languages more easily than you. Believing in talent only holds you back. Try to focus on what helps you to improve and what makes you enjoy the process. Don’t overestimate other people’s success stories. It is your journey, so adapt it to your own needs and your own situation.

Please note that this is only how I feel about this topic. If you have a different opinion that's fine. And please understand, that I can't cover everything with one post and that I'm not an expert. Disabilities and diseases can affect the learning process or even the ability to learn, too. That's why my post is probably not accurate for everyone.

[seherstudies]

What does one do when they lose interest in studying their target language?

[capisback]

hiii ! just curious, being a fan of languages aren't there times where you don't have the motivation to study or anything? idk do you have like, tips or something to help ? ive been trying to learn some languages on the side for some time now and ive been stuck there for awhile (ack srry if this is off topic)

First of all, so sorry for the late reply! And thank you for the ask! <3

Disclaimer here, I've only ever studied one language and that was full-time for school. I'm by no means an expert on this, but I'll try my best to help you out!

I think it's important to create a routine and/or to make learning fun.

An example for this would be, let's say, if you have a language buddy that you are doing a language exchange with, you each pick three words to learn that day and at any random time they can ask you what one of these words means (how to say it in your target language or what the target language word means), and the next day you pick three new words. It's a fun and engaging way to try and learn vocabulary, and doesn't feel like an insurmountable hurdle to overcome.

For routine making, there's quite a few videos out there on youtube, but I think you should keep in mind how you learn best and at what point things start to get overwhelming for you and make it hard to start. Since my routine was all-day based, I can't completely say what the best way to make a routine for on-the-side based language learning is. I would say pick something small and do it daily at a certain time and make it a habit.

Decide on your resources and stick to them. Instead of trying to go all over the place trying to find the best ways to study and distracting yourself, make a list of resources you think are best for you and use them. If something really isn't working out, you can discard it, but something I wasted a lot of time on and that drained my motivation was that I just kept trying to look for the best way to study and what thousands of different resources were good to use. I'd also recommend paper-based resources, or resources that aren't online at least, since computers and the internet give you the opportunity for distraction and makes the attention wane.

Set a goal and try to meet it. It doesn't have to be anything big like "I want to have a fluent conversation with a native speaker", though you can do that if you want to, in long-term goals, but I think short-term goals are also very important for motivation. Something like, being able to read a fairy tale, or knowing all the names of household appliances by a certain date. It can be anything at all, as long as it doesn't feel overwhelming and gets you motivated. It can range from daily, to weekly, to monthly, to bimonthly, whatever works for you. It also helps to remember why you're learning the language and holding onto that.

All in all, I think language learning can definitely get boring sometimes, especially when you're starting out, because you're laying down the groundwork, there isn't really anything in there for you to have fun with or learn through something that specifically interests you. But that doesn't mean the method can't be fun or engaging!

I learned my French by first of learning a ton of basic words. Because, however boring learning words is, it's the one thing you need to start out, because otherwise you won't understand what your grammar lessons mean and you'll feel all the more stuck if you try to move forward. (My brother learned by using a site where you had to fill in the words and it gave you a score on how well you knew everything, making it a bit competitive and like a game, which worked well for him!) I also learned basic conjugations together with my vocabulary (because verbs are words, too! You just need to know how to twist them into certain Times) until I knew all ones in all the times I needed for my exam. First started with knowing how to conjugate all those verbs in the Simple Present, then Simple Past, etc.

Once you know the basics, you can move on to things that may be more complicated but are more fun! I learned a lot from translating from English to French. It helped me get natural sentence structure down, and I had a lot of fun with it! I also like to read, so that's something I did as well (Don't try to start out too complicated, and don't bother trying to write down every word you don't understand! That's a definite motivation drainer. Try to learn through context and if you really can't figure it out, you can look it up. Try to do it in bite-sized pieces, too, like a page per day or something). However, if you like watching movies more, you could do that! I heard Netflix, if you have that, has an extension specifically for language learners, which could help you learn naturally while doing something you enjoy (I think this is especially useful to do if you feel the learning is becoming tedious). I personally watched a cartoon I really liked and knew well, dubbed in French. It's useful if you have subtitles, too, but the thing I liked about cartoons was that the language was simpler, because it was more aimed at kids. Don't be afraid to pause and rewind! And you don't have to watch things in one sitting, either, if it's too much. Just do ten minutes or something and watch another ten the next day.

I think that's about it for the tips I have. I hope this helps! If you want me to clarify something or give more examples, please don't be afraid to ask!

[vangoghs-other-ear]

Tips for language learners

1. Learn grammar

Learning about indefinite articles in your target language is gonna be so much easier if you know what an indefinite article is. What are the verb tenses in your native language? Can you diagram a sentence identifying all the parts of speech? Being really good at grammar makes tackling a new language so much easier.

2. Talk to yourself

Babies babble when they’re learning to speak so why shouldn’t you? If you learn a new word make up sentences using it in the shower. Same thing with a new verb tense or grammatical structure. Talk to your pets or stuffed animals or imaginary friends. Daydream senarios where you need to use your language skills. Narrate what you’re doing and take note of the words you don’t know. Look them up later. So many of my vocab lists start out this way. If you’ve practiced talking to yourself when it comes to talking to other people it’s a little less nerve wracking.

3. Have fun

Play games in the language you’re trying to learn. If you know other people learning the language play games like two truths and a lie or never have I ever, that require you to use your language. If you’re alone find video games in your target language. Or do word searches or crosswords. It doesn’t matter what your doing really as long as you’re enjoying it! Be creative with it. If you enjoy music learn songs in it. If you’re a writer write in it. Make art related to your language. One of my favorite assignments in my early days of learning french was to draw a person using all the words for bodyparts. There is no limit to what you can do.

[polemicandcontent]

don’t sleep on this language app !

¡no ignore esta aplicación de lenguaje!

it offers a variety of commonly spoken language textbooks, which includes activities & audio. ofrece una variedad de libros de texto en lenguaje común, que incluye actividades y audio. 

https://mhe-language-lab.s3.amazonaws.com/index.html