• Home
• Crafts
• Creative Writing
• Language Learning
• How I Learn Languages
• Portuguese
• Plants
• Videogames
• Petz

How I Learn Languages

Under Construction

I've been learning languages by myself since I was a teenager and I've tried a variety of different approaches. I have an idea of what works for me but I also enjoy trying different activities, and some languages require different approaches.

Learning a language requires so many different skills to be a well-rounded user. If you use limited activities and approaches you'll end up with unbalanced results, e.g. great at understanding but unable to speak. A learning approach might also work for one person but not another. Someone who has learned multiple languages for several years might be comfortable with native materials straight away and figure out things without any instruction, but someone learning their first foreign language will need a slower approach and more instruction due to that lack of built-in experience. Basically, use your common sense and don't take anyone's word as gospel.

I've organised the way I learn into four sections. The first three are absolutely essential, and the fourth section is more for tips if you are having difficulties motivating yourself.

1. Use a variety of learning materials
• General resources
• Reading
• Listening
• Writing
• Speaking
• Grammar
• Vocabulary
• Pronunciation
• Writing Systems
2. Engage with native materials
3. Use the language actively
4. Keep motivated

Use a variety of learning materials

This is my first step when I start learning a language. I primarily use learning materials for a few weeks to a few months to give myself a good basis before adding native content. They really help make your journey easier. Rather than jumping in at the deep end, I take advantage of the expertise of professionals who've studied language teaching and can guide me through a curriculum focusing on the most important things for beginners to learn. Although there are some resources that are "one-stop shops" for everything, most of them are better for different areas, and for this reason I use multiple resources.

There are four different skills for using a language: reading, listening, speaking, and writing. As well as this, there are supplementary knowledge areas/skills that are also important: grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, writing systems. I'll give a brief overview of how and what I use to improve these skills. Note: You don't need to do all of these steps at once. I usually use one or two general resources, then when I feel like I am lacking in a certain skill, I use the tips/resources from that skill's section.

General resources

First off, get yourself a general language course book/textbook, or take classes. If you're unsure, these are the best starting points and will have a more general approach focusing on many different skills. Use them as your main learning resource, and supplement with other materials that target areas you feel you are lacking in.

Group Classes

• PRO - Provides motivation and a schedule for inexperienced learners
• PRO - A teacher to ask specific questions and get help
• PRO - A variety of different resources and activities
• PRO - Useful for many skills--usually grammar, vocabulary, listening, reading and writing
• PRO - Good place to meet other learners and find out about community events and opportunities involving the language
• PRO - Cheap-ish
• PRO/CON - Will not go at your own personal pace. Sometimes this can be bad, but other times it can be good and will push you to study more or things you wouldn't have studied by yourself
• CON - Can be difficult to make the time
• CON - Less opportunity to speak with multiple students

Generally, although I've found classes helpful, I often struggle to attend them regularly. Personally, my favourite type of classes are intensive short courses, where I incorporate 2-3 hours of classes daily with a holiday abroad. This way I can learn at an accelerated rate, I have all the time, I can practise the language outside of class, and I can hang out with classmates who have similar interests.

Private Classes
• PRO - Personalised classes. A tutor can teach the things you want to learn
• PRO - 1-1 attention and feedback
• PRO - More learning in a shorter period of time as you are the only student
• PRO - More speaking practice
• CON - Expensive

I haven't used private tutors much due to the expense but they are incredibly useful.

Textbooks
Textbooks can be used for self-study. You can either use one written in your native language (some examples in English are 'Teach Yourself X', 'Routledge Colloquial X') or one written solely in the target language. A monolingual textbook is usually not appropriate for complete beginners, unless it's a language close to one you already speak, or you have resources like a native speaker/teacher to guide you.

When choosing a textbook read carefully through the reviews. Even textbooks from the same language company can vary a lot depending on the author. Watch out for AI written books. You want a book that has been carefully written by someone with experience and tested with students, not something that an amateur plugged into ChatGPT. Signs of AI are authors without bios or relevant experience, who have published many different books in multiple languages in a short period of time. Look instead for books from established publishers, books that are used in actual educational settings like classes, or books written by specialists who have many years of experience.

Take a look at textbook content and see if you like it. Does it feature lots of varied exercises? One type of exercise can get boring and will only improve particular skills. For instance, multiple choice questions will help your recognition of words, but it won't help you recall the word when you need it such as in conversation. Another thing to look for is supplementary materials such as videos, interactive exercises, flashcards etc, which can be helpful for revising and making things stick in your memory.

In terms of how to use a textbook, they often come with instructions and you can just work through page by page. Some other ways I like to use them are:

• Listening to the dialogue multiple times--without looking at the transcript, reading the transcript while listening etc
• Making flashcards or wordlists of each chapter's vocabulary and testing myself frequently
• Writing my own sentences using grammar and vocabulary in the chapter, which helps me remember

Reading

Reading is perhaps one of the easier language skills to pick up, excepting languages with orthographic writing systems like Chinese. You can read at your own pace and take your time, rereading and going back to previous words. There's usually no urgent need to understand right away which takes away the pressure. There's also less ambiguity, unless you're reading something handwritten. Reading is a passive skill and you will be able to understand things that you wouldn't be able to reproduce yourself if asked.

Graded readers are a great resource, especially for beginners who can't tackle native books yet. They have a limited vocabulary and basic grammar, and use repetition to great effect. Depending on the book they may also have vocabulary lists, line by line translation, exercises, and audio. The author needs not just to teach well, but also write well. A boring story can make it feel like a chore. Pick a story that is engaging and interesting enough that you will be able to read and listen to it multiple times.

When I use graded readers I treat it more like fun than serious study. I usually read through one time quickly without looking up words to get a general idea of the story, then I go back and read a little more closely, using the vocabulary lists or translation to help. Sometimes I'll look up words in a dictionary that reappear or that are really affecting my understanding. If there is audio I listen to it when I'm walking or in the shower, or I listen while reading along. Depending on how difficult the book is, I might read it just once, or multiple times.

Assimil is a series of textbooks from a French company, and although it's marketed as a general coursebook, I use it for improving my passive reading and listening skills. Unlike other textbooks it doesn't feature a lot of exercises. Instead it has 100 dialogues of graded difficulty, intended to be worked through one a day. Basically, it can be used as a graded reader that takes you from A1 to B2. I used these instructions to work through the book at around 30 mins per day, and the sheer repetition was really helpful for improving my listening and reading skills. The books slowly introduces more and more complex grammar, and has nice explanations, but due to the lack of exercises I found I was good at recognising and understanding grammar, but not necessarily at using it. The dialogues are also often quite funny and quirky, which made me look forward to doing the lessons, but this does vary depending on the authors so check reviews.

Listening

This is one of the harder skills for beginners. Native speakers will sound too fast to understand, and they will slur and join words together. Learning resources will be clearer and slower and will gradually step up in difficulty to train your ears.

Podcasts for learners are a great resource and easy to slot into your day. You can listen while commuting, going for a walk, in the shower, while doing chores etc. It varies depending on the podcast but they will usually be one of two types: Lessons, or simplified speech.

Some lesson podcasts structure themselves like a textbook, with a dialogue, translation, vocabulary and grammar explanations, or a private tutor coaching a student. Languagepod101 is a textbook type podcast, and one that I used extensively with Japanese. I found it useful and especially liked the difficulty progression between levels, e.g. the beginner podcasts used mostly English, the hosts in the intermediate podcasts would speak Japanese then translate the sentence afterwards, and the advanced podcasts used only Japanese to explain concepts. However, they weren't as well structured as a textbook and lessons wouldn't build upon previous lessons. It was best just the listen to lessons you were interested in and use it as listening practice rather than a resource for learning in a comprehensive way.

Other lesson podcasts are in the style of a private tutor. An example is the Coffee Break podcasts. A beginner student learns along with you as the host teaches and encourages you to repeat. It's really nice and non-intimidating, especially for inexperienced learners.

Simplified speech podcasts only use the target language. The hosts will read a monologue, conduct an interview, read a story, have a conversation etc. but speak slower, clearer, use simpler speech, and give explanations in order to help the listeners understand. Sometimes they will have transcripts or vocabulary lists. These podcasts are really good for students who are in that awkward intermediate stage where beginner audio feels too easy, but native audio is too difficult.

Assimil
I've already covered Assimil in the reading section but it is also really good for listening. The majority of the lessons are dialogues so are useful for speech. You can work through it as a textbook but these 100 lessons can also be used on their own to practice listening when you don't have time to sit down with the book. Revisiting lessons is really important to the Assimil approach, so you can use the audio by listening to previous lessons and checking your comprehension skills.

Video Courses
Video courses were very popular during 80s-90s and were created by universities or public broadcasting companies. Many of them are designed to accompany a textbook, however this is not necessary, and they can be used very well on their own as listening practice. The courses often follow a plot, with the actors using simplified language and speaking slower than usual. This is great to bridge the gap between learner materials and native materials.

One example is the Extra TV show, which mimicks Friends and teaches English, French, Spanish and German over several episodes. It has a very silly funny style that makes it easy to watch and enjoy. Another example is Destinos which focuses on a mystery which slowly unravels and keeps the viewers interested while more advanced Spanish is slowly introduced. Many video courses can be found on youtube if you search.

There is an incomplete list of video courses here. Most links are broken but you should be able to google for the new links with the information there.

Comprehensible Input Videos
This is a new trend which often follows a methodology that you should only learn through watching videos. However, the video concept is basically the same as "graded" videos, which are videos that use language that is graded to be at the student's level--not too difficult and not too hard. These videos usually have the format of a teacher speaking on a subject while using visual props like drawings, actions, or pictures to help teach the meaning. One of the most famous examples is Dreaming Spanish, which has hundreds of videos over many different levels. The videos are really good at training listening, but in my opinion, need to be supplemented by other resources that train different skills. You can often find video channels for different languages by searching on youtube for 'Comprehensible Input' + language.

Listening specific workbooks, e.g. for exams
Many major languages have their own listening-specific workbooks, with lots of graded audio and exercises. Often these are designed for preparing for language exams and will contain exercises you will find in the exams. However, they are also really useful for improving your listening skills in general, as the content is often very practical and designed for immigrants needing language skills for daily life and work. You can also buy workbooks for your specific skill and work through the different levels. The best place to buy these workbooks is abroad in the country, from bookshop websites for that country, or from educational publishers that specialise in that language.

Lessons using native materials
Learner materials usually use content that is written for the learner, and as such, will be simpler than content made for native speakers. If you exclusively use learner materials you'll be unprepared for the real world. To help bridge that gap you can use lessons that teach using native materials. These lessons will present short clips or extracts that are taken from TV, the radio, newspaper etc, to teach relevant grammar and vocabulary for the learner. These are really good to supplement a coursebook, as you can get used to the fast, slurred, abbreviated way native speakers really communicate, and use learner tools like translations and transcripts to fully understand it. These resources are best for when you have a good base in the language and are ready to move on from beginner tools.

The app Lectia and the website NFLC Portal are both from the National Foreign Language Center of the University of Maryland and have hundreds of lessons for many languages. They are often used for US military personnel training to pass language exams. The US military has its own website with similar lessons - GLOSS DLI. These lessons can be difficult but you aren't meant to understand them first try. Listen/read multiple times, read the explanations, go through the exercises and then return to the audio/text to see how your comprehension has improved. Doing these type of lessons will help you understand real world content better.

Writing

Writing is something that is best done with a teacher, as you really need someone to correct your text. Private tutors can be employed just to correct texts you send them without doing scheduled lessons. Or you might have a language exchange partner or a friend who will correct your texts, however they may not have the teaching skills to give explanations of your errors.

You can use writing workbooks if available (these are often monolingual and designed for passing exams), work through the exercises and have your example texts corrected. If you don't have anyone to correct your texts you will still get value out of these workbooks, which often explain how to structure texts like letters or essays, and explain useful vocabulary.

Practising by yourself can also be useful for cementing things in your mind. You could try writing short diary entries in your target language, or just write sentences that use language points that you've recently learned.

Speaking

This is an skill that I always make sure to focus on when resources are available. It's an active skill that involves recall, and resources that purely test your recognition will not help (e.g. through exercises that involve picking the correct word out of 4 examples or rearranging words to form a sentence). A learner can do great understanding a dialogue about ordering at a restaurant and select all the right answers, but when the time comes to use the language in real life they can't remember what to say. They need to actually practise speaking out loud. Reading out loud helps a little bit but it doesn't test your recall. For that, you can use some specific courses, or practice with a teacher.

Pimsleur
Pimsleur is an audio-based course with 30 minute lessons. It introduces a little of the language each lesson, then tests you by asking you to translate a simple English sentence. There is a time limit of several seconds where you need to speak out loud, then you will hear the correct answer and can repeat. It's a very active method that needs the learner to pay attention and can be quite difficult. But the course is training you to be prepared in real life, to be able to communicate within the limited amount of time you have. If you get through at least 30 lessons you'll be able to make yourself understood when going on holiday in a foreign country, which is pretty impressive for only 15 hours.

As the lessons can be hard work and boring I like to listen to a Pimsleur lesson when I'm doing something else, such as a chore that doesn't require my brain like doing the dishes. Some people do a lesson while walking or driving. Pimsleur is quite pricy to purchase but it's also available through app subscription now, which works out to a reasonable price if you can get through one lesson a day.

Audio-Lingual method - FSI/DLI
The Audio-Lingual method is an older language learning approach from the 50s and was used extensively to train diplomats and military personnel in the US. It focuses on making your language use automatic, which it does through many audio exercises. The courses are very thorough but are very hard work, boring and often uses out-dated language. However, a major plus is that many of the courses are available for free at Yojik.

If you commit yourself to this course you will reach a very good level, especially in speaking. Some people who have completed these courses feel like they can speak without even needing to think. The courses focus on details that many other courses skip over, such as differences in very similar sounds or grammar points, and will test you over and over until you know it by heart. If you don't want to use it as your main course, you can selectively use it for things that you aren't confident in, and take advantage of the ample exercises to solidify your understanding.

The Michel Thomas/Paul Noble/Language Transfer courses are also good for speaking but I will cover them in more detail in the grammar section below.

Grammar

Grammar workbooks

Michel Thomas/Paul Noble/Language Transfer

Interactive grammar drills

Vocabulary

Flashcards

Hidden Object games

Pronunciation

Mouth positioning

Minimal pair exercises

FSI/DLI

Writing Systems

Mnemonics

Writing and reading activities

Engage with native materials

By native materials I mean content that is created by native speakers for native speakers. These are obviously a lot more difficult to understand than materials made for learners, but you will need to make the jump at some point if you want to use your skills in the real world. You will likely not feel "ready" but this is normal as learner materials can never prepare you fully. It's very important to become comfortable with not understanding everything, getting the gist of things and using context to figure out things. Even advanced speakers don't know everything!

Native materials are not all the same level of difficulty. Unless you have great patience and willpower you shouldn't dive into the hardest material straightaway. Instead, start with easier material and build up gradually. Based on my experience here are examples of native materials by difficulty level, although this can vary depending on the specific book and person.

Difficulty level	Reading material
Beginner	Signs
	Children's books with pictures
	Product/Place reviews
	Graphic novels/manga/comics
	Cookbooks/Recipes
	Song lyrics
	Poetry
Intermediate	Children's novels
	News articles
	Magazines
	Self-help books
	Non fiction for general audiences
High Intermediate	Adult novels
Advanced	Classic literature
	Non-fiction for experts

Difficulty level	Listening material
Beginner	Children's cartoons (e.g. Peppa Pig)
Low Intermediate	Reality TV
Intermediate	News Reports
	Documentaries
	Television series
	Films
High Intermediate	Radio interviews
	Radio Dramas
	Radio News Reports
Advanced	Lively radio shows with multiple speakers
	Radio Comedy Shows

There are two general ways to engage with native materials: intensive and extensive. You should use a mix, as they target different skills and the variety can be good for motivation.

Intensive

The intensive method is where you focus on understanding everything and learning directly from the native material. Some learner resources are useful for this and will teach you through short clips or text extracts (e.g. Lectia, NFLC Portal, GLOSS DLI, TV5 Apprendre le français). This isn't available for all languages but don't worry! You can do it yourself.

Pick out a short text or audio/video clip. It's helpful if you have a translation, or a transcript/subtitles, but it's not completely necessary. You want to read/listen to this extract multiple times, each time doing something that makes it easier to understand. Here are some examples of different methods you can use:

• Read/listen/watch solely in the target language
• Watch/listen with slower speed
• Read out-loud
• Watch/listen while reading subtitles or a transcript in the target language
• Pause and repeat sentences/words
• Look up the meanings of words you don't understand
• Read the translation while comparing to the original language
• Watch/listen while reading subtitles or a transcript in your native language
• Create flashcards for words/sentences you don't know and include the translation on the other side

That's a lot of different steps and you do not need to do them all. Personally, I follow these steps when watching video clips in an intensive manner:

1. Watch without subtitles
2. Watch with target language subtitles
3. Watch again and pause to look up things I don't understand
4. Watch again without subtitles

I use these steps for videos that are above my level, and by doing this I can get from understanding around 30% to around 85%-100%. If I have a higher understanding of the material or I simply have less time, then I follow step 1 and 2 only.

In other cases I have English subtitles available and then I follow a simpler two step process: Watch once without subtitles, then watch again with English subtitles. Watching without subtitles is important for practising your listening skills. If you use subtitles straightaway you can get an inflated sense of your abilities as you are actually practising your reading skills. The first time I watch I might not understand a lot, just the gist. The second time fills in the gaps in my understanding. This method can be really powerful in improving your listening skills.

For reading intensively I usually use dictionaries to understand:

1. Optional - Read in the target language
2. Read while looking up words I don't understand
3. Optional - Read again in the target language

As using a dictionary can be really time-consuming, you might want to use an e-reader with an instant dictionary look-up, or use a pop-up dictionary from an add-on to your internet browser. It really helps me read for longer when I get the definition of a word instantly.

Reading/listening intensively can be tiring if it's all you do, and it can be discouraging if you pick material that is too hard and requires a lot of analysis just to understand. For this reason it's important to mix in the extensive method, which needs a lot less brainpower and doesn't require you to understand everything.

Extensive

The extensive method involves simply consuming and enjoying yourself. Don't look up words and don't pause to read the translation. You can learn a lot through context, however, it needs to be at an appropriate level. You will need to use easier materials than you can use with the intensive method. You shouldn't feel frustrated and out of your depth, but instead like you understand the gist of things, even if you don't get everything. Generally you should be doing more extensive reading/listening than intensive, and therefore it needs to be something you enjoy doing. Use the above tables as a guide and pick easier materials, especially ones with visual clues to help understanding.

The extensive approach has two main benefits:

Practice things you've already learnt
This is mainly how I use native materials. Even though I've learned something from a coursebook, that doesn't mean I will instantly be able to recognise and use it in real life. But when I pick these things out from difficult context--native materials that is often fast, isn't simplified, and includes distractions like background noise--I have a fuller grasp of the language, and recognising it in an unexpected context helps it stick in my mind more.

In the first few months of learning Portuguese I watched a little bit of Peppa Pig. I didn't understand everything that was being said, even though it's one of the easiest options for native materials. That's normal. Even an four years old native speaker will know more than a beginner student. In some episodes I might only understand a handful of words, or the odd full sentence. But each time I recognised something it strengthens the brain connections around this word/concept, and makes it easier for me to retrieve that information in the future. It's all about repeatedly recognising the language in different contexts. This helps the language become more natural and easy to use.

Learn new things from context
In order to do this you need to understand at least 98%. So only 1 word in every 50 should be unknown. This blog post helpfully illustrates what 98% comprehension feels like. This level is ideal to pick up the meanings of new words from just the surrounding language.

However, you can use other context to figure out the meanings even if you understand less than 98%. Graphic novels, TV/movies provide visual clues as to what people are talking about, and some resources can be very focused on specific things so that sheer repetition will help you understand.

Use the language actively

This means using active skills like speaking or writing the language. This will help you remember things better and make sure your language skills don't go rusty. If you don't use a language actively your skills will regress so that you will no longer be able to speak or write with ease, and only be able to read or listen.

Language exchange partners

You can arrange this informally with a friend, or use an app or website designed for finding language exchange partners. Some people are just happy to chat informally about anything, but if you are struggling for conversation topics, you can discuss news articles, or use resources like the Seagull tandem topic sheets. Another idea might be to discuss something you are both reading/watching at the same time, like a TV show or a book.

Exchange partners are not teachers, and therefore you should be able to carry out a basic conversation before you go looking for one. The time together should be for friendly chatting, where you can put into practice language you've learned.

Conversation groups

Many places have conversation groups for practising speaking a language. Some good places to look are Facebook groups/pages, Meetup.com, libraries, local community centres, university societies etc. Depending on the group you might be talking with native speakers or other learners. They are both good opportunities for practice.

Writing

Writing in your target may be difficult but it will improve your recall, not just for writing but also for speaking. It can be a private diary simply talking about your day, or posts on a social network or blog. You could also interact with speakers through joining a discussion forum or subreddit in your language, commenting on posts, or joining a discord.

Keep motivated

Learning a language is an endeavour that takes hard work and many years. You are most likely to succeed if you have a real motivation for learning it. This can be external motivation-- you need language skills for a job, university, or to communicate with family--and these reasons will be a strong motivator. If you don't need language skills then you need to find internal motivation--perhaps you want to learn the language to read literature in the original language, understand your favourite music, or make friends when travelling to a foreign country. Unless you purely enjoy the process of language learning, you'll likely struggle with motivation. I'll list some tricks here I've found useful for keeping motivated.

Keep a language journal

The simplest version of this is a book where you write the date and what you studied or practised that day. When I used this I found I was motivated to do at least something so that I wouldn't have blank space for that day.

You can also write in your target language in your journal, or post your language journal in a language learning community.

Deadlines and rewards

When I'm learning a language without any obvious need or point I can be a bit lazy and not spend much time learning. By giving myself some deadline where I need a particular language level I'm much more motivated to study. Below I've listed examples that I've used, but you may have other ideas that can motivate you.

An example of a reward is booking a holiday in a place where they speak your target language. This will be fun but also an opportunity to use your language skills and motivation to be able to communicate when you go.

You can sign-up for a language exam too. Most popular languages have their own official tests that can be taken in the country or abroad. A non-exhaustive list can be found on Wikipedia. This motivates me because I need to study many different skill sets to prepare, and if I pass I will have a nice certificate that I can display.

Goals and Progress

It is easy to see your progress when you first start learning a language, as each word learned is a much bigger part of your total knowledge. When you get into the intermediate stage things seem to slow down. Although you are still making progress, the amount you need to learn to reach an advanced stage is much more than you had to learn in the beginner stage. To keep up your motivation and see your progress, try making goals.

These could be goals that are simple to track, such as 'Finish course x' or 'Read x number of books in my target language this year'. If watching numbers go up motivates you, you can track your learning in a spreadsheet, or a time-tracker app such as Lingo Journal. I also like using reading trackers such as Storygraph, which has challenges like the 'Language Reading Challenge' to motivate me to read more.

Another type of goal tracks your understanding, for example, can you watch a children's cartoon and understand the gist? Can you participate in a 10 minute conversation without using your native language? Set yourself a reasonable goal that won't take too long then work towards achieving it. Once you've conquered that goal, set another one.

Make the language part of your everyday life

This is really important for the times when you have no energy or motivation. If it is part of your everyday life then you will retain what you've learned through simply encountering the language. What is part of your life will be different for everyone. Do you enjoy reading? Then start reading books in your target language. Do you have a specific hobby? Then find discussion forums, websites, magazines, youtubers etc that talk about your hobby. If you're living in a country where they speak your target language then find groups and start attending. If you like music then look for artists that sing in your target language, and listen, learn to play the song, practise karaoke for it etc. If you enjoy TV or movies then look for your new favourite series or director and start watching.

Having people in your life who speak your target language can also be helpful. If you don't feel confident in your skills you can try experimenting with short periods of speaking in your target language. Use simpler speech if you don't know advanced structures, and describe things if you don't know a particular word.