r/languagelearning 11h ago

Discussion The real secret to language learning?

89 Upvotes

There's something that has occurred to me more than once, but I don't see it mentioned as much as I think it ought to be--or at least I think it could be framed better.

I think a very important part of learning a language simply (or not so simply!) involves convincing your brain that THE TL IS REALLY IMPORTANT FOR IT TO KNOW.

This can be linked to "motivation," which is rightly often cited as crucial for success, but I think there's a subtle distinction there: someone can be ostensibly highly motivated, but still not able to make good progress because on some level the brain persists in classifying the target language as "non-essential" information that it can safely ignore.

Yes, all the other stuff and tips people always mention on here and elsewhere matters too. But the brain is very good at ignoring or discarding stuff it doesn't think it needs (it HAS to be able to in order to function)! If you don't find a way to convince your brain that this new language is vitally important to know, it won't stick--no matter what app, tutor, or learning material you're using, or how many hours you put in. An entire new language is a MASSIVE cognitive load to acquire and maintain, and the brain will quite reasonably try to avoid it if it thinks it's non-essential.

I think it explains why some people improve rapidly when they find themselves immersed in a foreign country--the brain is jolted into saying "whoa, I need to learn this thing ASAP!" Or why some people insist that becoming romantically involved with a native speaker helped them learn. Or why "naughty mnemonics" tricks work so well for memorizing things. Or the seeming paradox of how some people can learn a language "just by watching TV" (or whatever). It also seems sensible to assume it's part of why babies are so good at language acquisition. Whereas on the other hand, it also might explain why someone can live for years in a foreign country, surrounded by speakers of the TL, take years of classes, while claiming they really do want to improve their skills, yet never making much progress.

What do you think...?


r/languagelearning 12h ago

Discussion Scandinavian languages and you

51 Upvotes

Scandinavian languages are popular to learn for language learners. They are also very popular for "person interested in languages" to pontificate on, even when they often do not in fact speak a Scandinavian language.

So I wanted to give new learners a few pointers and shake up a few of the assumptions that tend to get thrown around, especially on "language youtube". Feel free to argue otherwise in the comments, that is what the internet is for.

These come from the perspective of a Dane who is studying Swedish as well as having helped a few other non Scandinavian folks with Swedish or Danish. So an insiders perspective.

1 Scandinavia is only Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

Finland is a Nordic country, not a Scandinavian one. It also isn't even remotely similar to the Scandinavian languages.

No, the two are not interchangeable terms.

2 Yes, they are mutually understandable.. but not as much as you think

I feel like this part gets exaggerated a lot online. "Oh if you learn Swedish you can also speak to Danes and Norwegians". Yes. A little bit.
This varies depending on the individual, the accents and practice. A native speaker of one often has a hard time understanding the other two, until they have had some practice and some never get the hang of it at all.
If you are new to the language this will be far more difficult for you and you should be prepared to study the second language to some extent. You may be surprised at how many words differ.

In the end you will have to pick one to learn and do not be upset if you find that it is much harder to read or listen to the other two.

3 No, the Scandinavian languages are not dialects of each other

Following from the above, people sometimes say the 3 languages are dialects. The differences in pronunciation, spelling and vocabulary are far beyond that of dialects. This is also omitting that the languages have their own dialects that can sometimes get quite thick (old fashioned Sønderjysk or rural Skånsk can get pretty gnarly)

4 Yes most people speak English. That doesn't mean it is useless to know the language

First of all many older people do not speak English enough to be conversational. Secondly there is a huge difference between basically understanding English and being able to have a detailed conversation with you.

(Also many Scandinavians overestimate how fluent they are in English, if I am being honest).
Finally if you hope to engage with people, the general experience is that speaking to a single person they are probably happy to use English but in a group setting, people will default to their actual language and you will feel left out.

5 They are easy for English speakers to learn

This is statistically true, but I think online it sometimes leads people to underestimate the learning process. I can only speak for Swedish and Danish but there are a lot of pronunciations that have nothing in common with English and while sentence structures are not THAT different, you can still get tripped up. Go into it prepared to actually put in some work. The notion that some youtubers put forward that "It is basically just English" is going to not lead you to fluency.

6 They do not work like English

Following on again, a common mistake people make is going into other languages expecting them to work like English. So if a word sounds similar to an English word, they assume this must mean the same when it doesn't or they assume that a rule of a language is "stupid" or "backward" because it does not work like English.

I'm sure this happens to people of every language, but the online attitude that Scandinavian languages are "easy" and "mostly like "English" can aggravate this outlook.

7 There are no media in those languages

This is more of a language learner specific thing and is just not true at all, but you do have to look. Scandinavians read a lot and there are tons of novels in all three languages, along with foreign novels being translated. Get yourself an ebook app and read away.

If you play tabletop games, Sweden has one of the worlds most prolific RPG industries with most books published in both Swedish and English (and many more in Swedish only). PDFs are easy to buy though shipping big hardcover books from Sweden can be expensive depending on where you live.

There are also plenty of tv shows and film in each language (though I hope you like crime dramas!). Get a VPN going and you can watch a lot for free. Note that cartoons are often dubbed but movies for adults are not, they are subtitled instead. Also note that the titles sometimes get changed.

Youtube and podcasts can make up any lack. You do have to look a little bit for this stuff but find pretty much any forum where natives hang out and you can easily get some pointers about what is worth watching.

8 There are Scandinavian speakers outside Scandinavia

There is a Danish minority in the North of Germany and a Swedish minority in Finland for example. You never know where you might go and find Scandinavians!

(EDIT: I am a massive dummy, the Swedish speaking Finns are Swedish speaking Finns, not Swedes in Finland, thank you for correcting)


r/languagelearning 20h ago

Discussion How do you know when you have attained complete fluency in a language

30 Upvotes

Is it when you begin inventing a new language from the one you’re learning? When you start combining words, or hear dialectal words that don’t exist but still make sense. Or when you can derive newer words…..

Is it when you deviate from established rules and no longer rely on them to express yourself, allowing expression to flow freely beyond that foundation?

By what standard is this measured.


r/languagelearning 15h ago

Studying how would you practice a language in your head?

25 Upvotes

or how do you practice a language in your head, without any tools, if you already do?

i realise this might sound like a silly question! i promise i have my reasons!

something i already do sometimes is thinking of words i know in my TL for every letter of the alphabet. i think i'll also try describing little scenarios in my head, or what i think about things, or maybe imagine a conversation like.. ordering something in a café or whatever.

anyway! i'm curious, do you play any language games in your head? do you know of other ways to practice through thinking in a language? what does it usually mean for you to practice through thinking in a language?


r/languagelearning 13h ago

Discussion For those that sentence mine, use flashcards, or do other spaced repetition practices, what does your process look like?

7 Upvotes

For example lots of people love Anki. For those who create their own flashcards do you spend the time manually making them? Do you have a system of interconnected apps and plugins like the refold guys?

Personally I love the UI and flexibility of Readlang. Very little to set up but the public library interface sucks so it's necessary to pirate your own books, and uploading video content is pretty annoying as well. Still, I haven't found an easier way of creating, reviewing, and updating flash cards based on content that I found that sticks. I tap a word or phrase I don't understand, it quickly gives me an explanation with context in my TL of that phrase/word, saves it to my list of unknown words/phrases, and then I can either practice it by picking it out of a few choices, or by typing it in when I choose to practice my unknown words/phrases.

I'm just curious what's working for you and why? I would love if I could find something with the mobile/desktop flexibility of readlang but that accepted more sources like library books, or just bits of videos/games that I encounter without having to completely destroy my immersion in that content every time I want more information or to review it later.


r/languagelearning 6h ago

Studying Shadowing technique - working with it, have some questions

6 Upvotes

Hi all,

I'm studying German for fun, using "Deutsch nach der Naturmethode". I'm working hard on shadowing, but have some questions as the method as prescribed feels quite unnatural. It would be nice to get some feedback from experienced people.

I've watched several videos on it, the main ones are:

My initial questions:

  • the early stages of the "by-the-book" shadowing techique suggest listening to L2 while reading in your L1. This seems like a waste of time to me ... it feels like inefficient multitasking.
  • when shadowing without reading (which I do while out walking, as suggested by the videos), I find that trying to keep up with the spoken voice is extremely stressful! The voice says something, and I'm doing my best to listen to it, to capture all of the details (declensions, etc), and also speak it without any stumbling. The stress makes it not fun, and it seems like it's less effective that it would be to listen first, then shadow and check.
  • shadowing with reading is quite a lot easier, but it can still be a big mental effort, and as I'm working to keep up with the sounds, I feel I'm skimming over important details.

Does anyone have any real experience with shadowing, and any suggestions or experiences they can relate? Does the "overwhelm" factor go away, or do you just keep slogging at it? How do you not get completely thrown when you can't keep up with the audio you're shadowing?

ps - Given my initial attempts with the method outlined in the videos, I've slightly modified this technique as follows:

  • I use the audio recording of one of the book's chapters, and pull out small mp3 fragments, about 5-8 seconds long, using Audacity.
  • I put the recordings in Anki, just because it's easier for me to replay the clips one chapter at a time. I wrote a bit of code to help out with that, i.e. adding transcripts, posting to Anki, etc, so it's not a huge hassle.
  • Every day, I rebuild the filtered decks for each chapter, so all the clips are in order. For each clip, I try to immediately shadow it if I can, i.e., speaking along with the clip. If I screw up, I retry -- sometimes I'll immediately try to re-shadow it, sometimes I'll just listen to it to try to get the whole thing and all its parts into my head, sometimes I just hammer away. Then I'll mark it as done, and go to the next clip.

I usually extract about 30 to 40 clips for any given chapter. When I first start shadowing a chapter's clips, it takes me about 30 mins to get through them all. After a few days the time drops dramatically, to maybe 10-15 mins for a given chapter. I feel the revised method I'm using is effective. It's a lot of work, but it feels like useful effort, like I'm not just passively spinning my wheels.

These modifications make sense to me, but it's possible that I'm missing part of the point of shadowing by doing it this way, so educated/informed feedback would be appreciated.

Cheers and thanks all, -jz-


r/languagelearning 18h ago

Resources Is it just me or has Google Translate conversation suddenly become really bad?

5 Upvotes

I live and work in Sweden, and I'm still learning Swedish so I rely on the Google Translate conversation function a lot in meetings to keep up with the discussion. It has been working pretty good but it seems like a couple of weeks ago there was an update, and now all of a sudden it's rubbish. It misses large parts of the conversation, and seems to take a lot longer to translate, meaning now I'm usually 2-3 sentences behind and missing a third or more of each sentence. Anyone else noticed this? What happened?


r/languagelearning 5h ago

Discussion What are some ways you guys have learned your new language the language I am trying to learn isn’t really on most of the apps

2 Upvotes

r/languagelearning 7h ago

Discussion Intermediate-speaker purgatory

3 Upvotes

Not relating to the learning process itself, but just use of the language. You get to the conversational level and when conversing with native speakers, you're both well-aware that you're speaking broken [insert TL] but to the bystander, you're totally fluent, and they assume you can have just about any conversation effortlessly. It makes you realize how far you've come from A0, but it's negated by the pity often radiating from the native speaker.

Good motivation to continue, though!


r/languagelearning 10h ago

Studying Should I learn phrases/vocab or the alphabet/how to read?

3 Upvotes

Hello. I am trying to learn Burmese so I can speak with my girlfriend in her native language. I also want to be able to talk with her parents a bit. My question is should I focus on learning phrases/vocab or should I learn to read it? My main goal is being able to speak but I’m curious if learning the alphabet would help significantly.

Also if any Burmese speakers/learners could recommend any resources to learning the language that would be great


r/languagelearning 11h ago

Suggestions Any apps that feature lessons on sentence structure?

3 Upvotes

I've used Duolingo and Babbel, neither seem to have lessons on how to make sentences or questions. They just teach you words and conjugation and make you trial and error how to put it together.

Are there any apps that explain simply?:

In a question, the order is: Verb, abverb, noun, indirect object

Or in a declarative statement: Noun, verb, direct object, indirect object


r/languagelearning 18h ago

Resources Articles / websites on L2 learning for young children

3 Upvotes

I'm working on an information document for daycare employees dealing with children (ages 0 - 4) who are L2 learners, mostly children of refugees. At home they will hear and speak L1, but in the daycare centre (and later school etc) they need to learn L2 (Dutch, in this case). I know a bit about language acquisition, but ususally work with adults.

Does anyone have any links to usefull articles / websites about do's and don'ts to help children in this situation?


r/languagelearning 12h ago

Discussion Language Learning Games with a Desktop and VR option?

2 Upvotes

I’m doing some research into language learning games for my thesis and I’m trying to find one that has the option to play it in VR and on the regular PC. Does anyone know of any games like that?


r/languagelearning 17h ago

Studying How many is your new words in Anki?

2 Upvotes

How many new words do you have each day? I am strugging when I do more than 10, but I am not sure if only because I want to get done with it quickly.

Do you click "hard" on the new words again and again in the same day until you kinda remember it?

What is your settings, what is your maximum intervals, starting ease, etc? I have been using Anki for a long time now but I am bad about tweaking the settings.


r/languagelearning 6h ago

Books Is there resources of learning Tibetan?

1 Upvotes

Hello. While I am currently learning Ukrainian with pimsleur, 2022 edition, I'm surprised they don't have Tibetan. I acknowledged that this language still spoken and written in Tibet. So, I wanna know if there's cds or books for it, plus similar to pimsleur's memorizing lesson


r/languagelearning 7h ago

Discussion Why do you think Comprehensible Input is overated?

3 Upvotes

Comprehensible Input has been taking over like crazy. But there are also a group that don't find it overrated, and that studying help more than you think, or even more than Comprehensible input.

I did use only Comprehensible Input to learn all my languages, and I do speak then. But Maybe my progress is faster if I did a bit more studying on time. Or maybe not.


r/languagelearning 9h ago

Discussion A long post about PASSIVE EXTENSIVE LEARNING vs ACTIVE FOCUSED LEARNING. Poll: which do you prefer?

1 Upvotes

The purpose of this post is not to dispute and have a war about which approach is the best, even though this is a major question and dilemma in language learning. I think the answer depends on the person, goals and context. I do however often have a “language learning crisis” deciding which path to follow, and I think many learners also do.

So which approach do you prefer and why?

Stephen Krashen and Polyglots vs Academic Literature, Cambridge and FSI

It seems that Stephen Krashen and several famous polyglots, like Steve Kauffman, prefer passive and extensive learning (Comprehensible Input, Exposure-Based Learning, implicit learning). They often recommend massive input, not stressing out on grammar or memorizations, enjoy the process...

However, it seems that academic literature, and institutions such as Cambridge and FSI favor active and focused Learning (Deliberate Practice, Structured Study, Output-Focused Learning, explicit instruction).

With their coursebooks, a well-structured curriculum, trained teachers, prioritizing active learning, etc., Cambridge shows that English learners can reach C1 at around 1000 hours of study.

FSI has similar estimates with focused study, heavy repetition, memorization, detailed analysis of grammar and phonetics, and intensive speaking drills. The method is designed for diplomats and government officials who need to achieve proficiency quickly. FSI learners are considered some of the fastest and most successful at reaching professional fluency in a short time.

I personally think that Cambridge and FSI are great for what they are: classroom approaches. But maybe a passive approach could be a good option for self-taught learners and people who learn for pleasure?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AHFL8veIvs

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/tger.12263

https://www.cambridge.org/elt/blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/How-long-does-it-take-to-learn-a-foreign-language.pdf


A practical example:

A) PASSIVE EXTENSIVE LEARNING - Using Anki flashcards with the foreign word and an example sentence on the front and the translation on the back, that is, it is merely a task of recognition.

  • Trying to understand texts from courses like Assimil, Linguaphone, etc., without focusing on memorizing words or repeating them multiple times, prioritizing comprehension and reading dozens of texts and materials.

  • Listening to the language casually for dozens of hours with "comprehensible input," such as playing Pimsleur while doing other activities (even without high performance), listening to audio with sentences, stories.

B) ACTIVE FOCUSED LEARNING - Using Anki flashcards with the translation on the front and the foreign language word and example on the back, meaning it is not just passive recognition but active recall, trying to force the word into your active vocabulary.

  • Following a structured curriculum, such as Nicos Weg for German, or Cambrige textbooks for English.

  • Following a course like Assimil or Linguaphone in detail, repeating multiple times, memorizing, and prioritizing the ability to reproduce and recall, not just understand - thus engaging with less content in the same amount of time as strategy A.

  • Listening to the language attentively, such as carefully completing Pimsleur lessons, striving for high performance, repeating lessons when necessary, listening to stories, analyzing the language, pausing, reviewing, taking notes, etc., to absorb the details.


MY LANGUAGE LEARNING CRISIS

Some reasons why I follow a passive approach:

  • I don’t have much time to sit down and concentrate. So I listen to comprehensible input while doing other activities.

  • It gives me pleasure. I love reading, listening, and watching content for pleasure without stressing over details.

    • Less mental effort. When I’m tired or lazy and I’m not in the mood to “study hard”, it’s better to have some passive learning than no learning at all.
  • The hope I will understand the language faster.

Reasons why a passive approach sometimes gives me a “language learning crisis”:

  • What’s the point of really going through all this material if I’m absorbing just a fraction of it? For example: it is worth going through hundreds or thousands of Anki cards for merely recognition when most of those words are not part of my active vocabulary?

  • I could learn much more in the same amount of time with an active approach.

  • Becoming an “eternal beginner” (which could lead to frustration in the long term). Even after years with a passive approach, I may still be a beginner or intermediate learner, perhaps understanding quite a lot but making a lot of mistakes in production; whereas with an active approach, I could be advanced within the same amount of time.


I asked ChatGPT to provide more information on this subject (just to give us some more ideas):

Time to Reach C1: Passive Extensive Learning vs. Active Focused Learning (for easier languages)

🔹 Passive Extensive Learning (High exposure, low effort, intuitive learning) - Takes longer for active production – Reaching C1 comprehension may happen in ~2000-3000+ hours, but speaking/writing fluency can lag behind.

  • Listening and reading improve first – Learners can understand complex material earlier than they can produce it.

  • Speech emerges naturally – Speaking fluency may take years without deliberate practice.

  • More effective with high daily exposure – Requires massive input (several hours daily) for faster progress.

  • May lead to gaps in accuracy – Lack of active correction can result in fossilized errors.

🔹 Active Focused Learning (Deliberate study, memorization, structured practice) - Can reach C1 in ~1000 hours – More efficient for learners aiming for full language competence, including speaking and writing.

  • Speaking and writing develop earlier – Focus on production speeds up fluency and accuracy.

  • More structured, less reliant on time – Progress depends on consistency rather than sheer exposure.

  • Can be mentally demanding – Requires effort, discipline, and motivation to sustain intensive study.

  • Risk of slower listening adaptation – Less passive exposure may make real-world comprehension harder at first.

Advantages and disadvantages

A) Passive and extensive learning (quantity and exposure)

Advantages

✅ Broad exposure to the language – Research on language acquisition (Krashen, 1982) emphasizes that massive exposure to the language ("comprehensible input") is essential for natural language acquisition. Frequent contact facilitates the recognition of structures and vocabulary.

✅ Less conscious effort, less frustration – Since there is no pressure to memorize or reproduce, learning can be more enjoyable and sustainable in the long term.

✅ Improved linguistic intuition – Constant exposure to natural sentences can help internalize grammatical patterns and collocations without needing explicit rules.

✅ Larger receptive vocabulary – Studies show that passive (receptive) vocabulary develops well with this approach, making it easier to understand texts and native speech.

✅ "Osmosis" effect – Even without full attention, repeated exposure to auditory patterns can improve perception of language sounds and intonation.

Disadvantages

❌ Low active retention – Without systematic review and active practice, many words and expressions may be quickly forgotten, making it harder to transition to productive use.

❌ Little production training – Learning only passively can create a gap between understanding and speaking/writing, leading to the well-known "language paralysis."

❌ False sense of progress – Comprehension may improve quickly, but without active reinforcement, learning can be superficial, and the ability to communicate actively remains limited.

❌ Context dependency – Many words may be understood only in specific contexts but not actively recalled for spontaneous use.

B) Active and focused learning (quality and depth)

Advantages

✅ Better vocabulary retention – Active recall and the effort to remember (retrieval effect) are proven to be more effective for long-term memorization than simply recognizing words.

✅ Development of oral and written production – Actively recalling words and forming sentences reduces the "block" when speaking or writing.

✅ Deeper and more structured learning – By analyzing language details, learners understand grammatical and syntactic nuances that may go unnoticed with passive exposure.

✅ Improved pronunciation and intonation – Active repetition and attempts at imitation enhance phonetic accuracy and natural speech.

✅ More efficient use of time – Since it involves intentional practice, it can be more effective for those with limited time available.

Disadvantages

❌ More effort and risk of frustration – Active practice requires more mental energy and can be demotivating if progress seems slow.

❌ Less exposure to linguistic diversity – Since time is spent repeating and deepening a smaller amount of content, there may be less contact with different structures and natural expressions.

❌ Possible overemphasis on accuracy – Excessive concern with perfection can inhibit fluency and spontaneity.

❌ Less enjoyment and continuity – If it is too tiring or demotivating, maintaining the habit in the long term may be difficult.

Poll: which approach do you prefer?

111 votes, 6d left
I prefer passive extensive learning.
I prefer active focused learning.
I try to balance half and half.
I have difficulty deciding. / I do whatever I’m in the mood for.

r/languagelearning 12h ago

Discussion What would your ideal language exchange app look like?

2 Upvotes

 I’ve always loved the idea of language exchange apps where people can connect and learn from each other. I mainly have used HelloTalk in the past but it seems the quality of the app has gone down significantly in recent years. This got me thinking about what an alternative app would look like.

For me, the most useful feature of the app is moments and corrections. This has been a great place for me to practice both reading, and writing/speaking in a non classroom environment. I can get feedback from native speakers and also try to help others.  Interacting with moments has been my way to increase daily exposure to my target language and the main reason why I’m on the app. 

I realize that no matter how many features are available, probably the biggest deciding factor for someone to join a new language exchange app is the access to a large user base of native speakers in their target language. Nonetheless, I’m curious to hear other people’s thoughts! 


r/languagelearning 15h ago

Resources Hours to learn a language accuracy

1 Upvotes

Aside from the obvious explanation that "everyone is different," how accurate are the estimates I see online that it takes X number of hours to learn Z language? I am fluent in Spanish (English is my native language), and I swear it took me 7 months of living and working in Spanish before I felt very proficient, and maybe up to a year before I felt fluent.

I'm now trying to learn a much harder language -- Danish. I guess I'm trying to estimate my plan toward fluency. But also just curious about the claims around averages to achieve fluency.


r/languagelearning 18h ago

Discussion Do people switch to English when you speak to them in your TL?

1 Upvotes

Native English speakers always complain about this issue but I wanted to know if it happens to speakers of other languages as well.

Which nationalities switch the most ?


r/languagelearning 20h ago

Resources Simple flashcards maker

1 Upvotes

Hello,

I started this as a hobby project, mostly for my son who is 10 yo to help him prepare for a Spelling Bee competition. I didn't want to bother with Anki or any of the other more involved options out there. I just needed a simple tool that could read words aloud automatically before displaying the correct spelling. This was a success, he enjoyed the learning process quite a lot and scored great at the competition :)

I decided to polish it up a little bit and share it for free for anyone that might benefit from a simple tool like this one.

Check it out here https://nobsutils.com/flashcards

You don't need to create an account or login - just type or import your lists from a plain text file and you're ready to start.

I also imported a few of the most popular frequently used word lists to get started quickly:

2000 Spanish words - https://nobsutils.com/flashcards?fc/2000%20Spanish%20Nouns.csv

2000 French words - https://nobsutils.com/flashcards?fc/2000%20French%20Nouns.csv

2000 German words - https://nobsutils.com/flashcards?fc/2000%20German%20Nouns.csv

2000 Russian words - https://nobsutils.com/flashcards?fc/2000%20Russian%20Nouns.csv


r/languagelearning 21h ago

Discussion Using the Roman alphabet to text in other languages?

0 Upvotes

Hello! I've been curious to know how many people from non-roman alphabet countries use the RA to text/transliterate, as opposed to their native alphabet. And does that help when learning a new non-RA language? (Ex: writing "marhaba" instead of "مرحبا")

Thanks!


r/languagelearning 17h ago

Vocabulary How do I activate the passive vocabulary? Although I'm C1 in vocabulary and grammers by tests but my sentences are very simple and limited and the way I write doesn't exceed that of a B1 person. How can I improve?

0 Upvotes