I’ve been trying to learn Dari (TL) as I am trying to get more into refugee work. However, there are so many resources for Persian Farsi and not so much for Dari.

Rather than spending a lot of money on niche apps, would it just be easier to kill to birds with one stone and learn Persian and then pick up Dari? Are they close enough to where it would be a pretty easy transition?

So my language learning journey goes back to before the internet even. When the internet came on the scene, we all assumed we were on a journey of globalisation which would logically end in being able to watch anything, anywhere. It was exciting!

Has that materialised? Well, in most cases, no. Try to access content via an overseas broadcaster’s website and you’ll enter a gauntlet of App Store restrictions, sign-up restrictions, geoblocks, VPN blocking, blocking of casting to TV… because they want every country to pay them separate $$$$ for the content rights. And if that content would never sell in your country? Tough shit

Netflix - as much as I wish the price would stop rising - has really stood out in bucking the trend for isolationist/gatekept content distribution. Along with so many simple things that aren’t always givens like:

- Most originals and many acquisitions are available on a global rights basis. Which means even if only 3 people in your country want to watch it, you can watch it.
- Subtitles as standard
- Every subtitle/audio option available without assumptions (not like oh because you’re in the US you must want baked-in English subs that can’t be switched off)
- The view that good content is good content, they don’t push English first or brand other stuff as “foreign” shows and put them in an obscure corner. A good show is a good show.
- And did I mention their ‘Browse by Language’ function that is sadly and weirdly only available in browser but man!!! What a feature!

Netflix is kinda how I pictured it would be everywhere now. But hey ho

(TL)

ok this is half a rant half a real question.

i've been "learning" spanish (TL) for almost 3 years. green owl every single morning, some Language Transfer, two textbooks i bought and did maybe 30 pages of. on paper i was doing everything right. then last year my girlfriend's family came over from mexico and i basically couldn't get past introducing myself. i could catch individual words flying past me and could not assemble one real sentence in time. felt like i'd wasted the whole three years.

the part that actually annoyed me is i asked in places like this before and half the advice was "you're not ready for real content yet, keep doing the fundamentals." so i kept grinding fundamentals and stayed exactly as stuck.

eventually i gave up on the apps out of pure frustration and just started reading instead. grabbed Harry Potter y la piedra filosofal because i've read it in english a bunch so i already knew what was happening. first chapter took me almost an hour and i looked up basically every third word. it was brutal. but i made two dumb rules: one chapter a day, and i'm not allowed to open any other app while i do it.

the thing nobody told me is that the words just repeat. by chapter 4 i'd stopped looking up "varita" and "asustado" because i'd already seen them 20 times in a story i actually cared about. finished the book in about 6 weeks. first thing i've genuinely finished in this language. i'm on my third book now and when i talk the words are kind of just there instead of me translating in my head first.

so honest question for people further along than me: was the "you're not ready to read yet" advice just wrong? because one chapter a day of a real story did more in 2 months than 3 years of streaks did. am i missing something or is that just the thing everyone eventually figures out?

I was wondering if anyone has experience with using plain, simple language versions of websites or content in their language learning practice (TL), and why it's helpful, or not?

I noticed that even in more underserved language there are often simple news programs from public broadcasters that seem aimed at people with learning disabilities (e.g. Tagesschau in einfacher Sprache news in Germany). Also with AI I tried popping an article into ChatGPT and ask it to rewrite it in simple/plain language. It'll refuse most of the time because of copywright, but when I got it to work it was helpful.

Was wondering if anyone had experience with it and can recommend/discourage going down that path?

This is probably the most annoying part of the process because there is nothing I can do to resolve the issue except NOT do anything. I can't out-study it or out-immerse it, and if anything, I have to actually distance myself from the language to get over that slump.

I live in the country where my target language, almost exclusively, is spoken. About four months in now, and in the past couple weeks I had made leaps and bounds of progress. Little boost out of nowhere. People began speaking to me like they would any other adult, as I no longer needed constant simplification or enunciation.

Last weekend, however, it completely fell apart. I turned on one of my usual podcasts and it sounded like nonsense. For a while now my target language had sounded completely natural, second-hand, I didn't register it as being a "foreign" language at all really. But suddenly it's gibberish. It's like a bad cell connection in the movies where the only words that come through are so unrelated and nonsensical it's comedic.

Same with reading. Right now, reading is like putting each individual word into my brain's translation software and hoping that at the end of the sentence I have extracted something meaningful. While I still had to look up about 30% of the words beforehand, I could read material aimed at adults and understand intuitively what the material was about. I didn't need to stitch it together piece-wise, except for the unfamiliar vocabulary of course. I just read it.

It's kind of sad too. It's this whole world that I've grown rather accustomed to suddenly shutting me out. I think that must be the most troubling aspect, being forced to retreat back into my smaller, monolinguistic mind.

(TL)

I've been thinking about this recently, and I'm genuinely curious how other language learners see it.

I think AI is incredibly useful for language learning. It can explain grammar, answer questions, generate example sentences, correct mistakes, and even help you understand why something is wrong. I use technology myself and can see the benefits.

Where I'm less convinced is speaking practice.

The main reason most people learn another language is to communicate with other people. Real conversations involve emotions, interruptions, different accents, cultural context, humor, misunderstandings, and unpredictable responses. That's very different from talking to an AI.

I can definitely see AI helping someone prepare for those conversations or build confidence before having them. But I wonder whether replacing human conversation with AI practice is taking things in the wrong direction.

If someone spends hundreds of hours speaking only with AI, are they actually becoming better at communicating with people?

Maybe they are. Maybe they aren't. I'm honestly not sure, which is why I'm asking.

Where do you draw the line? Should AI eventually become our main conversation partner for language learning, or should it remain a supporting tool while human interaction stays at the center?

I'd be interested to hear from both learners and teachers because I imagine there are good arguments on both sides.

Last week I posted a page of my French study notes, and some very kind people informed me that my pronunciation notes were not accurate.

Here is the thing. There is no universal standard for a learner's private scribbles, right? Those notes have exactly one job: getting you to say the words out loud.

But I would rather run an experiment than an argument. So, a challenge (TL) :

Pick a language FAR from your own, ideally one you have never touched.

- Native speaker of a European language (French, German, Spanish, Italian...) > take Japanese or Chinese

- Native speaker of an Asian language > take French, German, or Spanish

- Native English speaker > any of the five, your call

- Native speaker of an African language > all six are faraway for you, pick any

(A quick clarification on why no African language is on the target list: for round one I could only include languages where I could get the passage written and reviewed by native speakers. That was my limit, not a ranking. If you are a native speaker of an African language and would write or record the 11 sentences in yours, I will add it as an official challenge language and point European and Asian natives at it too.)

You have one week, until Friday, July 31, to read one short passage out loud. The reading is the real deliverable, ideally as a voice recording. The notes photo is just the fun part: I want to see how differently people bridge brand-new sounds. IPA charts, pinyin, invented squiggles, or no notes at all, every system counts.

How you get there is completely up to you. Paper and pen, textbooks, your favorite apps, whatever resources you already trust. Anything goes.

At the end, post a voice recording of you reading if you can. Shy about sharing your voice? Totally fine, a photo of your annotated page alone works too.

Native speakers, you are especially invited: record your language's version so learners have a real standard to chase. I will be recording the Chinese as native and English as second language myself.

Already studying one of the six? Join too, as long as it still has some difficulty for you. For fairness, mention how long you have studied.

This challenge started in a French learning group. The texts for all six languages live in that post, so this one stays clean:

https://www.reddit.com/r/learningfrench/comments/1v21g1m/language_challenge_can_you_read_a_language_youve/

I was adopted from Thailand to Denmark when I was about 5 years old.

Unfortunately, I was not able to practice my Thai since I came to Denmark, so I quickly lost my ability to both speak and understand Thai.

However, I started relearning Thai (TL) last year at the age of 31, and I have often been told by native Thai speakers that I have a native Thai accent. Put a bag over my head and they would still think I'm a native Thai speaker. I do not have a Thai accent when I speak Danish.

I have met many adoptees who have been trying to learn their heritage language, but not one of them have had a native-like accent when they spoke. Even other adoptees that were adopted at the age of 6 did not have a native-like accent when they spoke their heritage language.

So is my accent retention just unusual?

Has anyone here used toipa.org a lot? Does it tend to make more mistakes with isolated words or with full phrases? And which types of transcription does it tend to get wrong (e.g., tones, coarticulation, phonology of specific languages, reduced words, etc.)? Do you have any other site/tool that you consider more reliable for accurate phonetic transcriptions (TL) of sentences?

Hello everyone,

I’ve been learning (TL) French for a few years now but I feel like I’ve stagnated. I just wanted to see if anyone had advice on actually exchanging a language with someone?

I have awesome French friends that I talk with on a daily basis. I love them to death. We call, we text, we can answer questions if one of us is struggling with something… but we really are not learning anything. Often times we just resort to talking or texting in whichever language feels right for the day.

To actually sit down and “take lessons” seems awkward at this point. Like one of my friends is in law school right now and the idea of asking her to explain verlan after she gets home feels so selfish lol.

Just wanted to see if anyone shared this issue and if anyone’s got any tips on how we can help each other more effectively.

Is there any resource that you are using that is actually worth it? And would you pay for it if you had to?

In terms of paying, I think it also makes a difference if you differentiate between physical and digital resources or one-time purchases and subscriptions, for example I'd be happy to pay for a good book or workbook rather than for a subscription of an app.

I'm asking this because I'm specifically looking for materials I could use for studying Spanish (TL) which is my current "project" :)

Hi all,

I’ve been in an intercultural relationship for almost two years now (my first language is Spanish (TL) and hers is English), we met and live in the UK and our relationship is entirely in English. I‘m fluent so I don’t always mind but I do get language fatigue and I hate that I can’t always express my emotions the way I want because I’m speaking English all the time.

My partner’s been learning Spanish for some months taking classes 3 times a week with a teacher from my country and has made progress. However she recently let slip that she’s getting burned out. We did agree that she should cut back a bit on the classes due to cost + prioritising her research, which I’m ok with. But I’m a bit scared, because I know that in the past she has given up on lessons, and I know that for several reasons it’s hard for her to study by herself, like self-driven.

it’s really important for me that she learns my language, especially because we might end up moving to my country for a few years in the future. I don’t want this to be a point of tension or let my emotions get in my way, especially because I don’t want to feel like an asshole, but I wonder if anyone has some advice on what to do. What would be a good way to incorporate Spanish without making it a point of tension? I confess I forget to speak Spanish with her because we met in English and are immersed in an English-speaking context.

I want to be fluent in at least 5.

I have found a good recipe, that works for my learning style, for learning languages. I do some flash cards for vocab and verbs, then when I’m ready I read a lot. Then I’ll start listening to stuff and scale difficulty over time. It works for me well enough.

I was so overwhelmed with where to start until I figured out this formula. Has anyone been in a position in which they were very overwhelmed and experienced paralysis from trying to learn math until they figured out a similar routine or method?

Im looking to get some ideas to try out, I’m starting my masters in electrical engineering soon and I currently work as an aerospace engineer. Im hoping to go through school without being a stressed out mess this time around. Right now a can’t even bring myself to start, it feels like too much. Thanks!

(TL)

I like learning other languages because it's fun. Do you feel the same?

I am currently taking a break from my own learning and will resume on August.

I usually have 3 lessons per week of 3 different languages (Russian, Chinese, Portuguese) + homework + occasional language exchanges and practice of other languages.

I decided to take a little break but I feel guilty. Any recommendation for some "light" ways to practice languages while giving myself a break?

For context I'm native in Russian and fluent in English. (TL)

A lot of times, when I do something that involves English, like singing in English, comprehending material, speaking even, I'd then switch to Russian, to kind of look at whatever I do or think from a different perspective, for example a more biased or unbiased opinion, usually the opposite of what my opinion was in the initial language.

Same thing in reverse, whenever I do stuff in Russian, I'd switch to English for reasoning/to look at the situation from a different perspective.

I noticed this started happening a lot more lately as I moved into an English speaking country 2 years ago. I was somewhat fluent in English before, but it definitely improved a lot in the last two years.

I use both languages daily, Russian at home to talk to my family, predominantly English on the internet, and a mix of both at school.

Is there a name to this phenomenon? Or my brain just accidentally came up with this system to reason and think about stuff without emotions getting in the way?
I haven't found much stuff regarding this.

Seems like something that someone from this subreddit should know about, or at least have an educated guess.

Im (M27) grew up with German, English, and Romanian. Ive been living now soon 20 years in Switzerland und havent used my romanian since, so ive pretty much "lost" the language. Now Fluent in German/Swissgerman and decent in Eglish. (Both i use daily)

Ive started attempts in Romanian, Italian and Spanish, all with a below A1 vocabulary.

My Goal now ist to be able to talk to as many people as possible around the world in areas that are relevant to me. My Family-situation is very complicated, to make it short ive found my relatives in Africa after a long time and they speak french so now im focusing on French with the app Talkpal.

I still do some Italian on Duolingo just for fun and for my Girlfriend.

I was born in China and have a big fascination with the country and would like to be able to speak Mandarin, i dont care about reading and writing thats just extra to me. (I know my life is complicated)

Also arabic culture is interesting to me and i love the music and food. I have an Egyptian coworker and he really got me wondering if i can learn arabic.

TLTR

My Question, is it possible to be able to learn these languages in a lifetime as a fluent German and past fluent Romanian: (TL)

French (Writing/Reading/Speaking)

Spanish (Reading/Speaking)

Arabic (Speaking)

Mandarin (Speaking)

Italian Bonus For my Girlfriend (Reading/Speaking)

I just started learning Russian (TL) a week ago using some apps like Duolingo and Airlearn, but I've observed that I'm having a hard time actually retaining new vocabulary. Because of this, I'm planning to start using flashcards (specifically Anki) but I'm really overwhelmed.

Initially, I was going to just write the Russian word on one side and the English equivalent on the other but then I remembered that Russian words have multiple case forms and I feel like my initial method would be counterproductive for me because I'd only be looking at one form of the word. I'm sure this is also the case for other languages?

For those who use Anki, how do you format your cards? Do you make separate flashcards for each case form of the word? I'm kind of a newbie to using flashcards so I apologize if this is a dumb question.

You need to know 10,000 words to be C2, according to Google's answer. If you learn 10 words a day, you'll need 1,000 days to learn them all. 1,000 days is 2.74 years. Assume you slack off sometimes, we round up the 2.74 years to 3 years. Does this figure make sense to you? Am I missing anything?

And how much time do you need to spend a day to memorise 10 words per day?

I'm trying to calculate the exact time I need to become fluent. Much thanks.

My native language is English, and about five years ago I probably had a low B2 level in Spanish but then completely stopped interacting with the language.

About two years ago I started learning Japanese and at the start it was IMPOSSIBLE to try to speak it without Spanish coming out instead, but then around the 1.5 year point I started feeling this weird tug of war between the two languages in my head.

At that point I had a conversation with a Spanish speaker for the first time in ages and while I could still speak it took significantly longer for me to parse through my brain and find the right words.

Now it’s gone the opposite, I can speak perfectly fine in Japanese, very rarely Spanish coming to me. Spanish on the other hand… Japanese is constantly at the forefront. When I try to speak it it takes me FOREVER to find the right words and even when I do i keep saying things like そう and あの(ano if you don’t know, which is um in Japanese but means something else completely in Spanish 😅)

It doesn’t help that both languages at least surface level sound quite similar so I’ll be speaking Spanish and instead of saying pero I’ll say kedo without noticing.

I’ve started listening to Spanish again to try to counter this but is there anything else I can do? Does anyone else have experience with these two languages in particular?

And if I start focusing on Spanish again will my brain eventually form a Spanish brain and a Japanese brain? Or will I always be confusing the two?
Would it be bad to try to focus on Spanish now/would it impact my Japanese?

I’m asking because many of the expressions I studied while preparing for C2 are rarely used nowadays and some even seem rather old-fashioned. I’m genuinely curious about the areas in which someone with a C2 level would outperform someone with a solid C1.

I’m not trying to diminish the achievement of anyone who has passed the exam. I haven’t passed it myself yet and I’d honestly love to. Not because I need the qualification for work, university or anything else but simply as a personal challenge.

It’s also worth pointing out that when I took the C2 exam, I came very close to passing. I got a Grade A in Use of English and also passed the Listening paper, but my overall score still wasn’t high enough. Ever since then, I’ve had this nagging feeling that I need to go back and finish what I started.

At the same time, I’ve heard native speakers say that some of the expressions I learned for C2 such as cut no ice with someone or keep a weather eye on something are hardly ever used. Some of them had never even heard those expressions before.

That makes me wonder whether preparing for such an demanding exam is really worth the time and effort. Beyond the certificate itself, what practical advantages does C2 offer over C1?

I am learning two languages right now, Spanish and Czech. I have been studying Spanish (TL) for three years now. I am now reading the Harry Potter Series in Spanish. I can watch lots of YouTube videos, and listen to some native podcasts. I'll call with natives a couple times a week to practice my speaking.

I started learning Czech (other TL) about eight months ago, and with all the declensions, it has been very demanding of my study time. My Anki reviews will always take me 60-90 minutes everyday, I think because I am not used to learning a Slavic language (native language is English).

I'm a Spanish major in the university, and I eventually want to reach C1 in Spanish, but I also really want to improve my Czech level (currently A1ish maybe low A2). I feel like every day, I'm fighting between the two. If I do my reviews for both of them, I can do it, but I can't supplement with any reading or videos, or I won't have time to work from my Czech grammar text book.

I don't know if I should quit doing Anki for Spanish, or what that would do to my level. When I'm reading Harry Potter in Spanish, I frequently come across phrases I won't know and I will put them into my deck as basic cards, and this has been helping me with some of the more unfamiliar sentence structures, but I just don't know if it's worth it.

I understand there is a big debate in the language community about Stephen Krashen and comprehensible input (CI). A lot of the language Youtube channels push the idea that you acquire a language purely by absorbing messages slightly above your level.

I speak four languages (at various levels), and across my life, I've found this to be only half true. Input is necessary, but it's not sufficient in my experience.

To learn english, I watched dozens of hours of US or UK content in France as a teenager (therefore not on French TV, which is fully dubbed and no Netflix option at the time). My passive comprehension became near fluent, but my speaking didn't move an inch until I moved abroad and was forced to defend my opinions out loud in uni classes or discuss IRL with people who had not the slightest understanding of French. For the other languages I learnt, I never solely relied on CI.

I see the exact same thing with my wife right now. She had zero formal French (TL) education before meeting me. Over the years, she’s had a lot of passive exposure just by being around my French family or friends. Today, she catches c.70% of what someone says at normal speed (assuming a normal conversation, not a very deep dive into a niche topic), which I would argue is classic CI at work. But her active level is entirely plateaued around A2/B1. Because she doesn't actively produce the language or get forced to make mistakes (at least often enough), the input alone isn't translating to fluency.

For those of you who lean heavily on CI methods (like Dreaming Spanish or Refold): at what point do you actively transition to output? Do you think the "input only" crowd is underestimating how much the brain needs to actually struggle with speaking to lock the language in?

EDIT 20/07: A few replies seem to be reading this as asking whether CI is enough. To be clear, my premise is that CI (even though it is clearly not a conscious CI that has been followed here) has produced good results for her comprehension so far, but is clearly not enough to end up actually speaking the language. My real question is: what is the usually recommended timeline to move toward a more active approach with output? Specifically speaking output, as she has much less need for writing skills.