If you could do it over again, what would you change?

[iAnonGuy]

I would have ditched French for German and gone with Assimil and Assimil Only.

[jeff_lindqvist]

If you could do it over again, what would you change?

[Random Review]

Good question. I wrote out a more detailed response but realised that it contained too much of my own history, so it would have been a bit disrespectful to post it here. I'll post that in my log. As far as this thread goes, I will say that I would spend much more time working on pronunciation at the beginning and that I wouldn't talk to myself (talking to natives is different) in the language until I had a much higher level.

[iAnonGuy]

Good question. I wrote out a more detailed response but realised that it contained too much of my own history, so it would have been a bit disrespectful to post it here. I'll post that in my log. As far as this thread goes, I will say that I would spend much more time working on pronunciation at the beginning and that I wouldn't talk to myself (talking to natives is different) in the language until I had a much higher level.

I agree. I did get an iTalki tutor (Professional) and work with him for two months specifically on pronunciation. Helped a ton.

I would definitely not bother talking to natives until a much higher level. That was probably one of the biggest mistakes that I've made.

Talking to yourself is a perfectly legitimate way of practicing output.

[Stefan]

I understand the point about not having regrets but there are always things you can do better and a thread like this could be a potential gold mine for beginners so they don't have to make the same mistakes.

Even a tiny amount a day over the last 15 years could have added up to an impressive level.

This. I studied Spanish for a year and then basically forgot everything. If I had kept studying 1-2 hours each week, I would probably be around C1 now. The same goes for learning an instrument, exercising, writing, etc. Consistency is key.

My second regret is going from one beginners course to another. Rosetta Stone, Pimsleur, Duolingo, Michel Thomas, audio courses, etc. It's like practicing driving in an empty field. Eventually you master it but you still don't dare to drive in traffic so you find another empty field and believe it will make a difference. Guitarists do a similar thing by playing songs they are comfortable with instead of actually learning new things. Today I would pick 1-2 courses and then move on to graded readers and native material instead of picking a third or fourth course. Dare to move on.

My third regret is trying to find the magic bullet. So many hours spent reading blogs, forums, reviews, searching for new courses and tools. If you know about flashcards (Anki), subs2srs, LyricsTraining, LWT/Readlang/LingQ and Audacity, then you probably know most other tools available. Use the time to actually study instead of collecting material and reading about studying.

[Thunter]

I would still start with Assimil and I would use it as my primary resource. However I would write a seperate vocabulary list for every new lesson. Additionally I would regularly consult a grammar summary. Last but not least I would put a lot more emphasis to repetition.

If I had done it that way I could have avoided studying other language couses after having used Assimil.

[Xenops]

I don't have a lot of regrets, because when I look back, I think "considering the place I was at, that was the best I could do". I took three years of high school Spanish with great teachers, and if I every return to that language, I have a solid base. I took a year of college Japanese, and I thought that was a good stepping stone, since initially the grammar terrified me, and I needed someone to hold my hand. I wasn't able to take second year, because my course load was heavy; I'm sorry I couldn't continue, but considering my courses, I made the right choice.

My only real language regret is I made myself study Spanish when I wasn't liking it anymore. Maybe I'll pick it up again later, but now I'm focusing on languages I'm interested in and plan to use at a high level.

[jeff_lindqvist]

For those wondering, this is a merge of two threads on the same topic.

[rlnv]

No real regrets, but with the knowledge I've gained there would be one fairly significant change. I would replace the first three methods I used with a single course, the full French in Action with all it's books and audio. Studying French we are blessed with probably one of the best courses of all time. Why not use it. I believe it would have been a better foundation as well.

The path I took was basically this with some overlap and other activities:
Fluenz French >> Assimil French with Ease >> Hugo French in 3 Months >> lots of native materials and misc French grammar and workbooks.

The do-over would be:
French in Action >> lots of native materials and misc French grammar and workbooks.

[gsbod]

For Japanese, I would have spent less time in the early stages worrying about AJATT style advice and more time just working through the main textbooks I had at my disposal (Genki and Basic Kanji Book - neither of which are perfect but they were the best I had available to me at the time). I would not have fooled myself into thinking that, as a beginner, watching Japanese TV and films with English subtitles was anything more than entertainment. I wouldn't have spent quite so much money on building a massive library of Japanese related materials that I didn't need - although admittedly before I discovered JP Books in London, it was a challenge to pick the right books due to lack of browsing opportunities. Also, I would have shifted my focus firmly and consistently from Japanese to German in summer 2012 and wouldn't have worried so much about unfinished business in a language that I have very little practical use for.

For German, other than starting and sticking to it sooner, the only thing I wouldn't do again is the Assimil German with Ease (the Hilda Schneider one). I could get all the beginner-appropriate audio material I needed for free from Deutsche Welle and the lack of grammar explanations/tables in the Assimil book caused me some unnecessary trouble.