My tips for learning languages (I have a lot of experience in failing :lol: )

[fishpowered]

Let's learn a new language! Motivation is high! Let's dive in with some app I've just found, tap, tap tap, I'll be fluent in no time!

*2 weeks later* Ughhh.. this is so boring, maybe I'll just play on instagram instead..

The language app is never opened again.

1 year later you see it idling in your app list and think about what could have been...

Sound familiar? I've tried apps, audio books, computer software and lessons to get started. The initial high soon passes with the realisation of how much work it can be to learn a new language. Recognising this is only temporary and soldiering through this phase is key. Traditional classes are your best bet as you'll learn the important stuff and if you pay to attend and make the effort to make some friends there you are more likely to see the course through). Vocab apps are useful to supplement the course and speed up your learning e.g. memrise or anki are your best bets for pickup up vocab quickly.

Once you know the basics, more options open up to you. The most important thing is you find something you ENJOY that you'll want to keep it up over the long run...

- Find friends who speak the language you want to learn and want to learn the language you speak that you can message with. I only know of one dedicated app for this (Tandem) but I'm sure there are others out there, maybe you can post on a reddit community as well to find language learning friends? Texting in a foreign language with friends is the perfect no pressure way to practice the language. Don't be afraid to mix languages if you don't know how to say certain things. Add a reminder to the person's name to remind you to keep it up e.g. "John *SPEAK IN FINNISH* Smith"
- Reading about your favourite things websites in foreign. If you read the news everyday why not do it in a foreign language? Delete those old bookmarks and create new ones pointing to the foreign equivalent of those sites. Google translate app can be configured to auto-translate any text you copy or alternatively you can get a browser with some built-in language learning features e.g. https://fishpowered.net/best-browser-fo ... rners.html (disclaimer: I built this app myself but it's free and I live abroad so I don't feel bad about suggesting it as it's been useful to me and I'm only going to develop it further).
- Watching tv in your native language with subtitles in the language you want to learn. This is super useful for reinforcing things you've learned and isn't as daunting as watching something completely in a foreign language. In terms of legal ways to do this, consider buying tv box sets from the country of choice. For example if I like Big bang theory and wanted to learn Finnish, I'd go to a Finnish website that sold the boxset and check the language options. Often they will be spoken English with subtitles and/or dubbing that can be enabled.
- Easily distracted or remembering to dedicate language learning time? Consider using an app that can block other apps at certain times of the day. I use an app called Stay Focused (unfortunately the free version is a bit limited) but there are tons of apps out there like this.
- In terms of getting into a routine, I'd recommend a free app called Loop Routine habit tracker . You can create a routine for "Learn xx language" and then create a widget on your desktop that shows which days you completed your habit. This is nice visual reminder every day of your progress and once you get on a long streak you won't want to break it
- If you are a child at heart then cartoons and children's tv are also a good source for learning and reinforcing basic language.
- Learn about different memory techniques. Things like memory palaces and spaced repetition can be useful for certain things if you have a poor memory like I do. For me the best thing is learning through context. It's much easier to learn words within the context of conversation and phrases than it is individual words from a list.
- Create your own notes somewhere for things you learn that you are able to review later. Memrise and Anki are again pretty good for this and just the act of taking notes help you to remember things.

Finally, remember that it will take a long time and you should never stress about being perfect, most people will be happy you're trying and there are always hand gestures, alternative ways to say things and other languages to fill in the gaps!

Happy holidays!

[Versus]

Thank you for sharing your experience with us. I did try some apps with no significant success. Now it's time to try something else.