Any foreign language learners?

[yez]

Being in Texas, I decided to brush up on whatever Spanish I learned in HS 25 years ago. I've used duolingo the past two years and it works pretty well. I recently started learning Japanese as well and that language is TOUGH. What do other people do to learn? Would love to immerse since they say that's the best way to learn, but that's an impossibility since I have a young family.

 

[JHUNSY]

Podcasts and foreign films/shows with subtitles. If you can’t go there, immerse yourself where you can.

I took four years of French in high school and hated that it was escaping me so I started picking it back up through that and a daily routine of both Duolingo and Memrise.

 

[yez]

Podcasts and foreign films/shows with subtitles. If you can’t go there, immerse yourself where you can.

I took four years of French in high school and hated that it was escaping me so I started picking it back up through that and a daily routine of both Duolingo and Memrise.

Interesting - didnt know Memrise. Thanks!

 

[ISUCyclones2015]

The best I found is listening to the biggest international news station of that language, you can sort of grasp what is happening based on the video/pictures and cross reference with the news in english.

Also this is completely unhelpful but just being there helps tremendously. Been going to a country pretty frequently the last year and you just kinda pick some things up. So maybe try shopping at hispanic stores as an added boost?

 

[cyclone13]

Being in Texas, I decided to brush up on whatever Spanish I learned in HS 25 years ago. I've used duolingo the past two years and it works pretty well. I recently started learning Japanese as well and that language is TOUGH. What do other people do to learn? Would love to immerse since they say that's the best way to learn, but that's an impossibility since I have a young family.

Used to learn Japanese for 4 years at College. Memorizing the characters was the hardest - some of it because I didn't really devote time to do so and couldn't find the best system on how to memorize that. The basic hiragana and katana characters were quite easy for me.

The best way to learn is doing the immersion. I would love to spend time doing immersion in Italian and Dutch.

 

[CascadeClone]

GF daughter has been learning Japanese at hs, and I tried Duolingo to see if I could pick up some and maybe help her out / bond a little. But I didn't keep at it.

I have thought of doing same over the years, trying to dust off my 2 years of French. Just because...

 

[NickTheGreat]

I've been messing with Duolingo since early 2020. I'm far from fluent though, but I only do 5 minutes per day!

 

[isutrevman]

French on Duolingo.

 

[GMackey32]

I need to get back into learning French. I took 3 years in High School and got pretty good at it. At the time, I definitely could have traveled to a French speaking country and gotten around easily. Now, I only remember pretty basic stuff.

 

[CoachHines3]

im fluent in cunnilingus

 

[amishclone]

I keep playing with Spanish on Duolingo. Tried to get into some Spanish language podcasts but they're either too boring or else above my level. Any accessible podcast recommendations?

 

[pourcyne]

Ouiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii ! J'ai appris presque tout mon français en Iowa et puis j'ai pu voyager après mes études universitaires pour perfectionner mon français.

Por qué hablo tan bien francés, pero entiendo bien español, portugués y el idioma italiano.

Kann'ich auch ein bischen deutsch sprechen.

Ni hao, Korrosoho, and genki-na, wakari-masu.

***

Please don't fall for that crap about becoming fluent in [insert whatever time period is promised, or...] three weeks. It's a lie.

It takes 5 to 7 years of IMMERSION (and that means LIVING in the target language) to become fluent.

Any or all programs designed to dupe you into thinking that you're proficient are just that: snake oil.

Linguist's honor.

 

[Omaha Cy]

I had 4 years of Spanish in high school. Now at 46 I only retained a small vocabulary, but remember many verbs and the conjugations. Wife and I go to Mexico about once a year. She had 4 years in high school and another 4 in college. She reads at a pretty decent level, but it's work for her to comprehend or speak it.

I've started using Duolingo the last 3 weeks. I like it, but feel it doesn't challenge me enough. Just got the book "Madrigal's Magic Key to Spanish". Im really struggling to comprehend even basic stuff when spoke with a heavy accent, and also the speed/cadence at which the words come out. I failed to relearn the Spanish alphabet, so hopefully that will help me a bit with the letter sounds.

I've watched countless videos for tips which I will try.
Watching children's programming in Spanish is a place I will start. A podcast seem like a good idea, but I get frustrated because I can't figure anything out. At the moment I'm better off trying to read Spanish and get the idea or theme of the passage. A family friend is from Mexico City and wants to get better at English. We plan to start a weeknight dinner with her to work on both languages. A new coworker is bilingual. We will invite him to help as well.

 

[Drew0311]

David Lee Roth learned Japanese by going to movies in Japan. True story. Kind of think it depends on the person learning. Everyone learns a different way

 

[Big Daddy Kang]

Ja, das ist sehr guht.

 

[Cyclonepride]

I tried learning Spanish using Fluenz, and I thought it was pretty good (I wanted something that several people at work could also use). However, language learning is not my strong suit, and at the time, I was too busy to stay with it consistently, so every time I went back to it, I had to start over. I haven't gone back to it yet, but I hope to.

 

[OnlyCyclones]

I’ve enjoyed uses Drops to learn new vocabulary on top of Duolingo. Also looking, very early, at some AI chatbot type language apps. Don’t have one to recommend but might be worth a google.

 

[demoncore1031]

I am currently learning Tagalog (Filipino), or trying to at least.

 

[t-noah]

Being in Texas, I decided to brush up on whatever Spanish I learned in HS 25 years ago. I've used duolingo the past two years and it works pretty well. I recently started learning Japanese as well and that language is TOUGH. What do other people do to learn? Would love to immerse since they say that's the best way to learn, but that's an impossibility since I have a young family.

"Any foreign language learners?" No, but I took one year of French in College (ISU).

 

[BWRhasnoAC]

I've been using Spanish for 20+ years. Learned it all through middle school and a few years in college. Got hair up my ass to learn an obscure language so I picked Swahili. Duoling is pretty great.