r/languagelearning • u/Independent-Peak-398 • 2d ago
Discussion What learning methods made the biggest difference for you? (TL)
Hey everyone! I'm learning Japanese and currently using apps like Duolingo and watching Japanese movies and other content.
I'm curious about what actually helped you make progress beyond the usual apps and watching content. For example, did you find language exchange, textbooks, flashcards, reading, shadowing, or speaking with native speakers particularly useful?
I'd love to hear what worked best for you, especially things you wish you'd started doing earlier!
(TL)
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u/ButterflyNational434 2d ago
talking to actual people was the biggest thing for me. apps are fine for basics but you learn a language to communicate, not to complete lessons
shadowing helped a lot too, especially with getting the rhythm right. i wish i started speaking earlier instead of waiting until i felt "ready"
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u/---Mellissima--- 2d ago
Listening to podcasts made for learners (that speak *in* the language, not in English talking *about* the language) and lessons with a professional teacher. I tried the "community tutor" route first and it was helpful at first because at that point all speaking was needed, but then we definitely did a hit point where I knew they couldn't take me any further, so I hired a proper professional (teaching certificate, master's degree in linguistic sciences) and also do language exchanges with native speakers. I don't recommend doing language exchange until you're at least an intermediate. With a teacher on the other hand, you can start any time. If I could do it over again, I would've started with a professional teacher right away over trying to save a few bucks and hiring the community ones. I could've had that same conversation practice bundled in with proper structure and gotten a lot more for my money.
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u/KingOfTheHoard 2d ago
Reading, specifically assisted reading where you use quick translation tools to just peek at a translation as you go without memorising, took me from a very frustrating lack of any progress to genuinely experiencing acquiring language for the first time.
Pimsleur, which I didn’t find good as a beginner, really got me through the bottleneck that learning primarily through reading left me in. Forced me to parse a language with my ears and produce something verbally on someone else’s clock.
Getting a decent conversation tutor was the last essential tool for me. Broke down the last skill I needed which was repeatedly finding myself in a situation where I needed to express an idea and being able to actually connect to the vocab I’d picked up from reading.
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u/Ixionbrewer C2:English 2d ago
I used many different apps and watched many YT channels, but by far the most useful tool was online tutors. If I mention them by name, my post will be removed. DM if you can’t find them.
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u/dojibear 🇺🇸 N | fre spa chi B2 | tur jap B1/A2 2d ago
I'm around B1 in understanding spoken Japanese.
I learned the basics (sentence word order, word usage) from a textbook, in the 1980s, before there was an internet or smartphone apps. I didn't get very far.
When I started again in 2024, I took a course on the internet, pre-recorded, 100% in Japanese. Each "lesson" was a 10-minute video. The teacher would express the meaning visually (actions, pictures, whiteboard cartoons) while describing what was happening in Japanese. I think this teaching method is called "ALG". The course worked very well for me at A1/A2 level, but at B1 level I couldn't understand the teacher, so I stopped.
Since then I watch intermediate-level youtube videos in Japanese. Each day I find 3 different channels (3 different speakers), and watch 10-20 minutes of each. There are lots of words I don't know yet. For that I use a pop-up addon ("10ten"), or sometimes I use English subtitles. But if I understand very little of the Japanese audio, I stop using that channel and find some other channel I can understand better. In general my method is "CI".
No tutor or language exchange: I am not studying speaking yet.
No flashcards or Anki. I never use rote memorization. I dislike it, and it isn't needed.
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u/kittensjamesandlily 2d ago
Could you share the name of the website where you found those videos/the course in 2024? Feel free to dm me if you prefer.
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u/No-Action-875 2d ago
Try shadowing short conversations. It really helps with listening and pronunciation.
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2d ago
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u/Independent-Peak-398 2d ago
Ok!
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u/PirateResponsible496 2d ago
I use Duolingo and feel it does help me! However I’m B2 in French and tested to the end. And I just pick topics I want vocab refresh in, use the flashcards, and do the video calls. For me it’s pretty easy listening input but hearing the sentences and seeing them often helps me make the constructions.
I’m supplementing my private tutor with Duolingo for vocab, watching native content on YouTube and Netflix (writing phrases I like on notes), and something I didn’t see mentioned yet but helped me A LOT was listening to music and understanding the lyrics. It helped me with pronunciation! And with more native phrasing of things
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u/lolol4121 2d ago
How many months or years did it take you to reach B2 on Duolingo?
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u/PirateResponsible496 2d ago
Im already B2 from classes etc. I tested on Duolingo to the final level and can go back to any topic I feel like for vocab practice. I prefer this than having to follow their course one by one. B2 is a long and challenging level, I do not think you can achieve it with Duolingo alone. Even after I’ve passed the delf I still find new vocab on Duolingo that helps me
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u/rosevelle 2d ago
I noticed the biggest jump in my abilities when I focused a lot more on vocab via anki. Was able to consume a lot more content more easily after that
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u/SouthernCockroach37 2d ago
Flashcards and reading. Read things like audiobooks or something with audio follow along.
I think people severely underestimate how much knowing more vocabulary will help. A good base of vocabulary will help all of your skills in that language.
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u/unsafeideas 2d ago
Honestly, for mw the biggest discovery was that I can get far with fun content without having to torture myself with bullshit like flashcards.
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u/raqqif 2d ago
DICTATION the whole conversation or paragraph. it was one of the methods for my interpretation certificate exam. it helps and almost a must when i learn french. the progress i made in dictation sticks better than in textbooks or vocabulary, even i have no time for french for a month. dictation works well for accuracy and context understanding. but for practical and daily life use, try IMPROVISING SPEECH.
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u/ViableAnywhere 1d ago
Actually putting in the time to get some good explosure (reading and listening) instead of spending all day looking for the best studying option. Took me a decade to realize theres no quick fix. Just put in the work and the results will come :)
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u/muffinsballhair 2d ago
Anki and talking with chatbots, especially for Japanese, the latter is really boring but simply due to how Japanese culture works far more effective than talking with real people.
“The interaction hypothesis” is real and you can just notice that you learn so much more when you have a conversation for X time opposed to consuming fiction for the same time. The input you receive is directly related to what you just said and re-casts it and automatically adjusts itself to your level.
The fundamental issue with Japanese culture and how Japanese people communicate is just that it avoids recasting which is one of the most important things as well as the entire point of “negotiating a meaning” that Long researched that just doesn't much exist in Japanese conversations because they feel more like two parallel conversations than a true interaction which is probably why they developed 相槌 as a cultural concept to still make it clear they are listening.
Chatbots don't work that way and heavily recast, in fact that's why they're so boring, when you try to have a conversation with them for a large part they just agree with you and just rephrase what you said in a different, more natural way, which is super boring as a conversation but for language learning reading what you just tried to express in more natural prose is great.
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u/pedromiguel3 2d ago
I use some books, renshuu, anki and duolingo.
But it depends of the person, some like more one thing, others other way, you have to find your sweet spot
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u/Echevaaria 🇫🇷 C1/B2 | 🇱🇧 A2 2d ago
Reading books and making Anki flashcards for words I didn't know. Getting an iTalki tutor and talking to her every week while writing essays she edited.
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u/Fit_Conclusion_5324 2d ago
Text memorization made significant progress for me. I started w simple short ( 5 sentences) and in 6 months was able to remember a page. Every week. U can test yr memory what pauses work better for you. Pauses realy help..
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u/Design-Hiro 2d ago
Wait, can you explain this more?? You like literally just memorize a sent page and not necessarily what it means? Or the grammar behind how the sentences in the page function?
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u/Fit_Conclusion_5324 2d ago
Well, of course I drilled into all details and then memorized. The text were prepared to go through all main grammar topics with gradual increase in complexity. Look this is my very first text (i translated it from my TL to EN):
"Adam likes school, but I don’t. I don’t like school because I don’t like one of my teachers. I don’t like him because he gives too much homework. I don’t like homework. I hate it. I like freedom. I want to ride a motorcycle. I would like to ride a motorcycle, but I can’t. I don’t have a motorcycle. I am only 12 years old. I am too young to drive a motorcycle.”
And at the end of my course Ive been
reading a book -> re-write a chapter (a page long) -> my teacher made corrections -> and I memorized it.I have to say the time i spent to memorize texts have been also improved over time - from 5 days for small, simple text to 2 days to pages ! I noticed, for me it is important to try to memorize whole text today then sleep well and next day repeat it. Good practice if i repeat my text 30 min before bedtime or even while I am falling a sleep. The brain is hot but the text is in )) I have heard, a "overheated brain" is an indicator it is full of unstructural material, which it needs to sort out at night.
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u/Away-Breakfast-7466 13h ago
Bonsoir :
Personnellement, j'ai commencé à apprendre le français depuis que j'étais à l'école primaire. Mais ce qui a contribué à améliorer mon français, c'était ma passion pour la lecture.
La lecture m'a énormément aidé à acquérir les bases de la langue française de façon naturelle. En combinant l'apprentissage de la langue avec le plaisir, pour moi c'était la meilleure combinaison que j'ai pu inventer pour assimiler les règles de grammaire de base. En même temps j'ai accumulé assez de vocabulaire pour m'exprimer. Actuellement, je me concentre sur l'amélioration de mon expression orale en français en parlant tous les jours avec des apprenants de langues sur Hello Talk.
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u/silvalingua 2d ago
> beyond the usual apps and watching content.
The "usual" apps are mostly useless. Watching content is very helpful, provided it's comprehensible content, not anything in one's TL.
A good textbook or two has always been my absolutely best main resource, supplemented by consuming content.
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u/sergeimikhailov 2d ago
speaking.
We're all different and probably we would improve using different ways but for me personally speaking is what made a big big difference.
it doesn't mean speaking to a real person/teacher. It is great if you have time and money for this, but if you dont - speak to llm, speak to yourselt, to anyone, even speaking with errors are great way to learn
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u/aussiegirlabroad 2d ago
I’m learning Spanish.
In person classes with a quality provider is the only thing that’s really made a difference. Now that I’m sufficiently advanced, I can make progress by watching Spanish TV, etc. But that didn’t work at all until I established a baseline.
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u/AggravatingWallaby50 2d ago
Flashcards, reading, shadowing and AI texting/chatting
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u/rosevelle 2d ago
For AI texting/chatting you mean directly via chatgpt text or chatgpt voice mode?
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u/AggravatingWallaby50 1d ago
Yes, I use LearnAmo and you "text" back and forth and the AI corrects you when you make a mistake. I also use grok to speak in Italian The idea for me is to speak or text as much as I can. Input is easy, reading, flashcards, listening. Its the output speaking that is the objective. With AI I can practice speaking anytime. Best of luck
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u/sharrikk 2d ago
I'd compare language learning to building muscle. If you train it, it gets stronger. As obvious as that sounds, I think the same applies to languages. If you want to get better at speaking, you need to actually speak. Otherwise, you start losing that skill.
So, to answer the original question, what worked best for me was watching videos. My goal is to be able to consume content in English, and I genuinely enjoy watching videos. So that's exactly what I do, and it's where I've seen the most progress.
The only problem is that you hear a new word, look it up, and a couple of days later you've already forgotten it. That's where memorization techniques come in handy, whether it's Anki, multiple-choice quizzes, or anything else that helps you retain vocabulary.
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u/Mary_Cluck 2d ago
The biggest single difference for me was shifting from studying the language to just getting massive amounts of input I could mostly follow. Once I found content at the right level and watched and listened for hours instead of drilling, my comprehension took off in a way grinding never did. Apps were fine for the first few hundred words but they plateaued fast.
The thing I wish I'd started earlier is two-sided. First, output way sooner than felt comfortable, even just talking to myself, because comprehension and production are different muscles and waiting to feel ready just delays it. Second, reading for pleasure rather than as a study task. Picking books I actually wanted to finish taught me more vocabulary in context than any flashcard deck, because I had a reason to keep turning the page.
Flashcards and courses weren't useless, they just worked best as support around the input, not as the main thing.