These 5 habits will get you FLUENT in any language

no but for real, it's always "listen to a podcast on the bus" and never "maniacally track your vocab review in an SRS spreadsheet." what's with these polyglots nowadays? these are just a few things i keep in mind to make my studies consistent & efficient. what polyglot habits keep you in check? let me know down below ~

00:00 i'm tired of the same-old tips
00:41 speak everyday, or as often as you can
1:50 make a habit with the Lingoda Sprint!
3:47 make a to-do list before every session
4:24 using an energy menu
5:02 try the Pomodoro method
5:48 review the old as you learn the new
6:13 comprehensible input is REAL
7:41 try a spaced repetition system
8:50 associate language study with a constant
10:06 know yourself & how you learn best
11:58 now go forth and BE GREAT

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💌 about me: my name is Elysse, I'm 23 years old from the southern U.S. I've been learning languages for about 8 years, and I speak English (native), Spanish (C2), German (B2/C1), French (C1), Portuguese (B2), American Sign Language (advanced), and Turkish (A1). I'm interested in learning Hebrew, Chinese, Georgian, and maybe Náhuatl as well :)

#polyglot #languagelearning #learnspanish

[oshahott]

I'll be honest, until recently I had no idea there was a whole community for language learning. It's so cool that there's this whole group of people who are interested in the same thing I am. I feel so many people see learning a new language as just something you either need to do or that if you want to do it, you do so casually. But wow, this is just so cool. There are so many new sources and tips for learning a language that I actually feel it's achievable now. ❤

[imtrying-_-]

To your question, I record myself speaking for a time (usually 10-15 minutes). At the end, I put what I couldn’t say correctly into a translator or dictionary then into anki flashcards. Sometimes I search up a topic and other times I talk freely. It’s so helpful because I learn how to say things that already come to mind, just in my target language. And there’s context as long as I memorize frases or sentences.

[applestudiez]

The talking to yourself one is such a game changer for real. I’m always in my head— narrating the thoughts that were already there in another language has made my practice time pretty much double. Spinning off this, I also read a book character recommend thinking in another language that you’re at a lower level in when you’re stressed, because it slows your thought process down and forces you to consider what you’re saying.
This month I’ve been getting daily QOTD prompts to answer and speak to myself. I get the prompt in the morning and will consider some key vocab I might preemptively need to answer the question, and then I try to record myself speaking my response for about 3~5 minutes. Has been super helpful!

[snizhanahavryliuk]

now I can speak 3 languages ​​Ukrainian🇺🇦 Russian🇷🇺 and French 🇲🇫 and I am still learning Spanish🇪🇦 and English🇺🇸

[mon.am]

- Todo list before every session (include how much time you'll spend on each thing)
- Create energy buckets to decide what you have energy for
- use the pomodoro minutes
- review as much as you learn
- comprehensible input (healthy balance of how much you can understand)
- spaced repetition
- associate study with a constant (e.g. a single time of day)
- know yourself and how you learn best

[Mangoomads]

My goal/reason is to teach my kids their ethnic languages (French and Korean), and neither my husband nor I speak either at the moment 😂 here’s to the next 18 years of learning and teaching ❤

[levipierpont]

Okay here’s my theory on why people treat comprehensible input like a conspiracy theory or something: if you’ve never learned a language, (or never self studied) traditional learning methods make sense to you, because that’s how you were taught in school. To hear somebody say you can just watch Netflix and rewatch content for hours on end, and you’ll develop comprehension that way, can make some doubtful. I do believe my language learning success has come from a nice balance of immersion and active study, but I also believe if you wanted to have an amazing accent, and you had all the time in the world, there are many languages you genuinely could learn just by immersing in comprehensible and somewhat comprehensible input, for hours and hours and hours. Spanish, for sure, for one thing. And more languages depending on how much time you have. The thing I like about immersion is I remember things in a textbook so much better if, when I read them, I go, “Ohhhh now that makes sense.”

[ishmaelis]

As someone with ADHD, I really struggle with routines and consistency. The energy levels technique is such good hack! What currently helps me "survive" the periods when I lack motivation to study languages, is just dedicating a few minutes a day to do exercises on duolingo, busuu or other apps (the gamification aspect is such a dopamine boost). I also try to listen to podcasts on the go (nothing new haha, but it's such a good low effort way to engage with a language at least in some capacity).
Also thanks for the inspiration to do the Lingoda sprint! I was learning French and passed Delf B2 6 years ago, but haven't used the language since. I find it really depressing to not be able to speak anymore after putting so much effort into it and was wondering if I could ever "revive" my skills... But the idea of a 2 month speedrun sounds like such an exciting challenge. It was really fun to see you do it 😊

[carlosgandiagacalero]

Great video!
I agree with all of it. Basically, I just believe in:
1. Drowning in vocabulary at first: Anki with X words every day
2. Drowning in input in the beginning: podcasts or Netflix shows that you like but aren't your passion, so you don't mind about missing some details. Also, at first, dubbed shows are usually easier, since they are often dubbed into a standard accent.
Podcasts >>> shows in the beginning because they have no subtitles and they keep you from falling into the "subtitles plateau" of just reading and not really improving comprehension. Afterwards, shows are more dynamic, with a larger variety of accents, and less formal.

Then, once in a while I open a grammar book and try to catch up and study (which by that time feels more like reviewing) with a few lessons. I also believe it doesn't make any sense to start with the grammar, since it's an artificial structure we humans have come up with to model and understand languages. However, it is precious and totally mandatory to deal with it once you've already grasped the feeling of what's right and wrong, and how the language works.

I try to stick to these habits by setting quantifiable goals like:
- Review French 5 times a week (important not to set 7/7, give yourself some margin to fail a little bit)
- Watch and/or read at least 7 episodes a week.
Then, I have some specific counters on my phone's desktop and just touch and get a +1 every time I finish a session. It helps me to keep track of the process and feels SO good and rewarding when on Sunday night I check my phone and I see 7s all over.

The ultimate goal, and that's why reading, meeting people and watching shows is SO important is having fun, so lowering the entry barrier to the language as much as possible and just enjoy the flow and the ride. I don't start reading books until I have (or believe I have) a solid high B2.

Another minitip, if you are a polyglot, is trying to learn Language 3 from Language 2, and to use Language 3 to learn Language 4: L3--->L4. However, bare in mind that this needs to make sense. I am learning German (L6) from English (L2) because it all makes more sense, they share roots; and reviewing French (L5) from Portuguese (L4) because, even though it's not the most obvious choice, it still also makes sense. However, learning Italian (L3) from English (L2) didn't make any sense, and I ended up switching my approach and Learning Italian (L3) from Spanish (L1), since the English translation was too convergent for some words and making me loosing some nuances of meaning. In addition to this, when possible, try to find matching 1-1 translations (as an example, don't translate all the adversative particles to but, and use others such as yet, however, nevertheless, ... when possible). And.... make your deck from a Frequency Dictionary!!! It will give you the most important words first, so that it'll empower you and you yourself will feel it!!

Also, always always learn cards both sides! From target language to original language and the other way around. You need to be swift and quick both when understanding people and when speaking and replying to them. Also, add audio to your cards, and the phonetic translation helps me a lot too.

Another tip that's helping me with German right now is... give yourself time to getting to know the language, to measure your opponent, as two boxers in the very first seconds on the ring. Start slow until you grab momentum, no rush. 10 words a day add up to +3000 words in a year, with is GREAT, since it accounts for a low C1 ish.

Also, I try to reach as much as possible the 500-750 words (which I'll call category 1 and it's the basic conversational survival vocabulary). Then, I rush into achieving the 3000 (as I sad, low threshold for a C1 in vocabulary, that's the bones and structure of the whole language house you're building) and then, slowly and calmly, try to reach the 5000. Of course, this is just active vocabulary, since unconsciously you always know some more, specially when the target language shares roots with your native one. This might not apply for not-european languages.

Finally.... when I find a word hard, my anki card will always have a "Click to show hint" button. When click on it, some funny situation or even a picture explaining the concept (an "Ulikely association") created with Dall-E/Bing Chat will show up. It is true that you invest some time on creating this image (max 5-10'), and that's why I ONLY do this for the words that I systematically forget, but once you do it, you'll never forget it again. Consider it done!!

Anyway, thank you so much for your video and hope this can be of any help to some other language learners as well. Glad to discuss this in more depth, to learn more tips from any of you or to just have a pleasant talk about this passion we all share! Great content and keep it up, thank you!!!

[LanguageSimp]

I am that person who is triggered by the concept of comprehensible input

[gregmcnair]

Hey...I learned a new expression from you: "Whatever floats your boat." ¡Me encanta!

[ileneh]

As an "older" person learning Spanish, I find that setting aside a few minutes after studying to note: what I need to do next, take aways from the lesson/time with tutor/book work, etc...is helpful. For example: When learning a new verb- notes on what tense is most used, expressions I should commit to memory. Self analyzing is helping me- now... I was frustrated before doing this. Make sense??

[levipierpont]

I’m so happy you’re back 😅 I got back into language learning videos recently and so I re-watched a bunch of your videos that I watched like a year ago and now you’ve released a new one!

[j_pascua]

you have such a calming way of explaining things! this video's great!

[meriem_m]

I love ur videos so much, it’s so comforting seeing other ppl my age learning languages ❤️

[daniel.mojimaki]

Thank you for giving props to comprehensible input, being a speaking-focused learner. There is room for both!

[marjiqueen]

Love your videos! I personally like reading a book out loud to get the pronunciation nailed down. If I'm at an intermediate level in a language I just watch a show that I know doesn't use too much complex vocabulary and grammar, for example I watched the summer I turned pretty in Spanish on Prime and I would look up the meaning of the words that I don't know and gets repeated a bunch, this is my personal go to when it comes to vocabulary learning :)

[nik_a]

- find a study buddy and arrange a certain time when you study together. I'm really bad at learning new words, but I have learnt 500+ German words just because I started learning them every evening with my roommate. right now we use this time to learn new grammar

- watching sitcoms even when you understand almost nothing. episodes are small and there're a lot of them and you can understand the context, because it's a sitcom

- searching on YouTube some topics which you find interesting. for example, I love booktube, so I started watching it in German

- if you are a beginner, start reading a comics

- from B1 level(probably). find an easy book to read. my first book in English was - "A Monster Calls" and in German - "The Love Hypothesis" (it's as an example)

[breadsalmon]

love ur videos! defo one of the internet polyglots i trust most, u give good advice

[ShelbyBailesTv]

my little thing that has helped has been putting my phone in a different room when i study and not studying on a laptop. i bought an OG textbook and translation dictionary and its helped so much, idk what it is for me but studying on paper just helps me so much, and just talking to myself outloud, even if im wrong, it helps to practice