How to ACTUALLY learn a language from scratch

In this video, I want to share with you my experience of studying foreign languages from scratch. That is, from the very beginning of learning the alphabet to reaching full fluency. I will also use English, Chinese, Spanish, Korean, and Japanese to demonstrate my points. I hope you find it helpful. And I hope all of you enjoy the language-learning journey!

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[e-genieclimatique]

in brief : The video provides a comprehensive guide on studying foreign languages from the very beginning to achieving fluency. Phoenix uses examples from English, Chinese, Spanish, Korean, and Japanese to illustrate his points.
1. **Starting with the Basics**: Begin with learning the alphabet. Some alphabets are easier (like Korean Hangul), while others are more complex (like Arabic or Chinese characters). Understanding the basic phonetics and pronouns is also crucial.

2. **Tackling Grammar**: Start with simple grammatical concepts like present tense, gender in languages like French or Spanish, and basic case particles in languages like Korean, Japanese, and Russian. Gradually move to more complex grammar like past and future tenses, and expressing location, direction, or time.

3. **Overcoming Challenges**: Many learners give up when they can understand and express sophisticated ideas but still find native conversations and reading difficult. This stage requires patience and practice. Phoenix suggests grammar exercises, memorizing phrases, and internalizing grammar to make it natural.

4. **Accumulation and Improvement**: This stage involves familiarizing yourself with grammar and building vocabulary. It's important to be patient and keep studying. Use resources like videos, audio clips, children's books, or books for teenagers. Practice speaking through shadowing dialogues or talking to yourself. Ensure a solid grammatical foundation to avoid fossilizing mistakes.

5. **Enjoying the Language**: Once you've accumulated enough knowledge and experience, you'll start understanding more and making longer, complex sentences. Engage with the language by watching movies, reading books, and immersing yourself in the culture and people behind the language.

Phoenix emphasizes that while some languages have unique grammatical structures, the general process of language learning is similar across different languages. The key is to enjoy the learning process and immerse oneself in the language and its culture.

The video concludes with an encouragement to continue the journey of language learning, highlighting the joy and cultural insights it brings.

[alancantu]

Method I’ve used that’s helped me progress rapidly:

- Learn alphabet
- Learn top 1000 words (spelling, pronunciation, contexts used in, etc)
- Use the best translator software you can find to memorize at least 50 sentences that describe who you are as a person and what you do (learning the top 1000 words first helps this step a lot)
- Listen to music and watch movies in the language (stick to at least 30 minutes of music a day and 2-3 movies a week)

It’s an overload strategy and can seem overwhelming, but as soon as you master the first two steps, the rest becomes way easier. Trust me, you’ll be amazed at how fast you make progress.

[rinnerifu]

I learned to speak and read Japanese without studying.
I studied Mandarin for 9 years starting from primary school. Can't speak nor understand anything in Mandarin today.
I grew up watching manga and anime, so I'm familiar with the sounds, but still can't understand Japanese anyway. Started playing VALORANT in Tokyo server and spoke to Japanese people around July last year. I can't understand anything, they can't understand anything either, but it was fun.
In November, I befriended my first ever Japanese friend (who couldn't speak English) and we survived by using google translate. In December, he taught me the alphabets. Then I started speaking to him everyday, and befriended more Japanese people, and more, and even

3 months after that, I could speak Japanese more fluently and understand conversations better than my friends who took courses in Japanese, and it's only getting better and better :)

[XinxilanDiaosi]

Babe wake up new Phoenix Hou video just dropped

[goncaloPT]

In the middle of thousands of videos saying grammar can be neglected at first, and just listen and engaging in the language, i really agree with you that in an initial phase, the grammar is very important to build a strong foundation! What a good and realistic video! Congrats

[trungkeeper]

This video is kind of like a motivational for me, the part of giving up where you think the effort isn't enough is spotted on with my current situation. Thank you

[Leopold_van_Aubel]

The Latin alphabet also has a cursive version. I know there are several countries where it's not used so much anymore. But in France everyone writes in cursive.

[ToastyMarshmallows]

Thank you so much! This was very helpful in my language learning process. I felt like I had come to a complete stand still and wasn't learning to a point of fluency, but this really helped me overcome some of those things.😊

[vettaj]

I wrote a long note, but it disappeared. 😂😂 Learning the languages is just as different as listening to music from different eras. I love Bach and I love BigBang, but they are quite different. And you will never mix up 안녕하세요? 你好吗？ I enjoy learning and it is quite fun. Plus, I have met some great friends along the way. Take your time. Enjoy the journey. Even if you learn one sentence or able to write one word. You will be closer to your goal each day. 😅😅 Believe and you shall achieve.

[MrBrown]

Thank you for the video, and for your thoughtful insights.

[wombatpandaa]

Thanks for this! I always find your videos refreshing becausw they describe a language learning process similar to the one I stumbled upon by accident when learning Korean several years ago.

[egiipta]

Thanks so much for this video! You are right about reaching that certain point then many giving up, I am always encouraged at the very beginning, because I can actually see my progress so clearly week by week. It progressively becomes less visible to see the progress once you hit intermediate or even lower-advanced level, and falling behind when conversing with natives can be discouraging. This video was on the shorter side, but super informative, and I totally agree about the emphasis on grammar. Such a necessary step. Learning phonetics and grammar has been one of the best things I did for the languages I learn.

[JamesColemanChess]

I really enjoyed this and found it really motivating. I’ve been learning Thai for about 5 months (not long I know), sometimes it can be demotivating when you hear native speakers and it’s just a blur of words, but I do think I am improving slowly. I have many friends there and I want to improve so I don’t plan on quitting. I usually find if I put it aside for a couple of days that break gives me renewed motivation. Thanks again and I’ll subscribe for more vids :)

[PopDasKorn]

I just had such a stand-still-phase in my language learning, but I think I overcame it now and it feels like I am making progress again. I would even venture out and maybe visit the country where this language is spoken and see what happens.

[carolwang]

Hi Phoenix, thank you for sharing! I think in this video you mainly answered the question of WHAT to learn in the language rather than HOW to learn a language. We all know that these things (alphabet, grammar, vocabulary) should be learned. We‘d like to hear more about your practices and learning routines!

[MegF]

I have realized that some people are just better at learning languages than others. I'm not one of them, but I keep trying. Congratulations. Some folks can run or ride horses or jump better than others. Others can draw or sing. Good that working at it that you are able to learn so well, particularly as an adult. That's a skill!

[blockyeric]

Thank you man, your videos are really helpful to me

[Alexandrita]

Esto video me ayudo a organizarme mucho mejor. Gracias por los consejos, me suscribí. Eres muy bueno explicando.

[bartekflisiak]

Exactly what I needed, thank you so much! ❤

[CaptainWumbo]

I think this is a good high level overview of how to learn languages, but glosses over the detail that everyone gets stuck on, which is how to efficiently look up words prior to acquiring enough familiarity with the language to be able to guess words, and how to find reading or listening material that is appropriate to their level. Particularly in languages where looking up words in a paper dictionary is infeasible (languages where a "word" is too western of an idea or which use chinese characters). Once you solve those problems, if you actually like the process you can make the long climb from B to C.