How to Teach Yourself

aForeign Language

S.A.J
.Forbes
How to Teach Yourself a Foreign Language
 i

Version 1.4.2
Last updated December 15, 2020

Front cover image by Thomas Kelley

Front cover design by S. A. J. Forbes

How to Teach Yourself a Foreign Language

S. A. J. Forbes

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International

License.
ii

Introduction
Welcome to How to Teach Yourself a Foreign Language, a fast, easy, no-nonsense way to get
you learning any foreign language as effectively as possible. This guide will teach you the
fundamental principles of learning languages. At the same time, it will help you understand
what resources you need, where to find them, and what you should do to start learning. While
this guide is primarily aimed at people who are not currently undertaking a structured course,
there is plenty here for any learner—from beginner to upper-intermediate.

If you think something is missing or have any queries, you can send me an email. You can
also find me at my website.

Please check out the Reddit FAQ to see some common beginner questions addressed.

How to use this guide

Please note: Because of the structure of this guide, it will be faster to read than it may initially
appear. This guide places the most important information first, so everything you need is in
the first part. To get a powerful jump-start to your learning, you only need to read up to the
end of the section First part conclusion. If you are just starting, this is how I recommend you
use the guide.

If you are impatient to start immediately, you can skip to Resources.

The final third of the book contains appendices with optional additional information. These
appendices will be referenced throughout.

Finally, I advise you to think of this guide as an investment. If you start with a bit of theory,
you will save time in the long run by doing it right the first time. Relative to the enormous
amount of time you will be spending with your language, time spent in preparation is both
minuscule and disproportionately effective.

Principles
Principles are the basic underlying rules and ideas that enable you to be an effective language
learner. They are how you should approach language learning and are the biggest difference
between ordinary beginners and experienced language learners. Many of the points here you will
sometimes hear called “language hacks”. This is somewhat of a misnomer (elaboration here).

This guide collects principles from around the web to save you the trial-and-error learning
that a lot of us had to go through.

I’ve scattered most of the principles throughout the guide to prevent you from getting
overloaded. While a principle may be placed under a certain section where it is most relevant,
it will also apply to other aspects of your learning.
 Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii
How to use this guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii
Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii

Contents iii

1 Before you start 1

1.1 How long will it take? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Set a goal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.3 What you need to know . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

2 Resources 6
2.1 The three core resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Finding resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Choosing resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Beginner course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Flashcards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Other resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

3 How to learn your language 15

3.1 Build a study schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
How to use your time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.2 The four mediums of learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.3 Grammar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
3.4 Vocabulary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Word Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.5 How to use your beginner course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
When to stop using your beginner course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3.6 How to use flashcards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3.7 How to use input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
3.8 How to use dictionaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
3.9 Moving to the intermediate stage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3.10 First part summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3.11 First part conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

4 The two big intermediate activities 26

4.1 Conversation practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Pronunciation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
4.2 Extensive reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Find a book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

5 Intermediate Study 30

iii
iv Contents

5.1 Intermediate study routine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

5.2 What should I study? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
What do I need to know? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
5.3 Language learning activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Meaning-focused activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Language-focused activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Fluency-focused activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Language-focused learning with content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
5.4 How learning happens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Drilling and practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
5.5 Some more advice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Avoiding mistakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Language learning plateaus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
5.6 Second part summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
5.7 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

A How to learn pronunciation 42

A.1 What to learn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Sound inventory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Difficult sound clusters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Stress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
A.2 How to practise pronunciation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Your approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

B The core resources 46

B.1 Further advice on flashcards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Should I use pictures instead of words? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Learning through flashcards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
B.2 Further advice on using content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Your level +1 in your content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

C Further advice on learning language 49

C.1 Further advice on learning grammar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
How important are grammar lessons? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
C.2 Further advice on learning vocabulary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Mnemonics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Multi-word phrases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Focus on words that don’t directly translate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Logical connections help you learn words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

D Common Questions 53
D.1 Can I learn two languages at once? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
D.2 Can I learn like a child? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
D.3 Why do some people seem to know lots of languages? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

E Common Mistakes 55
E.1 Learning languages like you did in school . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

F Elaboration 56
 Contents v

F.1 Elaboration: Practice your language then drill your weaknesses . . . . . . . . . 56

What drills are best? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
How do we apply language transfer? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
How much of each? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Why should I read if my goal is conversation? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
F.2 Why is the term “language hacks” a misnomer? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

G Full list of principles 58

G.1 Principles of approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
G.2 Principles of learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
G.3 Principles of practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

H About languages 60
H.1 Grammar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

I Recommended reading 61
I.1 Podcasts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

J Choosing a language 62
J.1 Motivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
 Chapter 1

Before you start

1.1 How long will it take?

Languages are a lifetime pursuit, and beginners often underestimate the amount of time it
takes to learn a language. The first thing to note is there is no perfect level, even for your
native language. There are only milestones that you set according to your goals. You first need
to have a level in mind you want to reach. How long it takes then depends mainly on two key
factors:

1. Approximately how many hours are required to reach your desired level

2. How much time you can spend during the day

A good idea of how many hours it takes to reach a reasonably competent level comes from
the FSI Language Difficulty Ranking. For an easier language like Spanish or French, most
people take around 1-2 years, but there is high variation caused by the second factor. If you
studied 10 hours solidly per day, every day, you could potentially reach the same level in just
over two months.

How much time you can spend during the day is going to be the primary indicator of how
achievable your goal is. If you think you can’t reach your desired goals given the time available,
you need to either make time or adjust your goal’s timing.

While time is the overwhelmingly important factor, it takes more than just time to learn
a language. There are more efficient and less efficient ways of learning. Here are the other
factors that will determine your rate of learning:

• How much of your study involves using the language?—Almost all learning is best
done with the language, meaning using real texts and audio and integrating speaking
and writing into your study routine.

• Are you working towards your goal?—If you want to learn the language for a specific
purpose, you can reach that goal faster by prioritizing the skills necessary to accomplish
it.

• How well do you know what techniques are effective and what techniques work
for you?—Just reading this guide and following the few core principles covered here will
get you 95% of the way. The rest comes with experience.

• How much of your time with the language is spent actively paying attention?—
This means not just passively watching or listening, but actively focusing and trying to

1
2 Chapter 1 Before you start

improve your ability or understanding. Both are essential, but not enough active learning
will slow you down.

• Do you have a growth mindset?—Your beliefs about your own ability place limits on
what you can achieve. Believing that you lack certain talents or will never reach a certain
level will make it so. Everyone can teach themselves a language.

1.2 Set a goal

This guide assumes you have already chosen a language. If you haven’t, read Appendix J
Choosing a language.

To learn a language, you should first set yourself a goal or set of goals. Spend some time
properly considering what motivates you to learn your language. The foundations of a goal
should already be there. If you’re not sure what goal you should have, first think of the
situations you want to use the language in. Your goals should be about your ability in these
situations.

The best goals are SMART goals. That is, they are Specific, Measurable, Achievable,
Relevant, and Time-bound.

Specific—Goals need to be something you can hold yourself accountable to. Don’t make
your goal too vague (e.g. “fluency”).

Measurable—Language progress can be hard to measure, but there should be some degree
of visible progress towards your goal.

Achievable–Don’t aim too high. You can’t be fluent in a year without working at it like a
full-time job.

Relevant—Make your goal depend on what you want out of your language. Use Appendix
J Choosing a language to help you clarify your thinking.

Time-bound—Picking a point in time discourages you from slacking off and letting progress
lapse. You might like to start off by thinking about a length of time you want to dedicate and
then selecting a goal based on that time limit.

Here are a few hints:

• You can have multiple goals.

• You can also have smaller, short-term goals to help you measure progress.

• You can use constituent goals that you think are necessary to achieve your main goal
(e.g. “know 2,000 words”). Don’t make such specific goals your primary goals, as they
can distract you from focusing on what you truly want.

• It will help you to write down your goals somewhere.

• Don’t be afraid to revise any of your goals. If you’re going at it for the first time, it
can be hard to know how long it will take or if the goal you choose is really what will
motivate you in the future.
 1.3 What you need to know 3

• You might be tempted not to worry about choosing a goal since you already know you
want to speak the language and get better at it with no end in mind. Trust me—goals
will help you get there faster.

Here are some example goals:

• Converse with my friend for 5 minutes without losing track of what she’s talking about.
Timeframe: 8 months.

• Read and understand Tolstoy without a dictionary. Timeframe: 5 years.

• Know enough basic words and grammar to feel comfortable communicating when I’m on
holiday. Timeframe: 2 months.

Principle: Work towards your goals

A large source of slow progress for many learners is that they do not focus on doing things
that are associated with their goals. This key concept is called “direct practice”, and was
perhaps best summarised by Scott Young in his book Ultralearning:

“The easiest way to learn directly is to simply spend a lot of time doing the
thing you want to become good at.”

The individual skills improved by studying do not directly translate into your target
situation without practice. For example, if you want to communicate, you need to spend a
large amount of time practising communicating. Other exercises such as drilling grammar
can help you work on key weaknesses but are no substitute for essential direct practice.

1.3 What you need to know

Languages consist of two core components:

1. Grammar

2. Vocabulary

The language is expressed through any of the four skills:

1. Reading—This is the main source of input for most language learners. The main aspect
is the language’s script.

2. Writing—This skill generally comes with reading, but effective writing often requires
learning spelling or stroke order.

3. Listening—This involves learning the language’s sound system, including vowels, conso-
nants, and tones. Understanding how letters correspond to sounds (orthography) is an
important first step.
4 Chapter 1 Before you start

4. Speaking—In addition to being able to hear the sound system, the learner must learn to
use these sounds. It also includes other aspects of pronunciation such as rhythm and
intonation. Pronunciation is an important skill that is crucial for those who are learning
to communicate.

The skills of reading and listening together are called input (or content). The skills of writing
and speaking are called output.

Once you complete the beginner stages you will know:

• Basic grammar—Basic verb and noun forms, the general structure and logic of the
language

• A functional vocabulary—approximately 1,000-2,000 words, enough to be understood in

basic conversations

• The basics of the four key skills—enough to function in whatever context you are learning
for

Principle: Use the language in order to learn it

The single most important principle is this: you acquire your language when you use it
in context. Primarily this means reading and listening a lot. It takes a lot of time with the
language to become fluent, and most of that time should be spent with natural input that
is both comprehensible and interesting to you. That can mean reading texts, listening
to podcasts, watching videos, writing stories, finding natives to speak with, or anything
else that takes your fancy. In addition, speaking and writing are great ways of solidifying
your knowledge and getting feedback. You will see this principle repeated throughout the
guide.

This principle holds because learning a language is a skill you must practice and refine.
In many ways, it is more like learning to ride a bike or play an instrument than learning
facts or rules. It is the reason traditional methods of learning—memorising lists of words
and grammar rules—is so ineffective. This kind of study will let you learn about a language,
but it is a poor way to acquire it. You do not need to be able to complete grammar
exercises to use a language correctly for the same reason you do not need to understand
gyroscopic forces to ride a bike.

You can find a summary of the work of Stephen Krashen, who first popularised this idea,
here and a great video demonstration here.

Principle: Time with the language is the key to how fast you will learn
A lot of people come to r/languagelearning wanting to know how some people become
so accomplished at languages, believing there must be some special technique they are
utilising that makes languages come to them faster. Unfortunately, there is no magic
bullet. A wide variety of techniques work. The overwhelmingly important factor is how
much time you can spend with the language each day. Regardless of your technique, the
more you practise, the more successful you will be.
 1.3 What you need to know 5

If you’re wondering how some people become conversational in a large number of

languages, check out the discussion in Why do some people seem to know lots of languages?
 Chapter 2

Resources

2.1 The three core resources

We need three core resources to start learning the basics:

1. A beginner course

2. A flashcard program

3. Input

A beginner course is any kind of course that tries to teach you the fundamentals in a
structured manner. The essential component is grammar, which beginner courses will often
teach through drills and/or explanation; however, most will teach you much more. It is best to
use one beginner course at a time, but you can have multiple that you use over the course of
your learning.

Flashcard programs help you learn vocabulary and grammar by repeatedly showing you
words or sentences and asking you to recollect their meaning, while also spacing out that
exposure to help you learn optimally. You only need to use one flashcard program.

Input is any piece of content produced in the language such as books, news, or movies.
Input is the final key to language acquisition. Remember the principle Use the language in
order to learn it. Using more input is the single biggest positive difference you can make to
improve your language learning. You need as much input as you can find.

Finding resources
This guide provides some resources that serve multiple languages. However, many great
resources only deal with one language. This guide does not represent the full range of
high-quality resources available.

Spend some time hunting for resources by reading guides and recommendations from other
learners. Every time you encounter something you think you might like, bookmark it, then keep
looking. Once you’ve spent some time hunting, go back and choose what you think will work
for you, keeping in mind the insights from this guide.

Feel free to change your mind or go searching again at any time. You don’t have to stick
with a resource if you decide you don’t like it.

There are several ways to find good resources:

6
 2.1 The three core resources 7

• Google search communities dedicated to your target language—see if they have a list of
recommended resources.
• Google search for guides or articles about learning your target language.
• Look through some popular repositories of resources

Language repositories link or store a large number of language resources in one place. Some
include resources about learning techniques and methods. Below I will list some useful ones.
Beware: it’s easy to be overwhelmed by the quantity of resources listed, so be sure to focus
only on what you think will be most useful for you.

Table 2.1: Some popular language resource repositories

Repository Description
r/languagelearning Useful repository with links to subreddits containing resources
resources wiki for many languages
Cstrobbe Github Github repository of every kind of resource
Learn and Language A community wiki with lists of resources
So you want to learn a
A website with lots of resources
language
Multilingual books Another website with lots of resources
Open Culture A website that lists free resources

Choosing resources
There are three key factors you should consider:

• How frequently it is recommended by other learners

• How much you think you will enjoy using it—keep in mind there is a lot of room for
individual preference
• How well it aligns with the principles of learning

Next, we will look at some examples of resources you can use. Use the following sections to
help you think about how you might prefer to learn.

Beginner course
Look for courses that teach you the language in context—that means using lots of input. In
addition, a good course will not only cover grammar and key vocabulary but assist you with
the basics of the four skills.

Generally, you will pick one or two courses and use them throughout your beginner-level
study. Remember: There is plenty of room for personal preference. Choose something that you
think works for you.

There are six basic types of beginner courses you can use:
8 Chapter 2 Resources

1. Text, audio, or video explanations—websites, podcasts, or video series that explain

the basics of your language

2. Teach-yourself books—books that provide explanations, exercises, and beginner input

(highly popular)

3. Online courses—often websites and/or apps with their own methodology (also very
popular)

4. Listen-and-repeat courses—courses that function by having you listen to phrases and

then repeatedly prompting you to recall and say them out loud

5. Classes—teachers in a classroom

6. Tutors—one-on-one teaching

Table 2.2: Some good examples of beginner courses

Course Examples
Text, audio, or video YouTube videos
explanations Free online lectures/courses such as listed here
Assimil (paid, audio)
BBC Languages (free)
Live Lingua Project (free resources)
FSI, DLI, and Peace Corps language courses
Teach-yourself books Colloquial series
Online courses Duolingo (Free)
LingVist (paid)
Busuu (free with paid premium)
Glossika (paid)
Babbel (paid)
Mango Languages (paid)
Listen-and-repeat
Language Transfer (free)
courses
Coffee Break Languages (free)
Pimsleur (paid)
 2.1 The three core resources 9

Table 2.3: Advantages and disadvantages of each of the six types of beginner course

Course Advantages Disadvantages

Quality is variable; remembering what
Text, audio, or Plenty of variety, usually free, and
is taught is usually left to the learner;
video explanations easy to use
videos and podcasts can be slower.
Sometimes rely on ineffective
Teach-yourself Courses are usually complete and
grammar exercises; not very
books good quality
interactive
Often the highest quality, interactive,
Often pricey and may require an
Online courses and can provide the full set of
ongoing subscription
resources a learner needs
Very good at helping you start to
Listen-and-repeat speak, get a feel for the language, Not well-rounded—Use as a
courses and remember and use lots of useful supplement only.
words and constructions
Help students stay motivated. Costly; can be a slow way of learning
Classes Teachers can provide correction and the language if lessons are not
language feedback. frequent
Multiple lessons are very costly; often
Very powerful method; can provide
Tutors only used as a supplement for this
correction and language feedback
reason

The benefits of listen-and-repeat courses

Listen-and-repeat courses are perfect for people who are travelling soon and need tourist phrases
as well as anyone that doesn’t have a lot of time to study at their desk. They’re also great
at building confidence speaking early-on in a low-pressure environment—an important aspect
often missing in traditional courses.

If your focus is on communicating, listen-and-repeat courses are recommended. Because

they are so specialised, I advise using them as a supplement only. If you are less interested in
communicating, consider these optional.

The benefits of using tutors

Tutors are one of the best supplementary resources as they can structure learning to your
preference.

Tutors are expensive, so using one simply to explain the basics to you is not the best use of
your money. Any information they give you will also be freely available on YouTube or another
website. Remember: learning is a fundamentally internal process—you still need to put in hard
work regardless of the source of the information.

Using tutors as a source of input and to identify errors and provide correction is generally a
much more productive use of your money.

You can find tutors in real life, through your local community, library, or university. Relatively
inexpensive tutors are also available online on websites such as iTalki.
10 Chapter 2 Resources

Budget
Budget can be an important consideration for many people. There is no direct correlation
between price and quality—many poor resources cost money, while many of the best resources
on the internet are free. However, there is a general trend towards paid resources being
better. Paying for something that is recommended by others and works for you can be a good
investment.

If you prefer a cheaper option, a good path could be using text, audio, or video explanation
or free online course in combination with a listen-and-repeat course. If you’re willing to spend
a bit of money to make your life easier, you will likely find value in using a paid online course
in combination with a personal tutor to help you practice and identify errors.

Flashcards
Flashcards are the perfect tool for learning new words and helping you remember grammatical
constructions. You should endeavour to use at least one flashcard system. Pick the one you
like most and will likely stick with.

Anki
The most popular flashcard software is Anki. Anki is popular due to its large community,
functionality, customisability, and clean interface. The flipside is that there can be a fairly steep
learning curve, depending on what you want to do with it.

Anki allows its users to export and share flashcard decks they make. There are many pre-made
shared decks for you to use to get started. If you’re a complete beginner, find a deck with
words ordered by frequency. The best decks also have example sentences. Feel free to download
multiple and try them out.

I recommend you eventually learn to make your own cards. This allows you to add words
that you find personally relevant and useful.

You will find yourself confused by Anki at some point, so it is recommended to read the
manual soon after you download it. You can find it in the table below.

If you prefer something simpler, there are lots of alternatives. The table of flashcard software
below lists a few.
 2.1 The three core resources 11

Table 2.4: Flashcard software

Flashcard software Description and links

Anki iPhone app (paid)
Android app (free)
Shared decks
Manual
Some clear video explanations here and here
Memrise An online flashcard program that focuses on using mnemonics
A flashcard program that teaches using fill-the-blank
Clozemaster
sentences that features a rather gamified interface
Quizlet An online flashcard system
LearnWithOliver Another online flashcard system

Input
The key to using content is that it is both comprehensible and interesting to you. Sometimes
content will already be integrated in the course you are doing. Even if your lessons already
include texts or audio, it will be useful to find your own that interest you. More content is
always good.

How to choose input

Finding content as a beginner can be difficult, particularly for languages that are not as popular
for learners. I recommend you simply use the best, most interesting content you can find that
allows you to practise reading and/or listening without being overwhelmed by the difficulty.

Here are some examples of input you might use:

Table 2.5: Examples of input

Mode Example
Reading Books
Articles
Reddit-like websites
News websites
Conversation transcripts
Watching Interviews
YouTube channels
Movies
TV series
Listening Music
Podcasts
Dialogues for learners

The best content for a beginner generally sits at the sweet spot between comprehensibility
and adult-interest. The best content is usually intended specifically for adult beginners. As
12 Chapter 2 Resources

always, try to find recommendations from other learners. Here are the best resources you can
find as a learner:

• YouTube channels with conversation or dialogue intended for adult learners

• Podcasts intended for learners
• Short stories for learners, in books or online
• Books for young teens
• Websites with articles or news intended for learners
• Graded readers
• Anything with audio and a text transcript
• Anything with naturalistic dialogues

A common method is to use content intended for children; however, the vocabulary is often
not very useful nor the topics very interesting to an adult.

Content such as TV series, music, movies, and real news websites is generally made to
be understood by adult native speakers. These are usually too difficult for beginners to use
effectively. I do not recommend you use them at the start.

If you’re starved for interesting content or just want to, feel free to try something outside of
the typical beginner range. At the end of the day, your learning is self-directed, and you should
engage with what works for you.

Popular sources of input

Table 2.6: Popular sources of input

Source Description
r/languagelearning
Subreddit list of good media resources
media section
Easy Languages Street interviews with dual-language subtitles—quality
YouTube channel beginner content in lots of languages
Great source of foreign language TV and movies with
Netflix
subtitles
WordLab YouTube Massive catalogue of learner-appropriate channels in lots of
catalogue common languages
Project Gutenberg,
Free public domain e-books
Wikibooks, Loyal Books
Gloss Website with a lot of beginner content
The Fable Cottage Dual-language fairy tales

Popular tools
There is a variety of useful tools to help you improve your learning with input:
 2.1 The three core resources 13

Table 2.7: Popular tools

Tool Description
Import texts and get instant translations by clicking on words,
Readlang
has a built-in flashcard program
A popular paid service similar to Readlang that provides lots
Lingq
of content and records and highlights known words
A fantastic chrome extension that gives you more control
WordLab over Netflix and YouTube playback and subtitles—highly
recommended for intermediate learners
Chrome tip to help you search dictionaries faster using the
Keyword lookup
search bar
ImTranslator Dictionary lookup addon

Other resources
Dictionaries
It is important to find and use a good dictionary to supplement your reading and flashcard
creation. Dictionaries can be online or physical, but most people find online dictionaries to be
much more convenient.

The best dictionary to use depends on your language. There are some excellent dictionaries
dedicated entirely to a single language. The ideal dictionary will give you example sentences,
an English equivalent, and the correct pronunciation.

Here are a few dictionaries that offer translations for multiple languages:

Table 2.8: Popular online dictionaries

Dictionary Description
Linguee Clean interface. translations are sorted by frequency
A poplar dictionary with helpful pronunciation guides and
Wiktionary
support for a wide variety of languages
Great interface and lots of sample sentences. Has a built-in
Bab.la
verb conjugator
Reverso Useful example sentences
Tatoeba Helps you find example sentences
Example sentences and pronunciation recordings—no
Forvo
definitions
WordReference Standard dictionary

Translation software can help you understand entire sentences. Avoid becoming over-reliant
on translating whole sentences. Make sure you attempt to understand a sentence yourself first.
Avoid using translators for single words, since you may be given an inaccurate translation.
14 Chapter 2 Resources

Table 2.9: Popular translation software

Software Description
Google Translate The most popular translation software on the web
DeepL A powerful alternative to Google Translate

Phrasebooks
You may also like to learn some phrases, either to help you get a feel for the language or if you
are travelling soon. The primary issue with phrasebooks is that generally the reader doesn’t
remember the phrases they read. Learning needs to be supplemented with flashcards.

The best phrasebooks are likely specific to your language. Here are some websites that have
phrases and words in lots of languages that teach you in an interactive fashion:

Table 2.10: Online phrasebooks

Website Description
Book2 Phrasebooks in lots of languages
LanguageGuide Interactive way of showing simple vocabulary

Principle: Mix it up
Try to use a variety of different resources. This includes different courses as well as a
variety of content. It’s surprisingly difficult to translate your language ability from one skill
into another without a lot of practice. For example, reading lots will help you learn a lot
of words, but you will struggle to recognise these words when you hear them until after
you’ve done a lot of listening practice.

Keep an open mind and try different things every now and then. If you feel your progress
slowing with a resource or method, try something else.
 Chapter 3

How to learn your language

To learn a language as a beginner, you simply need to progress through your chosen course
while ensuring you spend most of your time supplementing that material with lots of content
and vocabulary flashcard practice. Do that for a few hundred hours and you’re done!

Thanks for reading!

Still here? Well, there’s lots more advice out there for anyone who wants to learn effectively.
We’ll spend the rest of the beginner section looking at your study schedule and how you learn,
followed by advice on learning grammar and vocabulary, and finishing with how to use each of
the three core resources.

3.1 Build a study schedule

Commit to a minimum amount of time to dedicate every day. People generally recommend
at least an hour per day. You should not go below 20 minutes. Beyond the need to sleep
or complete any other essential responsibilities, there is no maximum to the amount of time
you could spend. The more you can commit each day, the faster your progress will be. Every
additional minute helps.

How to use your time

Study time can be spent reading explanations, doing drills, or learning using content. Divide
your time into study blocks between 20 minutes and one hour. It helps if a block deals with a
single resource, such as an article or podcast episode, and you pick a specific skill or aspect of
the language to try improving with that resource.

There is no hard and fast rule for how you should split your time. As a rule of thumb,
dedicating around one third of your study time on grammar, one third on vocabulary, and a
third on the four skills should work well. For those that hate grammar, you can safely reduce
your time studying grammar to about 1/8th. I don’t recommend going completely without
grammar, however there are learners that do this.

In addition to your study time, you should also spend plenty of time engaging with different
kinds of content without using it to study anything specific. How much of your time should
be spent with study and how much you should spend just using content is up to you. It will
depend on how much time you have spare once you’ve done your dedicated study and what
content is available that is interesting and at your level. Aim for at least 25% of your time to
be spent using content this way.

Principle: Keep up your motivation

15
16 Chapter 3 How to learn your language

Motivation is required to spend the necessary hours and to learn to do it effectively, while
becoming unmotivated can lead to stagnation as you find it difficult to sit and study for
the required length of time. Staying motivated is important because it will cause you to
study more frequently, help you study longer, and reduce the chances you will give up.

Your motivation can easily wane over time, so it is important to pay attention to it and
find ways to keep it strong. The best way to create motivation is to find ways to enjoy
your language. Several principles in this guide are aligned with this goal. They are:

• Principle: Study in a way you enjoy—Choose a method that you enjoy. This will
take the edge off the study process.

• Principle: Use content you find interesting—Don’t use boring dialogues if you
can’t stay focused and stick with them. There’s lots of interesting content out there.
You will find yourself enjoying learning your language a lot more when you find
content you enjoy for its own sake.

• Principle: Work towards your goals—Striving towards your goals, making progress,
and successfully engaging with those parts of the language can be a motivating
experience. Be sure to keep your goals around you. For example, if you are learning
to communicate with certain people, try to be around those people more often.

Principle: Incorporate your learning into your life

Think of learning language as something that becomes a part of your life rather than
something to set time for like a school subject. Here are some ways you can do this:

• Spread your learning out throughout the day rather than segmenting a large block
of time

• Switch the language of the media you consume

• Try to find a friend or group of friends that speak your target language

Key tip: Find ways to learn on the go

The advantage of the modern world is you can take your study materials and content with
you wherever you go. If you’re a person who generally has little time to sit at a desk and
study (or even if you’re not), it can be very helpful to use the small bits of downtime
throughout your day.

Here are a few ideas:

• Get a penpal on a chat app such as HelloTalk. Use any downtime to read and send
messages.

• Use digital flashcards on your phone. Use any spare moment you have to practise
them—on the bus, in a queue, walking between class, etc.
 3.2 The four mediums of learning 17

• Use a beginner course that has an app.

• Listen to podcasts while cooking, cleaning, walking, driving, or during any activity
where you normally don’t have to carefully focus.

• Carry a book with you.

Key tip: Change the language of the devices you use

An easy change you can make to your lifestyle is to use your target language with all of
your devices. The extra input can be helpful, and it encourages you to learn new words.

3.2 The four mediums of learning

There are four mediums that enable you to learn some aspect of your language. They are:

• Direct explanation—It is helpful to have aspects of language explained to you. Beginner

courses usually do this.
• Drilling—Drilling is the act of isolating some specific weakness in your learning and doing
an activity that only focuses on that. This includes flashcards and language exercises.
• Encountering in your content—By encountering forms and words in context, you
eventually come to understand how they are used.
• Language output—Speaking and writing your language will reinforce your knowledge
and help you get feedback.

In learning your language, you should naturally move down the four mediums and come to
apprehend most grammar and vocabulary you need.

The most important medium is Encountering in your content. Remember the principle
Use the language in order to learn it? While direct explanation can be very useful, learning
only happens once you use the language. The main way you learn grammar and vocabulary is
by being prompted to remember or otherwise extract meaning from the language. This is why
using comprehensible input is key.

Principle: Repetition helps you learn

You learn words and grammatical forms by repeatedly encountering them in context,
meaning these things will be apprehended only once they come up naturally enough times.
Once you know something easily you can focus on other aspects that are more unfamiliar,
and hence gradually improve your understanding of the language.

Don’t be discouraged when you encounter unknown words and forms or forget things
you thought you knew—it’s a natural part of language learning. You will require a lot of
repetition before something truly sticks in your mind.

Repetition happens naturally as the most common words and forms are encountered
frequently. Drills such as flashcards are designed to repeatedly prompt you with the same
18 Chapter 3 How to learn your language

thing until you remember. You can also get repetition by reading the same piece of content
multiple times. It is also useful to review activities, lessons, or content you covered a few
days or weeks ago.

Next, we will cover how to approach grammar and vocabulary, then we will look at how best
to use the three resources.

3.3 Grammar
Most of your initial grammar learning comes from your beginner course, helping you understand
the core verb/noun forms and the general structure and logic. From there you can refine
and improve your knowledge using large amounts of input. Learners also drill grammar using
flashcard sentences.

Key tip: Do not rely on learning grammar rules

In general, learning rules is a poor way to acquire a language. Remember the principle Use
the language in order to learn it? While rules are useful to know, learning only happens
when you use the language. Rules and other aides such as conjugation tables should be
used as a stepping stone to help you understand meaning in context. While it is ideal to
use direct explanation only once before you use content, it is completely acceptable to go
back to the explanation to help you if you can’t remember.

Key tip: Avoid spending all your time on grammar

While the noticeable progress feels good, you will learn faster overall with the help of input
and context supplementing your learning. Languages are much more than grammar rules
and you will not learn by studying grammar in isolation.

You can find more info on learning grammar in the appendix.

3.4 Vocabulary
Vocabulary is generally the more underrated of the two core components. A huge portion of
speaking a language is really just knowing enough words. Start off by learning the 1,000 most
common words as fast as possible. Stretch for 2,000 if you can. That lets you understand a lot
of basic language.

Most of your word acquisition will be through flashcards, with much introduced to you
through your beginner course and still more introduced to you through your input. Later, many
learners move away from flashcards into large amounts of reading, while others continue to use
flashcards heavily.

For a language like English, the number of words you’d need to be fluent is over 10,000.
Increasing your vocabulary is therefore always a useful task, so if you don’t know what to
actively study, try to do that. While 10,000 is a large number, you will get there eventually by
chipping away at it every day.
 3.5 How to use your beginner course 19

Key tip: Prioritise words over grammar

Prioritise increasing your vocabulary over learning advanced grammar. Children passively
understand far more words than adults by the time they begin using more complex grammar,
and this is for a good reason. Not knowing the correct word is a far more common barrier
to understanding and communication than advanced grammar. Despite this, many adults
aggressively pursue advanced grammar because they want to speak ”correctly” and dislike
making grammatical mistakes. However, insufficient vocabulary is also a kind of mistake,
and achieving fluency requires a large vocabulary just as much as it requires advanced
grammar.

Also keep in mind that, in conversation, advanced grammar can often easily be understood
through context. This is rarely true of unknown words, unless they happen to include roots
and affixes that are already familiar.

Key tip: Learn the most common words first

Words in natural language follow something called Zipf’s Law, which states that the most
common word will occur twice as often as the next most common word, which will occur
twice as often as the next most common, and so on. This means languages are heavily
dominated by the most common words. Once you have learned 2,000-3,000 words, you
have covered almost all the words you will hear in daily conversation. With only a few
hundred words, you will have access to almost all the filler words, which make up most
of spoken language. This isn’t a free shortcut however, because much of the meaning is
contained in the less common words. What it will do is put you in a good position to learn
these words naturally and better derive meaning from context.

Key tip: Don’t learn related words together

Although it might seem like a good idea, it’s best not to learn words together if they
are in any way related. This is because the similarities can cause you to confuse them.
This includes near synonyms (rely/depend), opposites (fast/slow), and words typically
recounted together (days of the week, numbers).

Word Lists
It can be helpful to keep a list of those words you have looked up and find interesting enough
to want to remember. This can serve as a useful reference and the act of writing a list by hand
can aid memorisation.

Word lists should not simply be read over but revised with one side covered to get your
memory working. This is the principle Difficulty + successful recall.

You can find more info on learning vocabulary in the appendix.

3.5 How to use your beginner course

Exactly how you use your beginner course depends on what you have chosen, so there’s not
much specific advice I can give you. Instead I will remind you to remember the principle Use
20 Chapter 3 How to learn your language

the language in order to learn it. Lessons will give you an explicit understanding of something
that makes you feel like you know it, but you will not be able to use it until you practise.
Understanding the grammar is very different from using it correctly.

The general pattern is to use a beginner course for its explanations and drills, then using
input to solidify that knowledge. If your beginner course already relies on using lots of input,
be it through phrases, dialogues, or anything, that is ideal.

Don’t try to memorise your lesson content. Languages must be acquired, not memorised.
Memorisation will make you very good at explaining the language, but very poor at using it.

Principle: Don’t try to learn things perfectly first time

Learning happens slowly over time, usually well after you are first introduced to a word or
concept. You don’t need a perfect understanding to learn the next unit, so don’t spend
too much time trying to completely learn a concept or word perfectly before you move
on. The very act of moving forward with a loose understanding will help teach you things
already covered as you encounter them again.

Principle: Study in a way you enjoy

Keeping your motivation up is an important principle, but when it comes to garden-variety
desk study, studying languages is not always the most exciting activity. For that reason,
choosing a course and study method that you enjoy is a good idea.

There seems to be a lot of individual difference when it comes to learning method

effectiveness. Some methods people tout as effective might not work for you at all. There
is nothing wrong with you, it is just that the overwhelming factor seems to be the
interest and enjoyment of the learner themselves. If you find the method you are
using is too boring, change it up.

When to stop using your beginner course

Your beginner course should eventually start running out of “easy wins” with the grammar.
These are very common aspects like verb conjugations and noun declensions, articles, and
prepositions. The more similar the language is to your native, the less time you will need to
spend learning grammar. With Dutch, for example, that period of time is quite small, but you
can expect to be dealing with grammar for much, much longer with Arabic or Russian. Once
this core grammar is covered, you can cease to study grammar in a systematic manner.

After that point it is still recommended to continue to use your course or some other book
or website as a reference of forms to take note of when you are using content. The advantage
of continuing with grammar in a structured manner is that you will have a wider knowledge
base that will let you recognise forms you might miss otherwise. If you have a strong dislike of
grammar, you can get away with using it minimally.

3.6 How to use flashcards

Flashcards are essentially how we “cheat” our way into repeatedly encountering new words
more often than normally occurs in our study.
 3.6 How to use flashcards 21

The best flashcard programs use spaced repetition. This works by automatically spacing out
your revision using something called the forgetting curve. You are first shown a word multiple
times and asked to recall its translation. Once it deems you to have learned the word, the
algorithm will then increase the interval between revisions. The algorithm attempts to get you
to recall a word just before you forget it. Eventually, after a lot of revisions, you will have been
prompted by a word enough times it will be safe in your long-term memory.

There are three ways information can be shown on flashcards:

1. Single words

2. Phrases

3. Word plus an example phrase

I recommend learning the word plus an example phrase. Phrases provide useful context
and language that can help you recall words and teach you about how the language is used.
Words in your target language will not be used in the same way as they are in English, so
learning simple word-for-word translations will not help you speak. Phrases can also provide a
useful prompt to aid recollection. More advice on using sentences is given in Further advice on
flashcards.

In addition, people choose to review cards in three general ways:

1. Prompt with target language, try to recall native language (receptive learning)

2. Prompt with native language, try to recall target language (productive learning)

3. A combination of both

I recommend a combination of both; however, productive learning should be strongly preferred

over receptive learning. Recalling words and sentences for productive purposes is both harder
and more powerful for learning.

Flashcards are great for highlighting grammar as well as words. A grammar flashcard will
typically use a phrase that utilises the grammar you want to learn, in addition to something
that calls it out and explains it if necessary. Flashcards used for grammar should almost always
be used productively.

Key tip: Make your own flashcards

The best way to use flashcards is by creating your own. If you find vocabulary that you
want to know and use sentences that you have chosen, learning them becomes far easier
as you are more motivated and pay closer attention to what you are learning. This can
be time consuming, but many find the time spent building the flashcard deck useful, too.
If you use Anki, use the documentation. There is also a helpful video here. There is a
learning curve, but once you understand it you can customise your learning and create
cards quickly and easily.
22 Chapter 3 How to learn your language

Key tip: Keep your flashcards simple

Learning something new takes focused effort, so you can only really memorise one thing
at a time. Trying to do more actually makes your learning slower. Learning a sentence
chock full of new grammatical constructions and words might seem like an efficient way of
learning, but it will actually slow you down. The purpose of sentences is to provide helpful
context and having overly difficult sentences defeats this purpose.

At most your flashcards should have one new word and one example sentence. The
example sentence should contain at most one unfamiliar grammatical form, and ideally
no other unknown words. If you have lots of information you want to learn, split it into
multiple cards.

At the very beginning, even simple constructions may be completely novel to you, but
learning short, useful phrases early is a great way to absorb the language. At the start
your sentences will need to be as basic as possible, such as “where is the toilet?” or “how
are you?”.

3.7 How to use input

As already noted, input is essential to learning a language. The reason for this is twofold:

1. Languages are far too complex to be adequately described by any book or course. To be
introduced to all the different ways and specific contexts words and forms can be used
together, you need to first see the language used in context.
2. Explanations and drills help you learn about the language, but using the language is a
skill you must practice and refine.

For this reason, you should aim to use as much input as possible. Input does three things:

1. It introduces you to new forms and words in context in a way that is interesting
2. It solidifies words and forms in your memory as you encounter them repeatedly
3. It builds your intuition for the language

Intuition is an important part of learning. It is the subconscious knowledge that makes you
so good at your native language. This is why certain things can just sound correct or incorrect
without you having any explicit understanding of why.

Using input is simple. Simply engage with it in whatever manner you prefer and try to
understand as much as possible. You can repeat the same content multiple times if you want.
The more you repeat it, the more you will get useful repetition that solidifies your knowledge.

Principle: Balance active and passive learning

Remember the principle Active recall. Active learning is the act of actively engaging with
your resources that enables you to efficiently apprehend new knowledge. Passive learning is
 3.7 How to use input 23

the act of letting the language come to you by engaging with as much as possible without
focused study.

Active learning is the more efficient way of engaging with your content and will let you
gain new knowledge faster when you use it for focused study. At the same time, learning
a language takes enormous amounts of input and there is no way to realistically expose
yourself to all the forms and words you need without large amounts of passive learning.

Be sure you are doing both types of learning. You may find it better to use more difficult
resources for active learning and easier ones for passive learning.

Principle: Noticing
One powerful learning tool is simply noticing. That means noticing words and constructions
you have had explained to you before and recalling their function and meaning while using
content. As you engage with your content, previously unknown forms gradually will become
clear to you.

Keep an eye out for new unknown forms or words as you read. Becoming curious,
searching for a word, and learning its meaning is a very powerful way to learn. Looking
things up every time is usually not practical. Instead, try to be aware so that you can spot
common forms, eventually looking them up once you encounter them enough you have an
idea of how they are used.

Principle: Use content you find interesting

A great source of language practice is simply doing the things you already enjoy doing
in your native language but using your target language instead. This can be watching
YouTube, TV shows, movies, browsing forums, or even gaming. You can use this media
for a focused study session, or you can just enjoy it. If your level is not yet high enough, it
may be quite a steep learning curve, but that should hopefully give you the motivation to
study even more.

As a beginner, finding good content can be hard, especially for people learning rare
languages. You may have to compromise and choose something less interesting because it
is nearer your level.

Principle: Your level +1

The ideal content is just a little bit challenging. Learning occurs when the brain struggles
a bit before making a successful connection. The best way to ensure this happens is to
choose content that is your level +1. +1 means that the content is just a bit harder than
you are comfortable with. It is difficult, but still comprehensible.

When something is too difficult, a lack of context and meaningful connections create
a barrier that results in a lot of tiring mental effort with relatively little payoff. When
something is too easy, there is no mental challenge, and you don’t learn anything. When
a resource is already mostly comprehensible, all the known words and forms surrounding
something new provides useful context that reduces the barrier to understanding. This is
24 Chapter 3 How to learn your language

the principle Difficulty + successful recall.

What precisely +1 means may depend on what you are aiming to study. As a general
rule, 90-98% of words should already be familiar to you. For listening, a clip with 100%
known vocabulary might still count as +1 if you struggle with aural comprehension. For
more info, read Your level +1 in your content in the appendix.

Principle: Active recall

Active recall is the active use of memory during the learning process. It requires focused
attention on recalling and using information to improve your language skill. This can be
contrasted with passive review, where you allow content to come to you in a passive way,
without actively straining to decode meaning or recall a concept. For example, relaxing
and watching a TV show or reading over your study notes.

While passive activities such as simply watching a show are generally much more enjoyable
and easier to do in large amounts, active recall is more efficient in terms of progress per
hour spent. As much as possible your learning should require active use of your memory
to recall concepts and words you have already been exposed to.

You can find more info on using input in the appendix.

3.8 How to use dictionaries

Use dictionaries when you encounter key unknown words that you want to know. Never
simply look up new words as you encounter them. Try to understand or at least cover the
whole section or text first, then go back for the words crucial to your understanding.

When reading texts, take note of unknown words that are both simpler and more common.
Avoid focusing on uncommon words when there are many more common ones left for you to
learn first. A large portion of the new words you encounter will only appear once, meaning
there will not be repeated opportunities to help learn them. Learning these words is harder for
a beginner because they are generally reading slowly and selectively.

Key tip: Don’t blindly trust single-word translations

Most learning involves getting translations that translate a word from your target language
to English. It is important to remember that translations are imperfect. Languages use
words differently, and the kind of contexts words are used in often do not overlap. For
example, the English word “exercise” has two completely different meanings, one to do
with fitness and the other with study. An online translator won’t always know which one
you mean. There are often entire phrases that, if translated directly, would sound very
strange and unnatural.

Key tip: Don’t use dictionaries to learn words on their own

Dictionaries are a supplement, a reference to be used when you discover a particularly
interesting word or something you are struggling with. Using them to select which words
to learn can cause you to learn less common words without being aware of their proper
 3.9 Moving to the intermediate stage 25

usage.

3.9 Moving to the intermediate stage

The intermediate stage begins around the point you stop following a structured syllabus. Your
beginner course will either have finished or moved on to advanced grammar. You do not need
to reach the very end of your course if you don’t want to. At this point, learning becomes more
self-directed based on your goals. It will be useful to read the chapters below.

3.10 First part summary

Here are four key principles that underpin your learning:

1. Use the language in order to learn it

2. Work towards your goals

3. Time with the language is the key to how fast you will learn

4. Keep up your motivation

Use a beginner course to structure your learning. Make sure you follow others’ rec-
ommendations but prioritise what you enjoy using. Choose a course that works for you and
progress with it in a way that you enjoy. Do not rely on your course to make you learn. You
will learn once you use the new words and forms you encounter in your course by drilling and
seeing them in your input.

Use flashcards to drill grammar and vocabulary. Words are the biggest barrier to
comprehension, so focus on them if you want to understand more. Using sentences is ideal.
Learn to make your own flashcards and add in words you encounter in your course and input.

Listen and read as much as you can using content that is interesting and compre-
hensible. YouTube, Google, and language-specific communities are your best shot at finding
good content.

3.11 First part conclusion

This concludes the first part of the guide. If you’re eager to start, you can stop here and start
studying. Ultimately, perfect technique is second to just spending time with the language. If
you do stop here, good luck!

If you want to, you can read on and see how your language learning might change as you
start to get more comfortable in your language and get some more study tips.

Next up, we will discuss the two big intermediate activities, then we will look at the
intermediate stage in more detail.
 Chapter 4

The two big intermediate activities

There are two activities that are so important to successful language learning that they deserve
their own chapter. If you do nothing else, you can still be a successful intermediate learner
simply by doing two things: 1, conversation practice, and 2, extensive reading.

4.1 Conversation practice

The purpose of language is communication and to communicate you need to speak. Conversation
is a great exercise because it gets your brain actively utilising the knowledge you already have,
greatly improving your understanding and fluency with the language. It also exercises the skills
of speaking and listening in tandem, it exposes you to native speaker content, exposes you to
new forms and vocabulary, and lets you get help and feedback in real time. Many learners
report a burst of insight that can come from beginning to speak as their target language turns
from memorised rules and phrases into a living language that they can interact with.

When to start speaking

Some people emphasise speaking as early as possible, even on the first day. The first time
speaking a language can be a powerful experience, however the beginner vocabulary is so
limited as to make it impossible without a tutor or highly accommodating language partner. In
addition, it does not necessarily help the learner learn new words or understand how to use
them correctly. For that reason, it is a completely valid and common choice to avoid speaking
almost entirely until you are at a lower-intermediate level. Many people start earlier or only
try out speaking early because they find it fun or motivating. When to begin speaking is your
choice—there is no proven best time.

How to get conversation practice

The best way to practise speaking is to find a native speaker and start a language exchange,
an activity in which you each spend time speaking each other’s language. You can do this by
organising with people in your real life if you have any native speakers around. If you are like
the majority of us and do not have anybody nearby, the best option is to do an online exchange
using Skype or any other internet calling service. You can find people very easily by using a
community dedicated to language exchanges. The largest and most popular communities are
iTalki and HelloTalk. More are listed in the language exchange section of the r/languagelearning
wiki.

There are other methods of getting practice. If you live in a big enough city, there are
often meetups for language enthusiasts or more generic meetups that are often attended by
expatriates and travellers. You might get lucky and find a native speaker there who is willing
to let you practise if you ask them. The country associated with your language may have a

26
 4.1 Conversation practice 27

community of speakers in your city. You can also pay for a tutor to get conversation practice,
either online or in real life if available.

Beating nerves
Starting to speak can be daunting at first. If you are feeling nervous or anxious about starting
to speak, understand that most people will be very kind and accommodating. A good partner
will understand your level and speak at an appropriate level for you. In return, any help they
give using your language will be good practice for them. Make sure you are clear about your
level and your initial difficulty will not be a problem. If you have the money, hiring a tutor can
be a good way to ease yourself into it without the pressure to perform for someone else. The
initial hurdle of starting to speak is the largest, especially in your first foreign language, but
there is no way around it. After that, speaking becomes increasingly easier, even when first
speaking any future languages you may learn.

Principle: Don’t be afraid to make mistakes

Don’t shy away from trying things because you are afraid of making mistakes. Mistakes
are a natural part of the process of learning and will not necessarily hinder your progress.
Conversely, trying to use the language absolutely correctly every time can slow your progress
by reducing the amount of practice you get.

Most mistakes simply fix themselves over time without correction. As long as you are
getting lots of input and basing your language production off that, you will probably be
fine. Listen closely next time you are near a young child. They make mistakes all the time,
yet all will learn to a native level given enough time.

For more information, read the section on mistakes.

Principle: Get feedback on your ability

A good way to catch errors is to find ways to get feedback on any mistakes you are making.
While your language should get better with time on its own, it can be helpful to catch some
mistakes you are repeatedly producing so that they don’t become a permanent feature of
your speech or writing. Try asking for feedback from your tutor or language partner. You
can also try your hand at writing and sending small texts to natives to be corrected.

Pronunciation
It is useful to deliberately learn good pronunciation as it typically does not come naturally to
adult learners. Pronunciation is especially important for languages with very different phonology,
such as Chinese. Poor pronunciation learned during the early stages can become ingrained and
hard to fix, so learning as you start speaking is preferable.

The advantage of learning good pronunciation is that it is probably the easiest way to sound
fluent at an upper beginner or intermediate stage, and early effort will continue to help you
throughout your language endeavours. If you’re the outgoing type or are learning primarily to
communicate verbally, good pronunciation is a good way to keep people happy conversing with
you and get compliments on your skill.
28 Chapter 4 The two big intermediate activities

Learning how languages vocalise is a large topic. This section is a quick-start to help you
get most of the way. If you would like to learn more on pronunciation, please read Appendix A
How to learn pronunciation.

I recommend you use Google or search a community to find a pronunciation guide for your
target language. A common method of many courses, guides, and dictionaries is to give
an English approximation for each sound. Generally, this is insufficient to achieve accurate
pronunciation. The best guides will explain each sound using diagrams, explanations, or special
symbols (called the IPA) in addition to audio to show you how to make them.

First, take note of elements of your target language that are different from your native
language. Here are some things that will be different:

• Sounds—also known as phonology

• Tones (if your language has them)

• Intonation—tone across whole phrases

• Rhythm

Spend focused effort improving each of these aspects. Dedicate some time to doing some
activities in which you practise speaking some words alone. Use a dictionary such as Forvo or
Wiktionary or any audio input to get a good example to try mimic. It is helpful to practise
throughout your study by trying to read texts, flashcards, or anything you encounter aloud.

4.2 Extensive reading

Reading is probably the best way to continue to improve your understanding of vocabulary
and grammar. Vocabulary size is strongly correlated with time spent reading (source). There
is nothing objectively wrong with listening instead, however written content has everything
easily accessible to be referenced, returned to, and looked up. It is also better in terms of
sheer quantity of content available to learners, meaning there are more things that interest you
available in the written form. Reading and listening are simply different ways of accessing the
core components (vocabulary and grammar), which remain largely unchanged between the two
content types. If you only read you won’t improve your ability to distinguish sounds in speech,
but you can work on that separately if necessary.

The key to extensive reading is that you read widely and a lot. Use the suggestions from the
resources section to find some good tools and content to read.

Find a book
The most common way learners tend to get lots of language exposure is by finding a book they
enjoy reading. Graded readers, which are tailored to your level, are ideal. However, learners
often find books for teens or even pre-teens that they enjoy enough to read. If the book is
a translation of one you have already read in your native language, that will help you read a
more difficult book without losing track of what is happening. Here are some books commonly
re-read by learners:
 4.2 Extensive reading 29

• The Harry Potter series

• The Goosebumps series

• The Little Prince

In addition, there are books written specifically for learners at various levels. You can find
them on Amazon
 Chapter 5

Intermediate Study

5.1 Intermediate study routine

The study routine of an intermediate learner is quite different to that of a beginner:

• There is less structured learning of grammar.

• Choosing what to study next is your choice.
• A lot of interesting content opens up as understanding increases.
• Learning becomes more goal-directed.

While some things change, many aspects are still useful:

• Drilling key forms and words is still a useful activity.

• Flashcards are still a useful resource. While some learners use flashcards less, others
increase their usage because they like to consciously focus on improving their vocabulary.
• Content is still essential.

There is a huge amount of nuance to grammar and vocabulary usage, so the only way to
properly absorb it all is with content. Nearly everything you do will be centred around content.
Writing and speaking will also start to feature much more prominently in your study.

Principle: Make language learning a habit

Build a habit of studying at a regular time each day. The best time is usually first thing
in the morning, while you are still fresh and probably don’t have anything else scheduled.
With a good habit, your automatic process should be to begin studying without you having
to think about it. If you have to ask yourself “should I study or should I do something
else?”, it takes mental effort to force yourself to study that will eventually wear you down
over time. Instead, your default should be that time is dedicated to study. If you want to
use that time for something else, you need to find valid and specific reason.

It helps a lot if your interaction with the language is consistent. Try not to take long
breaks from learning. Do at least a little bit every day. Too tired? Just do five minutes.
Those five minutes now keep you in the habit of doing something every day and keep the
language active in your mind.

Try to intersperse your learning. Two 30-minute study periods a day are more effective

30
 5.2 What should I study? 31

than one hour at the end. One hour every day is far better than seven hours on Saturday
and none during the rest of the week.

Principle: Cultivate discipline

Discipline is not an inherent trait, but a set of habits and mental tools that help one start
projects and stay on-task. Not every day will you find it easy to sit at your desk and study.
If this is you, you may need to find ways to force yourself to at least begin studying. Try
promising yourself to simply start with the intention of only doing five minutes. Usually
you will find it easier to continue once you have already started.

5.2 What should I study?

Two fundamental factors weigh on your choice of what to study:

1. Your goals

2. Your weaknesses

Your goals
Remember the principle Work towards your goals. This means you should be regularly attempting
your goal to improve at it. The best activities for study either closely simulate or match your
goals. For example, if you are learning a language for its literature, reading a book is a perfect
exercise. If your goal is to have conversations, reading can be considered a good simulation for
the purposes of learning new forms or vocabulary, but you want to be focusing on listening and
speaking activities.

Your weaknesses
A weakness is anything that prevents you successfully completing your goal. Based on your
experience engaging with your goals, try to decide what is most holding you back. For example,
if you can read but struggle to watch TV shows without subtitles, you may need to work on
your aural comprehension.

If you’re not sure, it’s a good bet your vocabulary is holding you back at least somewhat. A
fluent speaker of English knows over 10,000 words, and you’re probably not there yet.

Once you’ve identified a weakness, choose resources and do activities that let you improve
that aspect or skill you are lacking in. For example, you may choose podcasts because you
struggle to understand spoken language, or you may pick some written content that interests
you to help you learn words.

What do I need to know?

Here is a list of things you can aim to improve. This list is not comprehensive, and what is
most important will depend on your target language. Use this to help you think about your
weaknesses.
32 Chapter 5 Intermediate Study

Table 5.1: Potential weaknesses to focus on

Core component or
Aspect
skill
Grammar Function of verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs
Tense
Mood
Number
Gender
Word order
Suffixes
Other grammar (language-dependent)
Vocabulary Number of words known
Prepositions and other particles
Collocations
Common phrases
Reading Spelling
Characters known (for languages like Chinese or Japanese)
Listening Sound perception
Distinguishing words
Speed of comprehension
Speaking Phonetics
Tone
Intonation
Fluidity and pace
Writing Spelling
Writing speed

Principle: 80 percent of your results come from 20 percent of your study

Otherwise known as the Pareto Principle, this principle is applied to basically every field
out there and has its origins in management theory. This principle is not a fundamental
law, but the observation that the fastest progress can be made by focusing on a certain
subset of issues that are having the largest impact on performance.

Applying it to language learning, the principle states that for any domain of your target
language, fixing the biggest 20% of your issues will achieve 80% of the impact you can
get in that domain. Similarly, 20% of your study time is probably achieving 80% of your
results. Some activities you are doing are probably having a minimal impact, while some
smaller gaps in your knowledge are probably having an outsized impact on your ability to
communicate. Think about what activities seem to give you the biggest improvements
and re-assess your study routine.

Key tip: Narrow your learning

If you have a specific context you want to be highly competent in, such as work or family,
your choice of input and vocabulary can differ from a more evenly balanced approach.
 5.3 Language learning activities 33

Narrowing your learning allows you to effectively reach a higher level much faster and can
be more enjoyable. Start by tailoring the resources you use and using content that aligns
with the contexts you need the language for. For example, if you want to learn for business
purposes, interviews (podcasts or videos) of experts and articles in business publications
are more useful. Your goal may emphasise certain skills, and this same principle applies.
For example, if you want to be able to communicate with ordinary people in public, you
should utilise audio resources and speaking practice more.

5.3 Language learning activities

All activities fall into one (or more) of three categories:

1. Meaning-focused—Large amounts of natural language are required to learn a language,

so the learner should be seeking out and engaging with large amounts of input. The
goal is simply to expose yourself to as much of the language as possible and generally
understand what is being read or heard. It will be helpful to become comfortable with an
incomplete understanding of what you read or hear.

2. Language-focused—This is when you utilise some smaller piece of content to attempt

focused improvement at a specific component or skill, such as a grammar concept,
vocabulary, phonetics, natural phrases, or aural comprehension. This is the closest to a
typical desk study session. Resources used for language-focused learning are often more
difficult than those you would use for meaning-focused learning.

3. Fluency-focused—Exercises aimed at helping you improve the speed at which you

can use language you already know, focusing on the four skills. If you use content,
you will generally use it for some specific component and focus only on that. Typical
fluency-focused activities involve pronunciation.

How much you do of each is up to you, though the nature of meaning-focused language
learning activities means they will likely take most of your time.

Next we will look at some activities for you to consider doing. You don’t have to do all of
these; in fact, people commonly get away with doing only a few.
34 Chapter 5 Intermediate Study

Meaning-focused activities
Table 5.2: Meaning-focused activities

Activity Description
Already mentioned above. Reading as much as possible and
on a wide range of subjects. The goal is to be exposed to as
Extensive reading
much vocabulary as possible while still understanding what
you read, even if not fully.
Staying within a specific topic area when reading can help
you encounter many of the same words over and over to
improve your vocabulary retention. It can also help you target
Narrow reading
the kind of vocabulary you learn. You can achieve this by
following the same topic in the news or reading about a
specialist area of knowledge you already know about.
Conversation Already mentioned above. Talking and listening to natives in
practice real conversation is highly beneficial.
Reading while Helps you get used to sounds while reading, as well as
listening improving comprehension over simply listening.
This works like extensive and narrow reading, but by listening
Listening to audio to podcasts or radio. This can be notably harder since
listening is a more difficult skill to master.
Try reading and then writing a short article about a topic. If
Read and write you want to mix it up, you don’t have to read, but can
instead watch or listen and write.
 5.3 Language learning activities 35

Language-focused activities
Table 5.3: Language-focused activities

Activity Description
This means carefully reading a specific text with the objective
of learning a new piece of language. Your goal is to gradually
Intensive reading
understand the text by working out the meaning of the parts
you do not understand at first.
Memorising
sentences, dialogues,
This technique is well covered under the sections on
or words using
flashcards.
flashcards or other
tools
Writing new forms Self-explanatory. Many people find the act of writing to be
and words down helpful for memorisation.
If you have a dual-language text, you might try to translate
Translating between
your native into your target language, then compare your
languages
translation to the actual text.
Using a rather small text (approx. 200 words), read it first to
understand it, then follow up by going through, trying to
remember the first four or five words and writing them on a
Delayed copying
piece of paper without referring back to the text. You can
gradually increase the number of words. This helps you hold
longer and longer phrases in your head.
Write something and send it to a native to be corrected.
Writing practice Optionally, write a follow-up text integrating what you have
learned.

Fluency-focused activities
Table 5.4: Fluency-focused activities

Activity Description
Focusing on sounds rather than meaning to hear how words
Listening for sounds
sound in connected speech.
Listening to dialogues with text and trying to mimic the
speakers as closely as possible. After a few repetitions you
Shadowing
can try to speak over top of them. Helps work on intonation
and pronunciation.
Writing, getting it checked and corrected, looking at it
Repeated writing carefully, putting it away, and then writing it again from
memory.
Record yourself speaking a text and play it back, listen and
Repeated speaking
compare to a native.
36 Chapter 5 Intermediate Study

Language-focused learning with content

Since language-focused learning is going to be one of your most effective types of exercise, it
will be helpful to look at how to do it with content in more detail.

The key is this: language-focused learning using content will require multiple passes.
Trying to use and understand the entirety of text, audio, or video content at once is usually
too difficult. It’s impossible to remember the meaning of all new words and forms as well as
comprehend the meaning of entire sentences and how they flow together to make a broader
point on your first read through. The best approach is to chunk it up into manageable activities
so that nothing is too difficult. You should frequently read or listen to your content multiple
times (up to ten, even). Repetition is a powerful method that ensures you remember what you
learn. In each reading you will read more carefully and try to gain new insight. Here is a good
order:

1. Skim read for broader context—lets you derive meaning from context more easily

2. Brief read—read without looking anything up, try to guess more meaning

3. Deeper read—read again, getting definitions for key words to let you understand the text
By now you’ll have a good idea of what words/forms you are struggling with. From that
point, you can decide what kind of exercise you want to use it for. These next points
imagine you decide to use it for intensive reading:

4. Another deeper reading—this time, focusing on those bits that are new to you.

5. As many repeat readings as necessary, each time focusing on a different aspect.

At the end you can make a final pass, using all the new knowledge you have just gained to
understand the text much better. If by the end you can comfortably understand the content,
congratulations! You are now measurably better at your target language

There are lots of other ways you might like to access it. Here are some more ideas for an
audio + transcript resource:

• Practise listening, try to understand how sounds create words and how words flow together
in practice

• Drill some key vocabulary with flashcards

• Listen to the text once you are more familiar with if it was too difficult to comprehend
via audio earlier on

• Produce a verbal or written summary of the resource

• Read the text aloud focusing on speed and fluidity

• Record own version of the dialogue and compare it to the pronunciation of the characters

• Send the written summary to a native to be corrected

• Discuss the dialogue with a tutor

 5.4 How learning happens 37

5.4 How learning happens

Drilling and practice
There are two fundamental types of study: Drill or practice.

Drilling is the act of trying to improve a specific component of language. Usually this is
something that is too difficult to focus on when you are trying to practise. These are the
language- and fluency-focused activities. Drill is about learning those parts you need to improve
without worrying as much about how they go together.

Practice is everything else. It is using the language in an integrated fashion. These are
the meaning-focused activities. Practice should be about blending and honing the skills and
knowledge you already have with less focus on gaining new knowledge.

Drilling
Drilling is an effective way to fix weaknesses and improve at a faster rate. You can drill grammar
or vocabulary when you encounter unfamiliar forms or words in your input, or you can drill
specific skills. Here are some common drills learners use:

• Writing things down in a workbook—many learners find the act of writing to be

helpful for memorisation

• Looking up words and concepts

• Exercises—These can take a variety of forms

• Flashcards

• Studying word lists

• Practising speaking aloud and other fluency-focused activities

A good drill exercise:

• emulates the real language as much as possible, using real language examples with natural
sentences for context

• is relevant to the weaknesses currently preventing you from achieving your goals

• focuses on building skills or knowledge crucial to understanding

A bad drill would:

• be irrelevant to the content you are using

• be irrelevant to your goals or weaknesses

• focus on aspects of the language that you will come to acquire through input anyway
that do not prevent you from understanding your content
38 Chapter 5 Intermediate Study

It is also recommended to avoid over-doing drills. A lot of the skills learners choose to drill
will be developed over time with input anyway. This is why basic workbook grammar exercises
are not a recommended drill. Instead, use input and practice as much as you can. Drill when
you have identified a specific weakness important to your goals. The most common drill activity
is ordinary vocabulary flashcard study.

Practice
If you are not drilling, you are practising. Practising your language can either be done as your
goal requires (goal-oriented practice), or you can practice your language more generally (non-
goal-oriented practice). For example, if your goal is conversation, reading a book for fun can
be considered non-goal-oriented practice. Goal-oriented practice is essential. Non-goal-oriented
practice can be useful; however, it is usually slower at helping you achieve your goals.

Not all practice must be goal-oriented. You may:

• not be able to practise your goal

• not have the energy or motivation for focused study

• want to use a good simulation of the same grammar, vocabulary, or skills your goal
requires

• want to do something more fun

• need something a bit easier

All reasons are acceptable—it’s far better to do something than nothing at all. However,
you should keep in mind that your practice is not moving you towards your goals as fast. As
much as possible, your practice should be goal-oriented.

Principle: Practice your language then drill your weaknesses

Take a deliberate approach of using practice to reveal your weaknesses and finding ways
to improve them through drill. Balance your drill time and with your practice time.
How you divide your time is up to you.

For more information, go to Elaboration: Practice your language then drill your weak-
nesses.

Principle: Difficulty + successful recall

When you encounter a something recently learned, the general stages are as follows:

1. Confusion/uncertainty—The learner finds something unclear when they first en-

counter it in their content.

2. Mental struggle—Mental effort is expended trying to recall a word or concept to

use it. This is where the most powerful learning happens.
 5.5 Some more advice 39

3. Insight—The mental effort pays off, and the learner successfully grasps meaning
using their new knowledge.

4. Repetition—Each time the new word or concept is encountered it becomes easier.

Learning functions by the learner successfully recalling and applying words or concepts.
Words or grammar will only become solidified once you use your new knowledge to extract
meaning from your content and use the language yourself. Your brain will learn optimally
when you encounter something difficult, work hard, and eventually succeed. This means
there needs to be some kind of mental struggle involved in your learning.

To ensure your mental struggle results in learning, aim for just the right amount of
difficulty—not too difficult that something presents an insurmountable barrier, but not so
easy that you don’t learn anything new. To do this, make sure you encounter new words
or forms quickly enough after you first learn them in isolation. If too much time passes,
you’ll spend mental effort trying to recall something that is gone.

Key tip: Make sure you get some variety

Try to do study involving at least a little bit of each of the four skills. A bit of everything
will allow each skill to build on the other. For example, reading a lot will help your speaking,
but even speaking every now and then will aid your reading by making words and concepts
more salient in your mind.

5.5 Some more advice

Avoiding mistakes
Earlier I discussed the need to let go of the fear of making mistakes so that you can practice
more effectively, and this remains true. However, there are ways to learn faster and avoid
making mistakes.

First, we need to mark an important distinction between mistakes and errors.

Mistakes are accidental. The learner knows they are wrong. For example, you might be
taught to use the subjunctive in Spanish, but will often forget to use it when you are speaking
or writing. You would recognise the mistake if you had a chance to read your own output
carefully.

Errors are incorrect use of the language caused by a learner’s lack of knowledge. An example
of an error is failing to use the subjunctive because you are not aware it should be used in a
certain context. In this case, even if you had the chance to read your own output carefully, you
would still fail to correct yourself.

Mistakes are a natural part of speaking and become less common over time with practice.
Even native speakers occasionally make mistakes. Errors, on the other hand, tend to stay
around much longer and are more difficult to fix. For that reason, it is errors rather than
mistakes that we should be focusing on.

There are two general sources of errors:

40 Chapter 5 Intermediate Study

1. Your native language interferes with your target language

2. You misuse a rule or word due to a lack of experience

These sources are, of course, very normal parts of learning a language. In either case, you
will probably eventually learn the correct form and the error will become a mistake and then
eventually disappear. When this does not happen, this is known as fossilisation.

Fossilisation
Fossilisation is the process in which the learner acquires a specific form or way of speaking that
is not native-like, and this error becomes stuck in the learner’s speech. This is different from
ordinary mistakes that a learner makes, which can be corrected and will often fix themselves.
Fossilised errors are often resistant to correction and the learner’s efforts to change. These
arise when a learner repeatedly (and successfully, in terms of being understood) uses a certain
form without being made aware that it is not native-like, to the point of hearing and using it
so often it sounds natural and comes to mind easily.

The good news is that doing things to avoid fossilised errors is also generally good language
learning technique. Here is how you can mitigate the risk of developing fossilised errors:

1. Practice by learning the language in context. Use texts and videos over drills. (Principle:
Use the language in order to learn it)

2. Focus on listening and reading. Don’t feel like you have to start speaking early if you
don’t feel comfortable.

3. Try to be aware of how words and forms are used around you. Focus on shifting your
speech to more closely resemble how natives speak. (Principle: Noticing)

4. Get feedback or correction. This can be done by a friend, tutor, family member, or
language exchange partner. Make sure they understand that you would like your errors
to be corrected. Most people will avoid correcting others’ speech to facilitate smooth
conversation. (Principle: Get feedback on your ability)

Language learning plateaus

People inevitably encounter certain plateaus during their learning, when their progress seems to
slow to a snail’s pace. It happens to everyone. This is a natural part of learning a language and
has more to do with how language learning works than anything to do with you. The best fix
is to simply power through it. Continue using input, trying to improve, and, most importantly,
trust the process. You will progress, I promise. Read the r/languagelearning FAQ entry here
for more info.

5.6 Second part summary

This part will have given you lots more activities to try and principles to integrate into your
learning. The key ideas are:

• Speak a lot if you are learning to communicate

 5.7 Conclusion 41

• Read a lot, read widely

• Don’t be afraid to make mistakes

• Make your learning into a consistent habit

• Hunt down your weaknesses and focus on them with drills

• Remember the principle Difficulty + successful recall—there needs to be some mental

struggle for effective learning to happen

5.7 Conclusion
Congratulations on making it to the end! You should now be in a comfortable position to learn
a language all on your own. Having read it all once, the full guide is unlikely to stick in your
mind, so be sure to save this guide somewhere and come back at a later date once you feel your
study stagnating or you need some fresh ideas. There will probably be something here to help.

Below you will find a large set of appendices that provide more guidance on using flashcards,
studying grammar and vocabulary, using content, and more. Be sure to check it out if you’d
like some more ideas.

If you have gotten here by reading the whole thing, please take a moment to send me an
email with any feedback or error corrections you may have, no matter how small. I am always
trying to improve, and your input is greatly appreciated.

Thank you for reading!

 Appendix A

How to learn pronunciation

Pronunciation can be split between sound, syllable, word, and sentence. Every target language
has different rules governing these. This is known as the study of phonetics, split between
phonology and prosody.

A.1 What to learn

Here are several aspects you will need to look out for in your practice:

Sound inventory: Every language has a set of distinct consonants and vowels. These sounds
can be very different from English (such as tones and click consonants) or only slightly different.
Here is the Wikipedia entry for the phonology of English to help you.

Difficult sound clusters: Different languages have different rules surrounding which sounds
can fit into a single syllable. This means some languages will have clusters of consonants you
will find difficult to pronounce.

Stress: Languages have different rules around what syllables are stressed within words, as
well as how they are stressed

Connected speech: Words flow together in a way that makes them sound different than if
they were spoken individually. Notice how this sentence sounds different in your mind. when. I.
type. the. last. part. like. this.

Intonation: Languages use pitch differently to mark questions, statements, and convey
other information.

Rhythm and tempo: Languages are spoken with a different sense of pace and timing.

Sound inventory
The difficulty with learning new sounds is understanding precisely how to make them. Your
best method for understanding is to learn some of the terminology around parts of the mouth
and sounds.

Your best tool for learning the sounds of your language is the IPA (International Phonetic
Alphabet). The IPA is a system of writing all the sounds of human language. Knowing the
core sounds associated with your language and familiarity with their IPA symbol is very useful.
You don’t have to memorise every symbol—just familiarise yourself with the ones your target
language uses. By googling any IPA symbol, you can find the Wikipedia article describing it,
which has a sound file to help you.

Here are some useful key concepts to recognise. You don’t need to know any of this right

42
 A.2 How to practise pronunciation 43

now, but some of them will come up in reference to the sounds of your target language and it
will be helpful to recognise them. Use this reference when you are confused.

• IPA Vowel Chart

• Place of articulation

• Manner of articulation

• Voicing

• Aspiration

• Click consonants

The Encyclopedia Britannica entry on phonetics is a very useful reference for understanding
the key concepts.

Difficult sound clusters

These are generally learned by practising them in isolation over and over. Consonant-heavy
languages can be difficult to pronounce due to the clusters of consonants that can take some
time getting used to.

Stress
For most learners, it is important to pay focused attention to where and how stressed is placed
on words. English stresses by a raising of pitch and lengthening of the vowel. In other languages,
stress can be more subtle or expressed differently.

These are some aspects of stress that may be relevant to your language:

• Pitch accent

• Vowel reduction

A.2 How to practise pronunciation

How easy your job is depends on how many resources exist on the internet. If you’re lucky, you
can find a guide somewhere that takes you through all the sounds and precisely how they are
pronounced. It may take some time to train your ear. For a while, different sounds will seem
the same to you. If you persevere, however, they will begin to sound different. Eventually, you
will wonder how they ever sounded alike.

I recommend you plan out some sessions where you focus on pronunciation early on. Ideally,
as soon as you first start trying to say words you should already have an idea of how to
pronounce them correctly.

You don’t need to learn everything about pronunciation at the start. A good understanding
of each of the main sounds is sufficient. A lot of pronunciation skill comes naturally as you
44 Appendix A How to learn pronunciation

begin to talk more and try to bring your speech to resemble more closely that of native speakers
you hear.

The key is to identify the aspects that will be difficult for you based on differences between
your native and target language. It can be helpful to search for pronunciation guides online.

Exercises
As I mentioned, you will need to spend time isolating the aspects that are relevant to your
language and focusing on improving them. Dedicate some time to doing some activities in
which you practise speaking some words alone in front of your computer. You don’t need to
do this too much, just until your brain is made aware of what it needs to do to make the
new sound. After that you can gradually integrate the sound naturally as you practice your
language.

Use good dictionaries to help you. Wiktionary is the most consistent dictionary in showing
the IPA pronunciation. Forvo is a great pronunciation dictionary.

Table A.1: Pronunciation activities

Activity Description
You may need to get used to pronouncing individual sounds
before you can use them correctly in words. You can do this
Isolate sounds using the Wikipedia articles for the IPA symbol associated
with the sound you want to learn (example: English schwa).
Play the audio and repeat it aloud.
Once you have the sounds roughly right, try to use them in a
Isolate words simple word. Use Forvo, Wiktionary, or any other dictionary
that has audio to get a good example to mimic.
Ask your partner to critique your pronunciation. They may
Correction with your
have trouble identifying what you are doing wrong. This is
conversation partner
why the IPA can be very useful.
Play back a recording of yourself reading a text. Even better
is if you have a native audio recording you can compare it to.
Record yourself For single words you can just use Speech Jammer and
increase the delay to max to hear yourself right away. This
will take some getting used to.
Listen to an audio recording of a native speaker with a text
Shadowing reference and try to speak over them, copying their
intonation, pace, and pronunciation.
If you study alone, try practising by reading aloud texts you
are reading for study. It helps if the text also has a native
Read aloud audio recording. It is also helpful to practice throughout your
study by trying to read flashcards or anything new you
encounter aloud.

Your approach
One of the biggest hurdles to enabling adult learners to speak with a good accent is purely
psychological. That is, we are afraid of sounding silly when we speak. The result is we default
 A.2 How to practise pronunciation 45

to the way that sounds the least silly to us—the sounds of our native language. It is important
to understand that good pronunciation will initially feel very weird to you.

A helpful tip is to speak like an exaggerated caricature of how people from that country speak
your native language. More often than not, you will land much closer to a natural-seeming
estimation of the correct pronunciation than by starting from the default of your native language.
 Appendix B

The core resources

B.1 Further advice on flashcards

Should I use pictures instead of words?
Some people advocate using pictures instead of words to learn. The theory goes that using
words interferes with the learning process by anchoring the learner to her native language.
Recall that translations should be considered approximations of the true word only. If your
chosen translation is understood with this in mind, there is unlikely to be any significant issue
caused by using words instead of pictures. In addition, the kinds of words that lend themselves
to using pictures such as concrete nouns rarely overlap with different words in a way that is
different between languages. Overall, if you like pictures, use them, but there is nothing wrong
with using words.

Learning through flashcards

Flashcards with phrases can serve as an effective method of absorbing useful structures and
phrases. Generally, you will choose a phrase you want to have easy mental access to. This is
because it can serve as a kind of mental “island” to reduce cognitive load when speaking or
because it sheds light upon the usage of a grammatical construct. These phrases can function
as a kind of template in which you swap out words or grammatical markers as necessary.

I recommend making the phrases personally relevant and interesting to you, since you’re
going to be finding them anyway.

It is not recommended to build your own phrases unless you are sure it is native-like (i.e. you
have made it with a native teacher). Because of that, you will have to either take the sentences
from your content or use services that provide sentences. If you are lucky, the language you
are learning has a good dictionary that also provides phrases (such as Spanishdict for Spanish
learners), otherwise you will need to use another service.

Anki also provides pre-made decks which often have sentences. These can work too if you
like them and the sentences are relevant and at your level. They can also save you time if you
find yourself studying on the move a lot but don’t have the time to sit at a desk and build your
own deck.

B.2 Further advice on using content

Principle: Top-down and bottom-up processing

When trying to understand something, the human brain uses two broad processes: top-down

46
 B.2 Further advice on using content 47

and bottom-up.

Top-down processing involves using context to make deductions about what some
content is about. Bottom-up processing involves understanding the pieces to build up
to a coherent whole.

Using both helps you learn new words and constructions from context. For example:
while watching a video you encounter a new word. You might note that the speaker
appears to be indicating an apple in their hand, or perhaps the scene is shot in an apple
orchard and you hear the word often. In this case, top-down processing involves picking
up that the word means “apple” naturally.

Bottom-up processing is any word or form you already know that helps you understand
the sentence. Pausing a video to try to recall the function of a form you just heard is a
good example of bottom-up processing being practised and applied to learn effectively.

When engaging with content, both processes work in tandem to help you apprehend
meaning in real time. Knowing this lets you take advantage of it. Before you start something,
make sure you understand the context and have formed expectations surrounding what
the resource is going to show you. One common method of doing this is beginning a text
by skim reading or starting a TV episode with a plot summary.

Principle: Approach your language with curiosity

The best way to learn something is when there is as little resistance as possible, meaning
your subconscious is prepped to acquire it based on relevance and usefulness to you. The
mere act of “wanting” to know something seems to help. If you want to cultivate this
effect, approach unfamiliar words and forms with a sense of curiosity. Prime your mind
by genuinely trying to figure out how a word or form affects the meaning of the sentence
before you look it up. It also helps if you encounter words multiple times, giving the word
a sense of familiarity and importance.

Key tip: Use context to help you learn

When using content, the context you encounter a new word or concept in can provide a
useful hint as to its meaning. The situation, surrounding words, topic, and type of resource
you’re using all provide hints you can use that let you guess at the meaning of something.
Even if you’re not sure, encountering something in context enough will gradually help you
understand. At all times avoid trying to learn new words or forms in isolation.

Your level +1 in your content

As we noted, the definition of +1 depends on what you are doing with the content. Here are
some examples to help you think about it.

Imagine your listening level is comparatively low. An audio dialogue with all known words
would still present a challenge for your ears. Utilising this principle, you would use this resource
focusing only on your ability to hear different words. You may also want to do a first pass over
a text version of the audio so you know what to expect. Be careful though, you don’t want to
48 Appendix B The core resources

listen simply relying on having near-memorised the text. If you are trying to practise listening,
there needs to be a mental struggle followed by successful apprehension.

If you want to finish a long text, you are reading without a dictionary, or you just want to
expose yourself to as much of the language as possible without stopping to look up words,
98% known words is closer to the ideal +1 amount. If you are prepared for a careful study
session and want to make multiple passes over the same text, 90% is acceptable. If 90% sounds
high to you, try this and see what 80% comprehension feels like.

In addition, real word factors such as resource availability often result in the learner having
to use resources that are slightly too difficult. This is okay, but if you understand less than
80% of the vocabulary, you should strongly consider abandoning that resource regardless.
 Appendix C

Further advice on learning language

C.1 Further advice on learning grammar

How important are grammar lessons?
The opinions of the community on the efficacy of using grammar instruction vary greatly. Some
consider it a needless distraction, useful only at the very beginning, while others consider it
essential, and continue to study it well into the intermediate stages. Most people sit somewhere
in-between. As a rule of thumb, you can get away with studying grammar less and less as you
progress, but it will be helpful to occasionally or even continually refer to grammar explanations
when you notice something and you are not sure why it is formed that way.

If you want to minimise the usage of grammar instruction, good technique is required. You
will need to make sure you are noticing grammatical forms and incorporating native-like elements
into your speech and writing.

C.2 Further advice on learning vocabulary

Other than by flashcards and dictionary lookups, the way you learn words is by encountering
them naturally and deriving meaning through context and repetition, as you have done with
your native language. This takes a lot of input and can sometimes be imperceptible but is
highly effective. Any advanced learner will tell you a large portion of the words they know came
to them this way.

Mnemonics
Mnemonics are a general tool that turn vocabulary into easy-to-recall mental images that serve
to help you remember a word. Mnemonics can be very useful to learn vocabulary quickly,
however the word won’t be truly learned until you don’t need the mnemonic and can use and
understand the word automatically. Mnemonics are a useful tool to improve your recall, not an
easy way out of having to absorb the language.

The most common method is the keyword method. This links the word you want to learn
to a similar-sounding word in your native language. For example: Imagine you want to learn
the French word for “car”, which is “voiture”. You might note that the word “voiture” sounds
like “vulture” in English. You can mentally link the two by imagining a car with a vulture on
top of it, or if you are very imaginative, imagine someone built a car shaped like a vulture. Now
when you want to talk about a car, you’ll remember the vulture on top and that the French
word sounds like “vulture”. The more vivid, bizarre, or surprising your mnemonics are, the
more effective they will be. You will be surprised by how well they work.

49
50 Appendix C Further advice on learning language

Further details are too much for a guide such as this, so I will provide you with some links to
learn more on your own if you are interested.

• A general overview

• A quick explanation on how to use mnemonics for vocabulary

• The memory palace technique

Multi-word phrases
Many words have meanings that are closely tied to the meaning of words next to them, and the
meaning of the whole may have little relation to their meaning when taken in isolation. Some
examples in English are phrases such as “of course”, “at all”, “for instance”. Think of these as
separate bits of vocabulary to be learned together, in which constituent words are simply aides
to help you form associations. It is important to also learn these kinds of phrases in your study.
Often this is done with flashcards.

Focus on words that don’t directly translate

Most words in the language will have a relatively straightforward equivalent, particularly if you
are learning a language that is closely related to English. For the most part, the words dog,
shoot, and tree all have a simple translation you can memorise. However, there will always
be words that don’t quite fit with how you think of them in English. Among these words
will be words that have a significantly expanded range of uses compared to the direct English
translation. It is important to learn the most common of these. Take, for example, the Spanish
word poner (put in English). Poner is used in a variety of phrases where a native English
speaker might not expect, such as ponerse de pie, which simply means stand up.

Consciously learning the many different meanings of these words is a good way of avoiding
common learner mistakes and making your speech sound more natural. In this case, you’d need
to put focused effort into the many definitions of poner as if it were several words rather than
one. This will be greatly helped by using example sentences in your flashcards.

On the other hand, there are also common English words with many meanings where your
target language may have several words instead. These are much harder to spot. The best you
can do is watch for phrases where you think I’d have translated that differently.

Logical connections help you learn words

Words are often composed of smaller root words and particles that can help you understand
their meaning. Take the English word destruction. It has the prefix de-, the noun structure, and
the suffix -tion. The meaning of this word might be easy to guess as a native, but it wouldn’t
be so easy if you weren’t familiar with its parts. Being familiar with the constituent parts of a
word makes learning its meaning easier.

Many words are derived from others and form a grouping of related words. For example,
understanding the English root mech- can help you remember or derive the meaning of many
words, such as mechanic, mechanical, and mechanised. You can use this type of association
to link known words to similar-sounding known ones. Some root words have derivations that
may not be immediately obvious. For example, the root -spir- is the link between the words
 C.2 Further advice on learning vocabulary 51

inspire, respire, and spirit. The associations you use to help you remember words may be more
abstract because of this.

Take advantage of these connections by trying to spot them where possible. You should also
try to avoid learning large words if you don’t know anything about their constituents.

You can also spot similarities between words in your target and native languages. For example,
the English word citizen and French word citoyen.

Principle: The brain learns in chunks

Which ordering of letters do you think is easier to memorise: “ohezro esn rinyg bivt”, or
“snoozing by the river”? You would probably find the latter much easier to remember,
though both contain the exact same letters. This is because the phrase already has
meaning to you, and you are already familiar with the constituent words. You don’t need
to memorise the letters because you’ve already memorised the correct order for each word.

This idea of already-learned aspects of language is a concept we will refer to as chunks.

The concept was brought into the public consciousness by Barbara Oakley, who posted a
good overview of the idea here. Known aspects of language constitute chunks which don’t
require effort for you to comprehend or use. These known chunks are an aide that will
help teach you how the new word or piece of grammar is used.

It is far easier to learn something new when other aspects you are presented with at
the same time are already easily understandable. For example, learning the meaning and
usage of a new word in an example sentence will be much easier if you already know all
the other words, just like how it is much easier to remember all those letters once they are
structured into words. Grammar will be easier to memorise if one concept is presented to
you at a time using words you already know.

Building new chunks is difficult and takes focused effort. The core idea of this principle
is that it is almost impossible to learn a lot of new chunks of language at once.
Learning using a text or example sentences chock full of new grammatical constructions
and words might seem like a really efficient way of learning, but there will be no familiar
connections or context to aid understanding, and your learning will actually be slower.
Recollection will be particularly hard, akin to recalling random letters in order. Focusing on
learning a single aspect at a time allows you to build new chunks easily while minimising
the chance of forgetting. The additional context provided by known chunks will assist you
in understanding the new part.

This principle does not mean “don’t try to learn quickly”, it means that when you learn
a new word or grammatical construction, you will learn it much faster if it is presented to
you in the context of other chunks of language that are already familiar to you. If you are
learning something difficult, learn that difficult thing in context of already known things
and rely on that context and knowledge to help you learn. The texts you use to learn
should already be mostly comprehensible, and learning words or grammar is best done with
understandable context, either in text or with example sentences for your flashcards.

Principle: Learning is a subconscious process

52 Appendix C Further advice on learning language

It is primarily subconscious processes that mark something as important and enable us

to remember something. Learning something that has no obvious relevance to your life,
you haven’t needed to use, and has no relation to anything else you know can be hard.
First learning something completely new constitutes a mental “hurdle”. That is, learning
basically requires pure memorisation. This type of memorisation is very, very difficult to
do relative to other methods. There is a high degree of mental “resistance”—meaning it
seems hard to get it to stick in your memory.

As much as possible, try to use context, logical connections, and personal connections
to prime your brain for understanding.
 Appendix D

Common Questions

D.1 Can I learn two languages at once?

There is nothing inherently wrong with learning two languages at once and you can learn them
without mixing them up. However, I advise you only actively learn one language at a time.
This is because learning another takes time away from the first. If you want to actively learn
more than one language, be sure you have the time to dedicate to both. If you want to pick up
another language, it is best to wait until you are at least at an intermediate level before you
change language. This lets you actively learn one while maintaining the other using content
you find interesting.

D.2 Can I learn like a child?

A common idea in the language community is that because children learn their first language
to a high level, the adult learner can succeed by aiming to emulate the way children learn as
much as possible. This advice comes in two forms: 1, that you don’t need to formally study a
language to learn it and 2, that you should immerse yourself as much as possible. Both are
correct in their own way, but I am going to refine this advice a bit.

While children do learn their native languages very well, it takes around ten years of complete
immersion to get there and another ten to become a fully functional adult.

To fully acquire languages, enormous amounts of input are necessary. Children are given
far more comprehensible input than adults and, without the grammar book or dictionary, are
generally much slower at acquiring basic forms and wait a lot longer than adults before they try
speaking. Once they do acquire these forms and start speaking, however, there is no example
for them to follow except that of perfect native speech. Also keep in mind that by the time
they are an adult, the child will have spent an enormous amount of time in school practising
their language skills and having their output critiqued. This video by Tom Scott provides a
great overview.

Adult speakers frequently learn rules and then quickly move to applying them by speaking.
The result is that most of the adult’s first attempts at communication will not resemble native
speech.

For those adult learners who want to speak like a native, the answer is not to attempt to
learn like a child, but to surround themselves with as much comprehensible input as possible.
Adult language learners can also spend time in focused study to find and improve weaknesses
and learn words and complex forms faster.

You can read the article I wrote on the topic here for more information.

53
54 Appendix D Common Questions

D.3 Why do some people seem to know lots of languages?

While it is true that learning a language to a high or close-to-native level takes a lot of time,
it’s also true that you’ll see a lot of people truthfully claiming to be conversational in many
languages.

This happens because language learning progress becomes exponentially slower the more
advanced you get. The early stages up until a good conversational level are relatively fast to
master. From there the path to fluency is a slow crawl by comparison.

Once the learner has the basics of phonology and grammar down and knows around 2,000
words, they can usually muddle through a conversation with an accommodating native speaker.
From there, a bit of practice conversing to build up more comfort and familiarity with the
language’s sounds and structure and you can call yourself conversational. Beyond this point is
an ocean of harder words, nuance, idioms, unintuitive grammatical constructs, rapid speech,
and many more skills that can only be improved incrementally. Each new word or idiom is only
a tiny fraction of the number known by a native speaker, so the time needed to make a similar
leap in your apparent skill level appears to grow exponentially.

While you might not need all these forms, idioms, and words to get by, they are part of what
comprises fluency.

If you’d like to be conversational in a lot of languages, you can do so without needing any
special technique or talent. In fact, much of it is just good language learning as described
here where the learner has fully integrated the principle Work towards your goals and focused
heavily on conversational skill. You can read the r/languagelearning FAQ entry for more info.
 Appendix E

Common Mistakes

E.1 Learning languages like you did in school

Language learning in schools suffers from four main problems that make it very inefficient:

1. They focus far too much on grammar and rote learning—The majority of successful
language learners will tell you to focus on speaking and reading more, as this time will
actually help you learn the grammar better and faster than doing exercises. If you like
grammar, you are free to focus heavily on it, though a lot of people do not.

2. They are not timed well—Learning languages takes a lot of time and practice, and
languages require active usage and integration into your life in order to improve at a
decent speed. The school format of spending a limited and segmented time with a subject
while being completely isolated from it at other times is inefficient for languages.

3. They teach to a test—Your learning is determined by your own goals. Build your skills
towards fulfilling that goal. Assess your own progress by thinking about how much closer
you are to achieving it. Skills with grammar exercises help you succeed in tests—they
don’t help much in the real world.

4. They can be overly structured—If you only study a topic for a few lessons then move
on without a chance to continue to use and practise your new knowledge, you will find
yourself gradually forgetting it all. Languages are best learned by actively using them,
not segmenting them into a series of topics that need to be rote learned.

55
 Appendix F

Elaboration

F.1 Elaboration: Practice your language then drill your weak-

nesses
Recall earlier we discussed the need to focus on activities closely associated with your goal, such
as practising speaking when your goal involves spoken communication. We already covered drill,
the act of deliberately practising your weaknesses, and direct practice, the act of practising
the thing you want to be good at as directly as possible.

What drills are best?

Drilling reduces your cognitive load and lets you focus improving on a single thing or subset
of the full task. You’ve probably noticed you’ve already drilled a lot in your beginner course.
We’re not teaching you a new skill, just labelling something you already do.

Drills don’t have to be simple rote-learning activities. In fact, some drills are far superior
to others. Ones that more closely simulate the skills you are looking to improve are best.
This is why completing grammar drills that test you on choosing the correct form can be so
poor. You’ll get very good at doing tests, but what portion of that will easily transfer to your
speaking? Not so much. Instead, your grammar practice needs to simulate more closely what
you will encounter in your real life. That is another reason why grammar should be learned
in context. Engaging with grammar in texts far more closely simulates the goals of 99.9% of
learners.

With this in mind I have one more concept for you:

Transfer
Transfer is simply the concept describing how knowledge and skill at one task applies to
novel situations and related tasks. For us language learners, that means how our study of
the components of a language translate into the ability to speak or do whatever our goal is.
Research demonstrates that transfer is surprisingly difficult and does not happen automatically.
Tests of economic reasoning comparing college economics majors to other students showed a
surprising lack of a difference between the two groups (source). The same can happen to you
if you spend your time learning tables of conjugations and memorising particles.

How do we apply language transfer?

We cannot rely on practising some component of a language and hoping we’ll be able do some
related task when the time comes. This knowledge will not easily turn into skills you can apply
to achieve your goals without deliberate practice. For example, getting good at reading won’t
translate into fluid conversation without practice talking.

56
 F.2 Why is the term “language hacks” a misnomer? 57

The reason these distinctions are useful to note is because learners often substitute direct
practice with a related task when they shouldn’t. Those who want to communicate will pass
time drilling grammar, vocabulary, or reading news. All these tasks have their place and are
important, but real-world skill at language (or any task) is a complex melding of its constituent
skills that involves novel scenarios and unpredictability that drills can struggle to simulate.
Achieving your goals with the language is going to require both practising doing things that
get you closer to your goals and studying specific aspects of the language that will help you
get better at your goal faster.

How much of each?

Both will help you improve, but each has strengths and weaknesses that play off each other. It
is useful to have a balance between the two. Excessive study without practice will not translate
into skills that help you achieve your goals, and learning may become stale or you could lose
track of what direction your learning is headed. Excessive practice without study could cause
you to develop fossilised (hard to fix) errors (most often occurs if you are speaking a lot) or
cause your rate of improvement to stagnate.

Direct practice helps you learn and refine the necessary skills while helping you identify
specific weaknesses that are holding back your performance. Take these weaknesses and find
ways to drill them.

Why should I read if my goal is conversation?

In this guide we discuss the importance of engaging with lots of content, often written. Why
then should you engage with written content if your goal is to speak? Reading is a good way
to encounter new vocabulary or grammar and focus on learning it. That is a drill exercise. In
addition, the written form is a good simulation of the spoken language, containing most of the
same grammar and vocabulary. We can’t always engage directly with our goal—perhaps there
are no speakers around—so it can be helpful to use a substitute.

F.2 Why is the term “language hacks” a misnomer?

Plenty of things labelled “language hacks” are great advice—this is not a case against using
them. The term tends to encompass several distinct things, including effective study exercises,
marginally helpful tricks, useful advice, and powerful foundational principles. In addition, the
term “language hacks” implies to a general audience that they can learn a language quickly and
easily by simply “hacking a language”, which would in turn imply they are taking advantage
of something within the language itself. To achieve mastery your brain requires thousands of
hours of input. You cannot hack your way around this requirement.

You absolutely can learn faster and more effectively by following a few principles. These
principles are derived from our collective knowledge of how to learn effectively in any domain,
applied to language learning. They let you learn faster and choose your objectives more
intelligently. For that reason, the term “principle” is used throughout this guide. You could
comfortably call most of what you read here “hacks”, but that would not leave the reader with
any more clarity over what “hacking” really is. Using the “principle” framework, the learner
better grasps what is required of them and why it is recommended to do something a certain
way
 Appendix G

Full list of principles

G.1 Principles of approach

• Work towards your goals—do whatever it is you are learning the language for

• Use content you find interesting—find content you like

• Don’t be afraid to make mistakes—mistakes are inevitable, don’t let them stop you trying

• Time with the language is the key to how fast you will learn—the more you practice, the
faster you will improve

• Keep up your motivation—find ways to stay interested in the language

• Don’t try to learn things perfectly first time—you need to see the language in context a
lot first

• Make language learning a habit—do a bit every day.

• Cultivate discipline—sometimes you have to force yourself to study

• 80 percent of your results come from 20 percent of your study—find the most effective
activities and biggest weaknesses and focus on them

• Incorporate your learning into your life—find ways to fit in study throughout your day

• Approach your language with curiosity—a curious mindset helps learning

G.2 Principles of learning

• Use the language in order to learn it—listen and read as much as possible, you will learn
the language when you use it, not when you learn about it

• Difficulty + successful recall—learning happens after there is a mental struggle to recall

a word or concept

• Practice your language then drill your weaknesses—find weaknesses in your language skill
then isolate them with drills

• Repetition helps you learn—you need to encounter something a lot before you learn it

• The brain learns in chunks—you can’t learn too much at once; focus on the easier, more
basic skills then build up

58
 G.3 Principles of practice 59

• Learning with your subconscious—learning is largely unconscious; find ways to let your
unconscious mind do the work

• Noticing—Noticing forms in your content is a powerful way to learn

• Active recall—Use your memory actively to recall words and forms

• Balance active and passive learning—Spend time both actively engaging with your content
and passively enjoying it

• Top-down and bottom-up processing—use both broader context and your language
knowledge to help you understand

G.3 Principles of practice

• Mix it up—a variety of resources is useful for learning all the skills you need

• Get feedback on your ability—feedback helps you catch errors

• Your level +1—use content just a bit above your level

 Appendix H

About languages

This section provides links and information on understanding how languages work. Understanding
languages is a useful skill because it will allow you to recognise patterns and break down the
various elements of the language you are learning to understand how meaning is constructed.
As you are learning, noticing these aspects will help you build your skills faster.

This playlist is one of the best out there, and much of the below points will link to videos in
this playlist. It is made for people who make conlangs (constructed languages), however the
information is the same.

H.1 Grammar
There is an enormous amount of information on different grammatical concepts, so covering
them all is impossible. Here are a few for you:

• Verbal tense—there’s a lot more to it than you think

• Noun case systems—these are very common around the world

• Verb mood—video 1, video 2

• Verb aspect

• Ergativity

• Language typology: isolating, agglutinative, fusional, polysynthetic

60
 Appendix I

Recommended reading

Here you can find links to all the useful sources used to inform this guide:

• Kaufmann, Steve—Personal Blog

• Krashen, Stephen—Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition

• Lampariello, Luca—Personal Blog

• Lomb, Kato—Polyglot: How I learn languages

• Nation, Paul—What do you need to know to learn a foreign language?

• Richards, Olly—Personal Blog

• Young, Scott—Ultralearning

I.1 Podcasts

• The Actual Fluency Podcast

• I Will Teach you a Language

61
 Appendix J

Choosing a language

The first thing you need to do is consider your goals and motivations. Those factors that
are most important to you are going to be the things that ensure you retain the long-term
motivation required to learn a language. People choose a language for a multitude of reasons,
here are some you might consider:

• Personal interest—Personal interest means you find the language inherently interesting
and want to learn it for the joy of engaging with it. Some people learn languages because
they think the grammar is cool, the language sounds beautiful, or they may simply like
the culture, food, or music. Personal interest is generally a very powerful motivation that
can persist for a lifetime.

• Work—Knowing a language can create job opportunities and improve the look of a CV.
Generally, the languages chosen are widely spoken, or are the language of a country
that your own frequently trades with. While it’s true more jobs benefit from fluency in
Chinese, French or Spanish, other languages are still useful in a globalised world. Any
country that trades needs people fluent in both English and its national language. There
will always be some kind of employment available to you if you are willing to move.

• Utility—Utility means how useful the language will be to you personally. The languages
with the most utility are typically those that are spoken where you live. Utility also comes
from learning the languages of places where you would like to live or visit. Because many
learners learn to communicate, utility is often a very motivating factor.

• Practicality—This means availability of resources. If your target language is relatively

obscure, resources in your native language may not be easily accessible. Difficulty finding
resources or interesting content can severely hurt your motivation and interest, so learners
who learn such languages are typically more motivated by other factors. Having family or
close friends around that speak the language can mitigate the resource problem. Learners
of more uncommon languages often use another more popular language as a bridge. For
example, if you would like to learn Catalan, it will be helpful to learn Spanish first so you
can use more resources.

• Family—This means relatives you wish to communicate with better or a family heritage
language. If you want to use members of your family to practise with, it is a good idea
to make sure they are willing to help first. Talking with a complete beginner is rarely an
interesting task for the native speaker, and as a learner you will only become engaging to
talk to once you are at least at an intermediate level.

• Ease—Languages that are more similar to ones you already know are significantly faster
to learn. If you want to get to a communicative level faster, learning a similar language is
better. If your only language is English, then the fastest languages to learn are Spanish,
Swedish, Norwegian, French, Dutch, Portuguese, and Italian. If the target language

62
 J.1 Motivation 63

uses many different sounds, has little common vocabulary, or has a radically different
grammar, you must be willing to invest more time into it. For a quick idea, check the FSI
ranking, which serves as a rough approximation for someone who is dedicated but speaks
only English. You can see that the hardest languages take over three times as long to
reach a certain level as the easiest ones. While ease matters, in practice, people learning
”harder” languages out of personal interest tend to be more successful than those who
merely want to learn a language and simply pick the easiest. This is because the former
has more motivation. Rather than thinking of difficulty, it is better to think in terms of
the number of hours with the language it might take to reach a certain level. This is
because languages you are bored by will be hard for you to stick with. You won’t enjoy
the necessary hours of exposure. On the other hand, learning a language you love can be
a lot of fun, even if it takes a bit longer.

The most important of these 6 categories is probably that of personal interest. Whatever
language you really want to learn the most is the one you should probably choose. At the end
of the day, you choose your own life priorities. What you prioritise needs to extend from what
makes you happy. While the other five criteria can of course make you happy, they only do so
indirectly. The consequences of learning an easy language or a language useful for your career
are what make you happy. For languages you rank highly in personal interest, engaging with
the language itself will be sufficient to give you fulfilment. This fulfilment will be necessary to
spend the hundreds, eventually thousands, of hours you are going to spend with your chosen
language.

Consider how important each of these categories of reasons are important to you and how
the languages you are considering align which each of these. If you need to, write it down. By
the end of this exercise, you should have a better idea which language you prefer.

J.1 Motivation
One of the biggest factors that determine your success is if you stick with the language you
choose. You will not persist with a language you have no motivation to continue with. Consider
if your reasons for learning are enough to keep you motivated. If not, you need to find a reason
that will.

If there is some factor on your list that is big and important but you don’t feel it will motivate
you to sit down and study, you need to consider why you feel that it’s important to consider in
the first place. There may be some factor you consciously consider important, but if it doesn’t
make you motivated, you need to consider if it is truly important to you. It may be that your
priorities are not truly your own but are instead dictated by those around you.

Key tip: Spend some time trying them out

If you’re still undecided, we advise you spend a bit of time listening to and potentially
even studying each. You could even spend some time learning about the languages as they
relate to your priorities, such as culture, its usefulness in work, or what the difficult aspects
might be. Any amount of time learning a language is useful for future languages because
it helps you understand how language can work, and you will start to see similarities that
make learning new concepts much easier.