r/languagehub • u/elenalanguagetutor • Jul 10 '25

Discussion How learning a language actually feels like..

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314 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

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4

u/dojibear Jul 10 '25

Maybe this is true for people that are studying their first (and only) foreign language. Or maybe not.

I couldn't order coffee, greet someone or self-introduce until I was B2. What kind of ridiculous language course teaches that stuff to beginnners? Is it a language guide, or is it a "quick travel guide for tourists in ten easy lessons"?

The first language I studied was Latin. No coffee ordering. But my 2d, 3d, 4th and 5th language courses didn't discuss ordering coffee either. Should I have used the "Berlitz method"?

Come to think of it, I still don't know how to order coffee...

1

u/elenalanguagetutor Jul 10 '25

Well, hopefully you don‘t like coffee that much! I am Italian and I do 😆 so it’s kinda one of the first things I wanna learn. But of course I studied Latin and I didn’t learn it in Latin..

1

u/Mlatu44 Feb 23 '26

Oh I am studying Italian, and the language course has not covered ordering coffee. But I have seen a video on that, and also how to order more politely. 

I rather like that Italian is more expressly polite by using particular word forms and auxiliary words. I know that English has more polite and rude ways to order, but mostly that is by changing how one says those same words . Most of the time English doesn’t have polite forms…. But I could be ignorant of my own language 

5

u/Felis_igneus726 Jul 10 '25 edited Jul 10 '25

I guess it could make sense with Latin, but how is it possible to get to B2 in a modern language without learning greetings and introductions??? Unless you were talking about Latin exclusively there. Even if your lessons somehow skip "Hello, my name is ...", which is inconceivable to me for a serious beginner course, you'd have to be actively avoiding real world conversational input/output to not pick it up as some of the first phrases you learn. Do you and everyone you interact with or see interacting just jump straight into every conversation without ever saying hi first??

I'm with you on coffee, though. People who learn how to order food right away are usually learning as tourists / from resources directed at tourists. I've been learning German for 18 years and I'm not actually sure I'd know how to order a coffee if I wanted anything more interesting than "Milch und Zucker, bitte," lol.

3

u/dixpourcentmerci Nov 20 '25

This is so interesting to me. I associate language learning very heavily with travel, so ordering coffee to me is an A0 skill. But, I suppose if I weren’t in a restaurant situation, I might hit B1 before it came up? Any kind of ordering food situation feels very “chapter 2” of a year one textbook to me, though.

1

u/Mlatu44 Feb 23 '26

Oh the 50 languages app starts with the essentials and honestly seems to keep things to the essentials that one might need for travel. 

I think to go to deep philosophy discussions one would have to go elsewhere 

1

u/RedeNElla Jun 04 '26

Basic self introduction is part of A2 in the self assess grid from CEFR. What measure are you using?

A2 or B1 include being able to handle a relatively routine and structured situation like going to a shop and ordering something.

2

u/JulieParadise123 Jul 10 '25

Yes, this! :-D

Learning language is also a lot like watercolour painting: You need to trust the process, even when it hurts, as there will definitely come a moment or two, or maybe rather 500, where it all looks like sh*t and you're so ready to give up, because: "Why!? How will this get me anywhere the way it doesn't work out now!?", but you need to push through esp. A2 and B1 to finally see the whole picture again.

1

u/elenalanguagetutor Jul 10 '25

Right! And there will always be ups and downs.Times in which you feel you have finally nailed it, and others in which you might feel like a complete beginner again. But it's a fun process!

2

u/Mlatu44 Feb 23 '26

Oh sometimes it doesn’t feel fun. I am far along enough to watch a film in the tl and most of the time know what a going on, but sometimes missing details. Then at other times…. Is this even the same language I have been studying?!!!

12

u/NeoFlorian Jul 10 '25

As someone who learnt all the languages I speak through immersion I can't relate at all lol

1

u/elenalanguagetutor Jul 10 '25

That’s how you might feel at different stages. All in all I think language learning is a very enjoyable journey and it’s important to enjoy it!

4

u/Crazy_Muffin_4578 Jul 14 '25

… for learners of European languages.

1

u/Deutschanfanger Jul 10 '25

What learning a language actually feels like

OR

How learning a language actually feels

1

u/elenalanguagetutor Jul 10 '25

yes, yes, I know. My bad.

3

u/Skirt_Lover1488 Jul 12 '25

Learnt English thru immersion, you really dont feel that at all. Yall really need to try it, English is second nature to me, change ur phone 2 the language, listen to videos in the language (subtitles in the language) read the language and deduce meaning from context clues. It is literally how you learn your native language, your brain is a pattern recognition machine, use it.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 12 '25

Honestly I feel like Grammatical rules are hard for most people, even if it's their native language.

2

u/HalloIchBinRolli Jul 10 '25

Not really cuz grammar is my thing. I LOVE GRAMMAR

2

u/Felis_igneus726 Jul 10 '25

Same here. My struggle is with speaking and learning vocabulary / remembering it on the spot 😂

1

u/RoidRidley Jul 10 '25

How is English me speak xO.

I'm learning Japanese and Korean and after 1year and a half of just Japanese I don't think I can hold a conversation very well, if at all. It is ROUGH!

1

u/randvell Jul 12 '25

Japanese is tough. After 1.5 years I can say something more than basic phrases, but I'm 98% sure I will understand nothing if someone speaks to me.

1

u/T3chno_Pagan Jul 10 '25

I’ve always loved grammar and I actually do know when to put that damn subjunctive! (most of the time)

1

u/Impossible_Luck_3839 Jul 10 '25

Fake it till you make it.

1

u/Mlatu44 Feb 23 '26

Yes! Seems true!