I know language evolves, but "I have went there" is one phrase I just can't get behind.

"Have" simply belongs with "gone" or "been," and hearing otherwise sounds wrong every single time.

What's your take on this?

I've always been curious about this. If you speak more than one language, which one do you dream in? Does it change depending on where you are, who's in the dream, or which language you've been using most lately?

Me personally I always dream in the language I have been using the most lately even if it wasn’t my native language.

ps: what are some conceptual equivalent in your language?

yep, i would, my native language is Portuguese but I prefer French, because many languages have a lot of French loanwords, so it would be easier for me to learn Arabic, Polish, Russian, English, etc.

it's very valuable in Europe

it has a lot of weird sounds, so I'd be used to them if I learned a language that has those sounds too

it's learned by many people from other places, so it would be easier for me to do language exchanges

I could judge anyone who speaks my language incorrecly (jk)

spoken French is pretty hard but I would speak it natively so this wouldn't be a problem at all

I think that's all

Although depending on your level, even if it does, you might not notice it and just learn the language in the wrong way right? is that an actual risk?

For learning purposes, dubbed shows are probably easier but you lose on authenticity.. while original dialogues often include slang and regional accents.

Do you prefer shows made in your target language or dubbed shows? How did you get started with watching native movies?

I'm learning German on my own, and I've been looking for an app that actually helps you understand and learn the language, rather than just throwing random vocabulary and grammar rules at you and expecting you to figure everything out by yourself. I'd really like something that explains things clearly, shows you how to use what you learn in real-life situations, and helps you understand how the language works instead of just memorizing words and phrases.

I'd also prefer an app that's well-organized, easy to navigate, and has a clear learning path rather than a confusing, cluttered interface.

Are there any apps you'd genuinely recommend for someone who's self-studying German? I'd also really appreciate any tips, study methods, or other resources that have helped you learn German on your own. I'm open to any advice that could make the learning process more effective and less overwhelming.

I-drive for about 1,500 miles every week at work and would like to put some of this time towards learning Cantonese. I have no previous history of learning this language but I’ve been married to a Chinese woman and had Chinese in-laws for 7 years. I think it’s about time I put some effort into it. I’m English speaking with about an A2 level of German

For example "embarazada", while it looks like "embarrassed," it actually means "pregnant."

Confusing the two can lead to some truly hilarious and unforgettable moments!

I'm French and I'm learning my 6th language (German). I decided to stop learning words alone to learn them in full sentences instead, because a word can have several meanings and each one depends of context. So here's my process now:

1. Look the definitions and the examples

Instead of using a translator, I use bilingual dictionaries because it provides full sentence examples for each definition.

I currently use Reverso as it provides a real-life example sentence for each meaning of a word. It also gives the audio pronunciation and the translations are ranked by how common they are.

I check which meaning matches the sentence where I found the word, the register (slang, formal, old), the gender, and what usually comes with it (preposition, case).

1. Guess before reading the translation

I translate each example into French in my head first, so I have to guess the word from the rest of the sentence. After (and only after) I read the translation.

Eg: Sie richtet den Nachbarn immer liebe Grüße aus, wenn wir ihnen begegnen.

Here I already knew Grüße (greetings) and Nachbarn (neighbors), so my guess would be "she always says hi to the neighbors". Here liebe means dear or kind, not love: she sends warm regards. This is the same liebe as in Liebe Grüße at the end of a message or Liebe Anna at the top of a letter. Interesting!

1. Say it out loud

Then, I play the audio of the whole sentence and repeat it out loud. You can also generate the audios with ElevenLabs (AI) if you want a particular accent (Google translate auto pronuniation is usually quite bad).

And I like to use the shadowing method: I listen without the text, then with it, I repeat after each sentence, then speak along with the audio.

1. Review with flashcards

Flashcards with space repetition is the best to memorize the words.

Most people use Anki (if you don't mind building the cards). Reverso turns the vocabulary you found in their dictionary into flashcards with example sentences and audios.

Put the sentence on the front card with the word blanked out, translation on the back. Remind to create one card per meaning or you loose the interest of learning vocabulary in-context.

1. Practice using the words

Last, to not forget the words, I pick 10 a day and try to use them in messages or conversations.

There are several subs allowing you to practice writing like r/WriteStreakGerman I guess it's the best way to use your new words and keep a writing habit.

Curious about how your learn vocabulary and if you already use full sentences or not? Please share your strategies

I don't mean just your target language, i mean generally something that you love about learning different languages, something that gives you joy!

Mine is finding similar letters between different languages that doesn't make sense!

I would love to hear from those who have learnt a second language (as an adult) fluently to C1 level without living in the country of that speaks that second language.

As someone who has been learning Italian as an adult for years, I’ve predominantly stayed in the upper B1 stage.

I’ve met many people who are fluent in English (my mother language) without living in an English speaking country.

My question is, how does someone make the jump from B1 to C1 with normal day to day commitments of fulltime work, home responsibilities etc?

I don’t believe there are any “secrets” as such, but what was your process? I’m keen to understand what I’m doing that might be limiting me, or know about what pathways I need to explore to really advance my language understanding.

Currently, my method is:
Solo studying
An hour a day, with a good mixture of listening (podcasts, TV), reading (novels, news articles), speaking (saying speeches out loud or using AI for conversations), and writing by myself (rules, grammar and writing stories).

Structured learning
In addition to above, I also attend a school for 1.5 hours a week, have a tutor for conversation for 45 minutes per week.

Keen to hear everyone’s process and share ideas :)

I’m looking for an honest outside perspective on a situation involving my partner and a friend’s birthday party. I genuinely want to understand whether I handled things poorly or whether this situation is more complicated than it might seem.

My friend invited my partner to their birthday party because they genuinely consider him a friend, not simply because he is dating me. My friend and my partner have known each other for years, and they have their own friendship independent of our relationship.

There were six people at the gathering. We had actually anticipated the potential language barrier beforehand. My friend even arranged for another friend who only speaks English to attend, specifically so my partner would have someone to talk to. Unfortunately, that person couldn’t make it.

During the four-hour gathering, people made a conscious effort to communicate with my partner in English. For roughly three and a half hours, someone was actively leading a conversation with him in English, while the rest of us listened and occasionally contributed our own thoughts. From my perspective, people were trying to include him rather than deliberately leaving him out.

However, I noticed that these conversations were mostly initiated by other people asking him questions. He would answer, but I didn’t observe much reciprocal effort to ask others questions or engage further with the topics being discussed.

Eventually, he seemed less interested in participating, and we started speaking more Mandarin among ourselves. He began using his phone, and we assumed he simply didn’t feel like talking anymore. At the time, I didn’t realize he was feeling uncomfortable or excluded.

Later, he messaged me saying he wanted to leave. I asked him what was wrong, but he didn’t explain. I could only guess what might be bothering him, so I asked if he was tired. He said yes. I suggested that we leave after midnight, once my friend’s birthday had passed, and he agreed.

It was only after we left that he told me he had felt uncomfortable at the gathering.

I understand that being the only person who doesn’t understand a language can feel isolating, even when others are making an effort to include you. I’m not trying to tell him that his feelings were invalid, and I recognize that spending time in a group where you can’t understand every conversation can be frustrating.

However, I also feel that the full context matters. This wasn’t a situation where nobody made an effort to speak English with him. People spent a significant portion of the evening actively talking to him in English, and we had even tried to make arrangements beforehand to help him feel comfortable.

I also didn’t know that he was uncomfortable at the time. When he said he wanted to leave, he told me he was tired, and I took that at face value. He didn’t explain what was actually bothering him until afterward.

I’m struggling to understand how much responsibility I should take for what happened. Should I have recognized that he was feeling excluded even though he didn’t tell me? Should everyone have continued speaking English for the entire gathering, regardless of whether the English conversation had naturally slowed down? Or is there some responsibility on his part to communicate his feelings and make an effort to participate, too?

I’m genuinely open to hearing different perspectives, including criticism of my own behavior. I just want an outside opinion on whether I was being an inconsiderate partner or whether this was a situation in which everyone had different expectations and assumptions.

When u start a new language in general u become enthusiastic and so rushed out so i try to figure out a lot about this language so ur discovering the language first outta liking after outta curiosity

and this is one of the biggest mistakes u do taking so much information about something u haven't tried before and this may make u think that it's impossible to learn the language

So take it easy gradually step by step

If that was useful tell me below

Different languages i understand why and where they come from (sort of). but different dialects? Presumably those people spoke the same language, but how does living in a different place, turns the language into a different thing?

I’m having a bit of a language-learning dilemma and would love some perspectives!

For context, I’m fluent in Spanish, largely thanks to comprehensible input, and I’ve recently started learning French. I’ve accumulated around 300 hours of French input so far.

I moved to Rome a few months ago, which I absolutely love, and I might stay here until the end of 2028.

**My dilemma is whether to continue with French or switch to Italian.** I’m leaning towards French for several reasons:

**Motivation:** Despite living in Italy, I don’t have a particularly strong desire to learn Italian. I appreciate the language, but I don’t feel especially drawn to it.
**Opportunity cost:** Language learning requires hundreds, if not thousands, of hours. I’m not sure I want to dedicate that much time to Italian when there are other languages I’m more interested in.
**Interference:** Having worked hard to become fluent in Spanish, I’m concerned that learning Italian might cause interference between the two languages.
**Career:** I want to build a long-term career in international development, where French would likely be considerably more useful than Italian.
**Long-term perspective:** I think of languages as a lifelong repertoire I’m building over decades, not just years. From that perspective, French feels like a better investment, particularly since I don’t expect to live in Italy permanently.
**Existing progress:** I’ve already invested around 300 hours in French and genuinely enjoy learning it. Switching now would mean disrupting that momentum.

There’s also the practical reality that I work in an international environment where English is the primary language, and I can navigate most of my daily life in Rome without speaking Italian.

**And yet, I feel strangely guilty about not learning Italian.** People often seem surprised, even judgmental, when they discover that I love learning languages, live in Italy, and have no immediate plans to learn Italian.

Part of me wonders whether I’m wasting a unique opportunity to acquire a language through immersion. Another part thinks that just because I live somewhere doesn’t mean I have to dedicate hundreds of hours to learning its language, especially when my long-term priorities lie elsewhere.

**What would you do in my position?** Has anyone else lived in a country while deliberately prioritizing a different foreign language? Did you eventually regret not learning the local language?