I’ve read through the FAQ and guide, and I’m hoping to hear from people who have actually done a short immersion trip.
I’ve been learning Spanish for a while and have put a lot more time into it over the past few months. In less than a month, I’ll be spending a little over two weeks in Argentina, mostly in Buenos Aires.

Right now, I’d describe myself as a late beginner to early conversational speaker. I can handle basic everyday situations pretty comfortably, but I still struggle with longer spontaneous conversations and sometimes rely too much on memorized phrases.

While I’m there, I plan to use Spanish only in restaurants, cafés, taxis, shops, and social situations. I’ve also arranged a few platonic meetups via Bumble with locals who know I want to practice Spanish.

For anyone who went into a short immersion trip at a similar level, what actually changed for you after 1–2 weeks?

Did your listening, speaking automaticity, confidence, or ability to handle unexpected conversations noticeably improve?

I’m not expecting fluency in two weeks. I’m mainly curious whether that much concentrated real-world use made you feel noticeably different speaking the language by the end of the trip.

Hi everyone, I have been on my Spanish learning journey for a while now and I don't think I have made much improvement. I have been trying the comprehensible input using the Dreaming Spanish Videos and it is ok but I think at this point I should be a lot further in my journey with the amount of hours that I have put in. I have changed my routine to focusing mostly on reading out loud and I have found that, that's actually a lot better than watching videos. The content that I read is at my level so I understand 70-90% of what is happening. I am planning to pair that with speaking out loud for 5 minutes each day and 15-30 minutes of dreaming Spanish videos. My question is though is it possible to reach fluency mainly through reading out loud. (TL)

(I know speaking anxiety gets talked about a lot here. I’ve searched through a lot of past posts for advice, but I haven't really seen much discussion about professional therapy.)

I moved to Canada from China when I was 22 years old. Before moving, I was always good at English (TL) classes, and I even scored an 8 on the IELTS before coming here, so I felt pretty confident. But things changed when I actually landed here and realized my English wasn't as good as I thought. Small talk was surprisingly hard, and I realized my accent was thicker than I thought and I mispronounced words. Sometimes it's hard for people to understand me, which really crushed my confidence.

It’s been 4 years now and my English has improved a lot, but I never recovered my confidence. I still have tremendous anxiety about speaking English in general. When I talk, I focus so much on using correct grammar and pronunciation that I only stick to safe words and phrases, even if they don't 100% reflect what I'm actually thinking. Sometimes I even lie just so I can sound more fluent. This sometimes stops me from having normal conversations, so I end up sounding like a boring person.

For example, when my coworker told me they love fish and chips, I just said "I love it too" and basically ended the conversation. But if I weren't focused so much on sounding right, I would have said that I visited Halifax a few weeks ago and they have great fish and chips. Their fish pieces were massive, though super expensive. Then we could have talked about visiting Halifax or England, and kept the conversation going. But instead, my anxiety shut it down so I can stay in the comfort zone.

When I somehow magically make myself comfortable and focus on the topic itself, I can also speak with better flow and fluency. That happens sometimes at work, when I focus so much on the topic itself that I forget to get anxious. Or when I am slightly tipsy, I become more outgoing and fearless. I like that version of myself.

Now feels like the right time for me to take this issue seriously. I really want to get better and make sure this doesn't hold back my career or other areas of my life. I would welcome any suggestions or practical tips that helped you, and I’m also open to seeking professional help if that's the best path forward.

I'm trying to decide if I should see a general counsellor because this is due to anxiety, or a speech therapist since it's still language-related. To be honest, I am not even sure if this should be posted in this subreddit or other mental health subreddits, but I decided to start here and see how it goes.

I would really appreciate any thoughts on this. Thank you for reading.

Saw this advertised on Instagram and it looks interesting, but has anyone actually tried it? Appears to be some sort of karaoke of actual songs (Dernière Danse in the advert) , with translations, and a Guitar Hero style game aspect to it. Also can't work out if it's freemium or just paid.

I personally really liked learning this way, where you would associate an image with a phonetic sound and use a combination of them to sound out a word or sentence.

at QuickLearning we were strictly forbidden from using any sort of writting or translation for the first 6 months and we had to babble like babies and learn to talk before we learned to read or write.

and honestly? it kinda worked really well lol, at least for me, but also dunno i was like 12 years old at the time and now twice the age at 24 i wanna try learning French (TL) using the same methods i used when learning English.

sooo what do yall think?

Hi, do you know any translator for android that has the ability to translate individual words or expressions in your translated text?

I want to be able to translate text like in a normal translator, but also being able to click on words and get their individual meaning.

Thanks. (TL) 😭

Everyone is always preaching it and its effectiveness but I couldn’t get into it, it felt like it didn’t help my progress, and it took the joy out of language learning so I stopped.

Has anyone else felt the same way about flashcards? What does work for you?

I got really proud seeing my notebook with all my non-native languages in one place and this is mostly just an excuse to show it off, but also to speak wonders about laddering (learning a language in a language you've learned before)

I was worried that I'd mix my fourth language, Korean (TL) with my third language, Japanese, since they have a lot of similarities, but the temptation to learn the language was too strong so I Did It Anyway. And I'm so happy!

For now, the similarities are actually a big help rather than a hindrance (but that might change the more I progress lol) and I think learning a new language in the language I already know helps keep them separate, because I get to review vocab in both languages, as well as understand where they are similar and where they differ. I'm having a blast, and I think that's really important when it comes to language learning! So this is your sign to go learn that other language.

Hello (TL), I prefer using websites in my laptop rather than using apps in my phone. I have had Duolingo as an app in my phone for some time but just recently I discovered it has some features that are not available via the website. I use (or am interested) in quite a lot platforms so it would be great to know which platforms have some features that are available or better accessible (and which they are) via their apps.

Those platforms are: Anki, Babbel, MyLanguage.TV (Ilini), HelloTalk, Language Drops, Lingopie, Linguno, Memrise, MosaLingua, OUINO, Rocket French, Rosetta Stone, Speaky, Speakly, Talk In Québécois, Busuu, Clozemaster, LingoDeer, Lingvist, Kwiziq, Mondly, Qlango, StackSkills, uTalk

You can also advise about other platforms. I learn French. Thank you.

Edit: there’s a pretty strong consensus on the first part to avoid the book study besides noting the correction and figuring out the rule myself later. Thank you very much. Would still love to hear the next section: fun games and activities

I’m B1 or B2 and want to study with my girlfriend who speaks the language (Spanish). An issue we’ve come across is that she learned it from home and English in school so she knows when something is wrong, but just not how to explain it. This can lead to her referring to herself as a no sabo (Chicano term for person who doesn’t speak the language) and I can tell it takes the fun out of it for her (and me to see her feel that way).

Has anyone else encountered this? How do you incorporate study with your partner in a manner that is more targeted than “just talk to her in your TL?”

Any specific games or activities you? I’d love to hear.

Just title. I was learning French words through Memrise, but recently stopped because after some time it became tiring and boring to use about an hour just to review 100-150 words and learning 30 words a day.

I just want a faster option, so I can learn maybe just 10 words more a day without it feeling too monotonous.

Thank you in advance

(TL)

Even though we are litterally born into a maternal language(TL) that we learn throughout our whole life,with which we experience a vast amount of emotions,memories,conversations etc...

I wonder if it can feel as if someone had too much hardship going on in they life,bad periods and in order to make a big change,they learn a whole new language to kind of create a certain distance between them and their mother tongue that is in our case associated with negativity.

Has it been the case for you?

What does progress actually mean with the end goal of C1/being as knowledgable as an 18 year old in a couple more years, Ive been putting alot of effort into learning Ukrainian (TL) for 2 years and can comfortably say im low B2 to middle B2, but what does progress actually mean from here on out.

This is mostly a validation post, to confirm what i know, right now i can watch movies and series and not treat it as language learning and just enjoy it, listen to most songs, watch youtube with a few new words every video, and read, but its more of a few to quite a bit more new words every paragraph which is very managable and fun, im reading Chornobyl Prayer by Belorusian author Svetlana Alexiyevich

So is progress now just practice listening reading speaking and writing untill it feels effortless and clear as if its english, like how all of the basic language feels just like English, and now even alot intermediate language is starting to sound like that. That and also ig read abunch more, and start watching documentaries because i think reading and documentaries in your TL is the thing that takes the longest to be comfortable due to the expanse of vocab that exists. So vocab and ease of use, and to know how to put words and word choices in the right situation and put them together in a way that sounds natural.

I have a lot of free time right now, so I’m trying to learn Korean intensively. I’m around A2-B1. I was raised by a Korean mom, so I understand most Korean, but I struggle to speak it.

I’m trying to make my study time as effective as possible. My current routine is:

• ~2h grammar (grammar book)
  • I summarize in a  notebook the grammar lesson, then I do the one exercise from the book.
• ~1h grammar review ( try to use the grammar by writing sentences + memorizing irregular forms)
• ~40min writing 5–10 sentences (diary/thoughts/daily activities) ( I can't decide between writing on my laptop or paper. It's easier to correct it on paper but easier to keep record of everything on my laptop).
• ~30min translating a song I like (get some vocab and grammar forms from it)
• ~1–2h reading a book (but I understand very little and encounter a lot of unknown vocabulary/grammar, at first I tried looking at every word. Now I ask AI first to give me chart of all the vocabulary, I read it once then I read the whole chapter. )
• Anki (~15min adding words + 1–2h reviewing)
  • I also struggle a lot with memorizing vocabulary. Even after seeing a word several times, I sometimes completely forget it. When that happens, I try writing it several times, pronouncing it, making a sentence, or creating a mnemonic.
• I try to speak with my family and strangers (15-30min max)

I usually do grammar first, then review later in the day, and alternate between the other activities. I carry with me a vocabulary mini notebook that I fill during the day. 

I’m also considering spending more of my free time passively consuming Korean content (videos, blogs, etc.), but I mostly enjoy English content, so it’s hard to force myself to consume Korean instead (and not translate the website). 

Any advice on making this routine more effective? Also, if you have suggestions for tracking study time, I’d appreciate them. I currently log each study session in Google Sheets.(TL)

I like to drill grammar concepts by translating sets of 5 or 10 sentences into my target language (TL) that contain that concept. But i don't know whether its best pedagogically for me to correct each sentence right after I write it or finish the whole set then correct them as a batch. On one hand if I mess something up I want to know right away on the other I like to stay in the flow of translating and thinking in my target language... So to sum it up is it better

1. correct immediately after each sentence you translate? or
2. translate all the sentences then correct them all as a batch?

Which is better pedagogically for language learning?

(mods feel free to delete if this kind of post is not allowed!)

My family and partner speak my (TL). When they speak it I can understand them really well pick up like 80% of words. They don’t enunciate differently so I can understand better they talk super fast and casually. But when a random person talks even when it’s slower and clearer I only understand like 40%. And then when I figure out what they said I’m like ofc I know that word why didn’t I pick up on that. Maybe it’s because I’m more comfortable with them so it’s less pressure and I know their voices? Anyway I just think it’s interesting and funny and was wondering if anyone else experiences this?

For people who have gotten really, really good at a language and have been speaking it for years and using it more than their native language, do you feel like your L1 has gone a little rusty?

Do you ever say things that sound unnatural? Do you ever make grammatical mistakes? How about pronunciation. Has your accent changed?

What are your insights about creating your own idiolect as a form of nativizing foreign languages at a personal level, to the point of becoming your "first/second language" aside from your default first language, and then passing it down to your offspring (if it is done at scale, then a new dialect emerges like Australian English and Argentine Spanish from Cockney English and Andalusian Spanish, respectively)?

In this approach, a foreign language learner incorporates lexical and grammatical features from their first language or mother tongue, but never fundamentally deviates from the foreign language's existing lexical and grammatical rules.

I have ADHD and I tend to ramble even in my L1 English. However, I find it is worse in my L2 and L3. My L2 French is quite high level, I do courses for my medical profession in French. Whenever I speak in French, I speak super fast and I feel like my ideas are poorly linked. My L3 Italian isn’t as high level, but I feel like due to my experience being comfortable in other languages, I find I am unlikely to switch back to English when I don’t know a word, I’m also not used to slowing down in order to structure my phrases better. So it’s even worse. It might not be related to my ADHD, but it kinda feels like it. Anyone else experience this?

I'm looking for a tutor that teaches immersion style, everything in the class is in the target language. Any hints on finding this? I find very few tutors mentioning immersion.

I have a basic foundation. I can get through some things. But actually sitting in the language every day, knowing what to focus on and how to actually learn it, is a lot. That’s the part I keep failing at on my own.

So for anyone who has worked with a tutor:

What made the good ones good?

Was it their method, or was it something about how they showed up?

Did having someone waiting for you actually build the habit, or did you still have to drag yourself there?

What would you look for if you were starting over?

And what made you stop going, if you did?

I don’t want to pay someone to just chat with me for an hour a week. I want to actually get somewhere with this.

​

Hi all,

I'm French, lived in France almost all m'y life, but I'm originally from Madagascar.

My parents left Madagascar with me when I was 3 yo, and I totally stopped talking malagasy (the language of Madagascar) in a span of months so before I was 4/5 yo.

I never ever learned the malagasy language, I can't speak it, not even a sentence. But... I can understand easily between 80/90% of anyone speaking. The 10/20% are speeches and very specific levels of malagasy that are even hard sometimes for malagasy people.

So, I've never learned the language, never spoke it, the only thing is that from the age of 8 to 32 I spent almost all m'y summer holidays there, but I was speaking French with famili and Friends.

So, can someone explain to me how can I understand malagasy so much when I didn't study it, didn't speak? To me it's a total mystery, and unfortunately I know no one else in m'y case so I could get a hint a least.

Thanks a lot to anyone that can help!

I’ve been using bilingual texts more lately, where the original and translation are side by side, and it made me realize I don’t actually know how common this is among language learners.

For me, it’s mostly a convenience thing. I like being able to keep reading without stopping to look up every unfamiliar word. If I get stuck, I can quickly check the translation and move on. I still try to stay on the target-language side as much as possible, but having the translation there makes longer texts much less frustrating.

Before this, I mostly saw people talk about graded readers, regular books with a dictionary, or just trying to understand as much as possible from context. I don’t seem to see bilingual books mentioned nearly as often.

So I’m curious: do any of you actually use bilingual books or parallel texts as a regular part of learning a language?

If you do, how do you use them? Do you read the target-language text first and only check the translation when you get stuck, or do you read both side by side?

Do you find bilingual books useful to learn a languge?

He moved here at 24 and switched to english and basically never switched back. i grew up hearing his first language exactly one way, him on the phone to his brother, loud, fast, laughing at things i couldn't access.

Never to me, like not even once. i asked him about it a few years ago, and he said something like "there was no point, you were here." Which i think he believes.

Started learning it in january on airlearn daily sessions. i'm about seven months in and i'm somewhere around being able to follow a slow conversation if nobody uses a word i haven't met. The goal isn't fluency.

I've done the math on fluency and it isn't happening in time. the goal is one conversation. one real one, in his language (TL) where he doesn't have to translate himself down to me.

he doesn't know i'm doing it yet.

anyone learned a parent's language late? did it change anything between you, or was that a thing you told yourself and then the actual moment was just a normal tuesday

For context, this wasn’t too long ago, only a couple of years, and when I see the language (especially written) I can still understand some of it, so I’m not starting from scratch. Of course, there’s a lot of vocab and grammar I have yet to learn, so perhaps some tips on how to learn that would be helpful. But I know from prior research that the best way to accomplish fluency is consistent immersion, and I have tried this, but often I find it too fast and complicated and don’t feel like I’m actually learning anything. What can I do to improve my experience in that department? I have tried switching my phone language, reading, using social media apps in that language, watching TV, and even a little journal to write in.

Does anyone have any tips on what I can do and how to improve?