A forum user asked me to create a thread and explain my background and how I learn languages. I’m not sure how useful that would be, given that there are many far more experienced and capable language learners on this forum. That said, I have decided to give a brief summary of the methods that I use.
I consider myself a poor language learner. I have a natural ability for solving mathematics problems, and can often solve a problem intuitively. Unfortunately I have a poor memory, and language does not come naturally. Indeed, I did not speak my native language until the age of five. I am also at 63 quite old although I believe that I am as capable at thinking as I was twenty years ago. And I have one superpower over my 20 year old self: I am far more methodical and I work harder
In my opinion there is no one correct method. Each person has to find a method that they enjoy, and which is effective. A celebrity learner might promote a given method, but I’m not convinced we should emulate highly experienced learners. Would a novice mountain climber adopt the methods of the world’s greatest climbers, or those more suited to a novice? Would a novice driver take lessons from a racing driver, or a driving school instructor? An experienced learner is far more alert to language features than a novice, hence they are more likely to notice features in the target language that a beginner would miss, and they are also used to adopting new ways of thinking.
In my limited experience, different languages require different methods. French and English share a huge vocabulary, hence a largely input based method can be effective. German and English on the other hand share far fewer words, especially in everyday language, which means that input is less useful early on, and the learner needs to develop new techniques to help them remember words. German also has a more complex grammar, with a case system, and distinct word order. I don’t doubt that Japanese, for example, presents even more challenges.
The method I have settled on is similar to that described by Alex Rawlins in his book “How To Speak Any Language Fluently”. Essentially language learning is not rocket science. You consume graded input, you study the content, translate the words and figure out the patterns i.e. grammar. Then you do some simple exercises and simple output in order to facilitate memorisation and to check that you understand the material. And gradually it starts to make sense. At the beginning you don’t know much, so you need simple material, and you do a lot of study and memorisation. You find it hard to memorise words as they are so different to anything you are used to. As you progress, you can start consuming more input for pleasure, including native material, and you do less active study. Once you reach an intermediate level and higher, you find it easier to memorise words and phrases simply because they can make more connections in your brain. The brain does not store words as distinct isolated objects, rather it stores a word by creating a mass of connections to existing memories, the more connections it can make, the stronger the memory.
I do agree with Mr Kaufmann and others who state that the learner should not memorise grammar tables and grammar rules. As Mr Kaufmann has said, it is worth reading an overview of the grammar beforehand, so that the learner is aware of the horrors - or pleasures - that await.
In my view, and others may disagree, study and output are an essential part of language learning. Countless videos on YouTube and pages on the internet claim that one can learn a language using input alone. I tried input alone with German as a complete beginner, and over 18 months I made very little progress. Words were not sticking. Once I started studying the text, and doing output by making up my own sentences, only then did I start to progress.
Online Applications (excluding LingQ)
I spent many months using various online apps, including Duolingo, Busuu and Babbel, and completed numerous so-called courses in French and German. In my view, and again others may disagree, these are not language learning methods. These applications use a form of spaced repetition, which is insufficient for learning a language. They provide insufficient input, so the learner is not exposed to the quantity of authentic language that they need. Even worse, they are designed to be addictive. The user becomes focussed on maximising his or her score, on winning points, and getting their daily dopamine fix. Language learning becomes a secondary goal. Gaining points provides an illusion of progress. The reason for this is simple. The product creators want to make money, and addiction is a powerful money making tool. At the end of one course I was told that I had reached B2 in German. In truth I was barely A2. Language learning applications are the language equivalent of MacDonalds ‘meals’ and fizzy pop (sodas). They are addictive, and provide a dopamine hit, but they are fundamentally bad for your health. They sell well because they are heavily advertised thanks to the huge profits that the manufacturers make.
French
My French comprehension is quite advanced, so these days I just watch videos and listen to podcasts. My French study has been largely input based for several years now, with plenty of online searches to understand aspects of grammar as I come across them. French has the advantage that English has borrowed huge numbers of words from French and Latin, hence we can guess the meaning of many words. It also has a similar word order to English, and does not use grammatical cases. We also share huge numbers of phrases such as **Il est con comme un balai**, he is daft as a brush, and **L’argent ne fait pas le bonheur**, money does not make you happy. My spoken French is more modest than my comprehension, albeit with a reasonable accent. It took me several years to understand most native language videos. I still struggle with some speakers, especially woman speaking in a very posh clipped manner and casual speech.
I use some simple exercises to help me understand spoken French:
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Listen to a video while reading the transcript. This trains the brain to recognise words.
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Listen to a video as a child does. In other words, let the sound enter the brain, and don’t try to translate. This disables the logical side of your brain, allowing a more intuitive processing of speech.
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Listen to a video trying to understand the content.
It took me several years and hundreds of hours of practice before I could understand radio discussions and documentaries with ease. I think most of us underestimate how much practice is needed.
German
My German is currently B1 after three years and I am only now starting to get a feel for the language. I suspect I am a slow learner. I found German incredibly hard at the start as it was largely impenetrable and so unlike French and English. The method I use for German, which I think is also suitable for beginners, is as follows:
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Find suitable videos and import them into LingQ.
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Go through a video line by line, looking up words, and where necessary the grammar, figuring out what it means. Don’t worry too much about understanding everything, it often makes sense weeks later.
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When coming across a sentence with new grammar or words, play around with it, changing the subject, or the tense, or the structure. This has a number of benefits. It helps check comprehension, it facilitates both noticing words and grammar and memorisation.
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Save interesting and useful phrases in Anki for study at a later date.
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Go to the next video and repeat.
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Go back to the previous video, and listen through, looking up any words that are not understood.
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Go to the next unstudied video.
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And so on.
I am sure many of us here use this kind of approach. I currently spend one hour a day studying short videos.
In my experience the key is to find good videos. The content should be graded, authentic, clear and interesting. Some YouTube videos are not even created by native speakers, they use AI voices and contain errors. Others are not suitable for learners as many words appear only once, instead of being repeated across videos. This is true even with videos targeted at learners. Unfortunately a lot of YouTube videos are of mediocre quality and produced by people who have little or no experience in teaching. I prefer to use videos from larger news and cultural organisations as they tend to produce higher quality material, created by professional staff, who are trained in communicating.
I currently use videos from Tageschaue in Einfacher Sprache. These videos are designed for B1 learners, the content is interesting, the language is clear and words are regularly repeated to help learning. I have also used some videos from Herr Antrim. Although he is a non native speaker, and makes a few mistakes, I enjoy his videos, and enjoyment is very important.
German caused me immense trouble because everyday non technical language shares so few words with English. Fortunately it is a very logical language, and the learner can often break down words into their components, and guess the meaning. Thus entschuldigen means to excuse. It is a horrible, long road crash of a word overloaded with consonants. However, once you know that Schuld means debt or guilt, ent is a prefix that often means removal of something, and igen is a common verb ending, we can guess the meaning. Prepositions are another hurdle. I found it helpful to discover the underlying concept for each preposition. Thus in in English means inside or in, so an object can be in a box, or in the sky. In German in has a more restricted meaning corresponding to inside a container. Thus an object can be in a box, but a star cannot be in the sky as the sky is not a closed container. Thus we must use an: Der Stern is am Himmel.
Anki
Each morning I open Anki and review the words and phrases that it presents. I find this incredibly useful as a way to revise words and grammar, and it helps me understand the grammar especially the case system. I do not recommend Anki as the core of a language study method, rather it is useful as an add on.
I do not recommend using Anki with single words, unless the word has a clear unambiguous meaning, such as la belette which means weasel in French. The brain learns language by forming connections, thus the more connections it can form to a word, the more likely you are to remember it. And in addition many words are only used in certain contexts. For this reason authentic sentences are usually the best way to learn vocabulary. A sentence has the advantages that you see the word in context, you learn how to use the word, you revise or learn the other words in the sentence, and you revise grammar. And of course you have a useful phrase which you can use as is, or modified as appropriate.
Podcasts
I also listen to podcasts in German which I don’t really understand. I sometimes understand a phrase, sometimes a fragment, and sometimes just some words. I find this helps me to automatise word and grammar recall. Even when I don’t understand a phrase, the act of hearing a word and recalling it provides useful practice. One of the big tasks in language learning is going from knowing a word, to recalling that word instantaneously. I found with French that input was initially not very useful, apart from lessons of course, but once I reached B2, it became key to my learning.
I don’t know if listening to poorly understood podcasts is the most efficient approach, but as with most of my language learning, it forms part of a suck it and see approach. It certainly does no harm, other than consuming time.
Problems Encountered
The biggest problem I encountered, especially with German, was not understanding the process of how language learning works. There is so much bad advice out there, mainly from manufacturers of commercial language learning products, that it is possible to adopt bad practices, and waste time and effort, as I did. I recommend the book by Alex Rawlings, mentioned earlier. I also find that advice from Richard Simcott, Luca Lampariello and Professor Tim Keeley is helpful and matches my own experience. I advise against the Comprehensible Input approach, created by Stephen Krashen, as it is far too simplistic and it’s claims have been discredited by research.
Another problem was changing my way of thinking. I have a very analytic and logical way of thinking, which is consistent with having a degree and PhD in physics. Unfortunately this is perhaps a hindrance in language learning. The danger with analytical thinking is that you analyse a language in terms of your current knowledge and assumptions, and become resistant to new ideas. The goal of language learning is to adopt new ways of thinking, which in part requires that you see the assumptions that form part of your own language. Prepositions are a good example. German has in, an, bei and zu which at first glance look like in, at, by and to in English. However they represent different concepts, albeit with some overlap with the English ones.
Final Words
My weakness is lack of output with native speakers. I am sure some people prefer to talk with native speakers early on. I would find that uncomfortable, and prefer to develop my comprehension first.
I have a system that I enjoy, but I’m sure there are other methods, maybe better ones, or improvements to the one I use.
I am sure others here have interesting thoughts. I would be interested in hearing about other methods or techniques, and also how other people went about practising speaking with a native speaker. I would also be interested from anyone who completely disagrees with some or all of the above, or whose experiences differ markedly, especially in relation to languages close to German and French.
