My Language Journey So Far
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I've dabbled with languages for a long time. A couple years of French in high school that were mandatory for graduation. Lots of unfinished Duolingo courses. Never really took it seriously.
Until March 2023 when I decided to see if I could learn a language. Not just half-ass it on apps, but actually learn a language.
I decided that if I was going to see if I could learn a language, I might as well go for one of the hardest ones for English speakers to learn. I figured if it turned out I could do it, then any language I decided to learn after would be easier.
My pick?
Mandarin Chinese.
I discovered not only do I have a knack for learning languages, I also really, really enjoy the process of learning languages.
I'm now at about an intermediate level in Mandarin. I can pick my way through novels with lots of look ups and can understand a lot of the shows and movies I watch in the language, but my speaking is terrible because I focused mostly on input.
I'm a hermit. I barely talk to people in English, let alone in other languages. And I also know that because I picked up comprehension of the language rather quickly, if I focus and practice, I could pick up speaking/writing it relatively quickly as well.
It took me a few weeks to figure out a system that worked really well for me and helped me make rather fast progress in learning the language. And now, I'm applying that system to learning Korean with plans to pick up Japanese next, maybe Thai as well, before branching out to another language family.
So why?
Because I like it. It's fun. It gives me dopamine.
I'm probably never going to travel.
I'm a hermit. Vows and everything. Meditate for hours a day, tend my home and yard, and spend the rest of my time learning what I want to learn because I'm a Curious Hermit.
I love words. Been obsessed with English ones since I was little. A read-the-dictionary-for-fun sort of kid.
So learning new languages just gives me new words to fall in love with.
Part of why I'm starting this blog is to start working on output in my target languages! Right now, that's Mandarin Chinese and Korean. I'm kind of dabbling in some others - been flirting with Thai a bit. Lovely language with a beatiful, but complex, alphabet! I like challenges! Challenge keeps me engaged.
I do something language-learning related every day. My bare minimum is keeping my Duolingo streak going. I'm on the Chinese course, and my actual Chinese ability has far exceeded where I am on that, but it works really well as a review app now! And that streak = dopamine. I have ADHD. Anything for the dopamine.
Most days, I do more than that.
My input tends to be heavily based on content I enjoy. Shows and movies in genres I like. Language Reactor is a REALLY useful tool for that, and Netflix is included in my phone/internet bill every month, so that's fantastic for learning languages. They've got content in 30 languages (at least as far as I can access without a VPN in the U.S.) though some languages have more content than others.
I also watch a lot of YouTube language-learning videos. I use ChatGPT to develop self-study plans for my languages, and then find lessons on YouTube and the web that fit the plan, then just follow along for learning.
I start input even before I know a single word in a language. I want to get my brain used to hearing the language. I listen to music in the language. I watch shows and movies in the language - at first with English subtitles, then moving to dual subtitles with language reactor, then aiming for moving to target language subtitles. I'll probably never stop using subtitles entirely because I have audio processing disorder and use subtitles on English content, too.
And at the beginning of learning a language, I do a LOT of vocabulary exposure study. It's not about memorizing vocabulary. It's about getting repeated exposure to the vocabulary. ChatGPT is super helpful for this, and so is Anki. Apps can help with this, but you're limited to the vocabulary they decide you need to learn and if you're watching 仙侠 (Xianxia) Cdrama series, there's vocab you're gonna need that most of the apps aren't gonna teach you.
So I mine vocabulary. LOTS of it. I find songs in the language I like and I go through the lyrics word-by-word, looking them up, listening to them spoken a few times, and inputting them into an Obsidian vault and an Anki deck. I use ChatGPT to make themed vocabulary lists, then I have it put it in a format that Anki can read, drop it in a spreadsheet, save it as the appropriate file type, import into Anki, and bam, I have a deck to review.
There's two ways I do Anki reviews.
Bare Minimum and Revision.
Bare Minimum is pick a deck, flip through a few cards. If I recall the meaning of the word/character easily, I mark it accordingly. If I struggle, I mark it so it comes up in review again sooner.
Revision means I'm going to add more to that card. Initially, it might have the target language meaning and the English meaning (and a transliteration to English if necessary). On a revision, I might find an audio (I bought a year long subscription to PurpleCulture.net because it allows you to download pronunciation audio clips that I can add to my Obsidian vault and Anki cards.) On another revision, I might find a picture or two that illustrates the concept. On the next, I'll add some example sentences that use the word. Each time I do a revision review, I'm trying to engage more deeply with the word, building new connections so that I don't "remember" it, I "acquire" it.
I do my Anki reviews before I watch content in the language. Going to watch and episode of Till the End of the Moon? I'll load up my TTEOTM themed Anki deck which is built by taking the transcripts from the show, copy/pasting them to ChatGPT, and asking it for vocabulary lists. Example sentences are sentences from the show.
Then when I'm watching episodes, I'm listening for the words and phrases from the Anki review.
Do it consistently enough, and bam you learn a language. Which is just super cool.
How fast though really just depends on how much you do. I went hard on Chinese. 6-8 hours a day for six months. And when I took a break because I'd decided to return to college after a two-decade pause on my degree and had to adjust to that, I lost a good bit of the vocab that I'd had before - though thankfully, it's clicking back in rather quickly as I get into a better groove on that.
And since I like a challenge, as mentioned before, I'm learning Korean. Picking up the reading of it has been way easier than Chinese, but I haven't really put as much into it as I did with Chinese, so I'm not picking it up as fast. Just haven't really found that groove with it like I did with Chinese - but that actually took me a few weeks to do! I'm still flirting with Korean, finding that spark, and I'm okay with that.
Because I'm here for the process. It's fascinating to watch my mind and perceptions of the world change as I explore new languages, with come with new ways of conceiving of things and prioritizing those conceptions.
And if I don't find a spark with Korean? There's a whole bunch of other languages to spark with :D