Most of my language lea…

Read more

Since my last update a year ago, my French has been tested in unexpected ways. Not just through the DELF exam, which I took and passed earlier this year, but through everyday interactions, conversations, and moments inside classrooms.

Despite preparing for the DELF exam and sharing exam study updates, this past year looked very different from the ones before it. For the first time in my French learning journey, I didn’t do much studying at all. Instead, I used the language.

🥳 Subscribe Now - 33% Off

Moving Between Classrooms

In my previous update, I reflected on moving from beginner to intermediate French while working in a French classroom. I was out of my comfort zone every single day, from implementing classroom programming to navigating the administrative side of the role while attempting to improve my French.

I ended my time in that classroom around the same time I took my DELF exam. When I left, many of the families I had worked with were surprised to learn that I had started in that role without knowing French and that I wasn’t a native speaker.

Since my time there, I’ve been working in many different French classrooms. This change meant introducing myself, meeting new teachers and working with people who had no context for my language background. In a way, these experiences made my French feel more “real.” Everyone assumed I was either a native, someone who went to French immersion or at the very least had many years of exposure to the language.

I had a memorable conversation with a teacher from France who was surprised to learn that I wasn’t from a French-speaking country and hadn’t attended a French immersion school. When she found out I had been self-studying for the past 3 years, she told me my French didn’t sound like what she’d expect from someone who hadn’t grown up with it.1

As some of us know, some French people can be particular about the French language. I took it as a compliment as it reinforced one of my core beliefs about language learning. Progress comes from the environments I’m in, where I get to use, hear, speak, and live the language.

What a Classroom Can Teach You

More recently, I met a teacher who has been teaching for decades and will be retiring at the end of this school year. After I introduced myself, she shared that she also isn’t a native speaker and only started learning French at university. Yet while teaching, she spoke French nearly 100% of the time. It was one of the best French classrooms I’ve ever been in. The lessons were engaging, and the students’ abilities were impressive, especially considering that most of them were Anglophone or spoke a language other than French at home.

There was one moment that really stayed with me. The students were playing with a plant box filled with leaves, and one child said, “It’s a pool!” I responded, “Oui, une piscine.” A few moments later, the same student said, “Une piscine de feuilles.”2

I was so impressed that I asked if she spoke French at home. She confidently said no.

“Only at school?” I asked.

She nodded.

I really didn’t want to believe it. “All the French you know is from school?”

Another nod, as if there was nothing remarkable about that at all.

You’d assume that students in French immersion naturally speak French confidently, even if they’re Anglophone. In my experience, that isn’t always the case. Many students understand but hesitate to speak, often needing multiple prompts and responding with single words.

While I wasn’t in French immersion, my experience was that of succeeding well in French classes but never developing the skill of speaking or understanding the language.

In this case, I think the student’s abilities are a testament to the teacher’s curriculum and lessons, which were structured in a way that allows students to understand both the material itself and the French language.

Teaching as My Language Environment

Most of my French learning has happened while I’ve been in the role of a teacher. When I speak French, it’s usually with students, colleagues, or parents. My French exists in a classroom context, and that has shaped the way I use and understand the language.

One experience I didn’t expect was how strange it would feel to return to an English classroom after spending so much time in French ones. I’d say something in English and immediately want to repeat it in French. Sometimes I’d accidentally start speaking French before realizing the students or teachers wouldn’t understand me. This even happened with staff, I’d go to ask a question in French and then remember that not everyone speaks it.

It has been reassuring to notice how natural French feels. Earlier in my journey, I felt uncomfortable using the language. I lacked vocabulary and confidence, and everything felt like a challenge. Now, there are phrases I’ve said hundreds of times. Especially in the classroom, French comes more automatically.

Noticing the Gaps

Last year, I shared that while I was improving, I felt like the French around me had decreased. Either my level had improved enough that immersion wasn’t giving me as much new input, or simply less French was being spoken around me.

Since entering new classrooms and working with new teachers, I’ve noticed that I’m having more moments where I realize I don’t know how to say something. And surprisingly, that feels like progress. I realized I didn’t know how to say “stacked” when I wanted to ask if the chairs were supposed to be stacked on the tables at the end of the day. I noticed that I wanted to say “le linge”3 when telling the students to get in line, when it should be “la ligne.” And today, when I wanted to inform a teacher in another room that the toilet wasn’t working, I noticed that she had used a different gender for the noun and the word “ne marche pas” instead of “ne fonctionne pas.”4

I like learning, and I like novelty. Working in French has forced me to relearn everything I know about teaching and education, from songs to routines, and strategies to bring back attention. At this point, teaching in English sometimes feels slightly unnatural.

There was a moment in an English classroom when I wanted to get the children’s attention, and I realized all my go-to strategies were in French. I wanted to sing, but I couldn’t think of any English equivalents to the French songs I know. So I sang a French song instead. Songs are universal, and sometimes unfamiliar things make moments more interesting.

That same day, a student handed me a book, The Very Sleepy Bear, and told me to read it. I had never read it before. As I started reading aloud, I was taken back to my first year in a French classroom, when even simple books made me nervous because the pronunciation felt daunting. In English, I felt expressive and confident. That contrast reminded me of how far I’ve come and how much room there still is to grow.

What Three Years Have Taught Me

My experience over the past three years has made one thing very clear: improvement comes from being put in new situations and choosing to engage anyway. You try, you make mistakes, and with time, when you look back, progress becomes noticeable.

Learning a language takes time. This year has been evidence of that for me. I feel comfortable using French, and I no longer feel uncomfortable calling myself bilingual if asked.

As more time passes, I’m grateful to my past self for deciding to relearn French, even without knowing where it would lead.

In these three years, I have not only learned a language but gained confidence and, most of all, learned how to be me.

Earlier Reflections

Want to read more about how it all started? Here are my earlier reflections on learning French:

• 2 Years Relearning French: Reflections from My First Year in a French Classroom

• 1.5 Years Relearning French

• 1 Year Relearning French

• 9 Months Relearning French

• (The start) Relearning French

As always, thank you for reading and subscribing! 💌

Share

📝 Since The Last Update

In the past 6 months since my last update in November, I’ve had wonderful experiences in French.

1. Joined my first French group class

2. Visited Montreal, Quebec

3. Used French with different people and in contexts outside of work

My confidence and comfort with the French language have grown even more since my last update. As time passes, I feel I’m getting closer to finally feeling at ease with the language.

📊 Current Stats

Here are my total hours of French study from November 4th, 2022 until May 5th, 2024.

At the 1 year mark, I had tracked 294 hours of French. At 1.5 years I have a total of 553 hours which is an increase of 88%. Most of the increase is thanks to the 40-hour 1 week challenge I completed in March which resulted in over 71 hours of study time for the month.

As I get further and further into my French journey, I’ve been spending less time with my other target languages. Sometimes this means more time for French but overall, my average time results in an hour per day or around 30 hours per month.

I love visualizing my tracked study time. I’m quick to move on to the next thing but creating these update posts helps me look back and see where all my effort goes. I use Toggl to track which helps me provide weekly updates through my study logs.

Share Study Notepad: Language Studies

⏭️ Going Forward

Until I reach the goal of conversational “fluency”, I will still be aiming to fill in the gaps I have when communicating in French at work. At the year mark, I mentioned that I would like to achieve that goal around the two-year mark in November of this year. Part of me wants to change that goal as I know I’m unlikely to reach it due to my constant focus on what I still can’t do or say.

Still, I’ll leave the goal as it is because it is my ultimate goal. The question is whether I’ll need some more time to get there.

I’ve still been considering taking a DELF exam this year. Although I have no requirement to take it, I believe it’ll be a good challenge in helping me get to where I want to be.

Since I can be hard on myself, I try to remember what I said in my last update,

My consistent effort will result in progress.

I care more about the journey than the destination. This journey has already taken me to more places than I’ve expected to ever be.

If you’re new around here, please fill out this new reader survey.

Start Survey

📑 You May Be Interested In

A time-tracking app isn’t necessary, it’s just what I use now. In the past, I’ve used a Google doc where I typed out my time and later inputted those numbers to create my charts.

The time tracking app I use is Toggl Track. If you're already using it or thinking about giving it a try, I want to point out that it comes with built-in charts. This means you don't necessarily have to go through the extra step of creating your own charts like I do. If you're satisfied with those charts, they're a great tool for gaining insights into your study time.

Since I wanted more customizability, I chose to make my own charts by importing my tracked data from Toggl into Google Sheets. I'll be showcasing both my weekly and monthly charts as the process remains essentially the same for both. As a bonus, I've also included an explanation of how I created my pixel grid.

📆 Weekly

📃 The Table

To start, I head to the reports page and navigate to the weekly view. From there, I hit Export and Download the CSV file. This action exports the time data into a spreadsheet file, ready for import into Google Sheets.

• Reports page → weekly view → Export → Download CSV

To streamline the process, I stick to using the same Google Sheets file. This way, I simply replace last week’s study data with the new week's data, making the task much quicker. Exporting saves me time since I can easily copy and paste everything without issues. You can choose to import the exported CSV file into the template or have them on separate tabs to easily copy and paste.

Additionally, I prefer my dates in the format DD/MM/YYYY rather than Toggl's default YYYY-MM-DD. To change it, I follow these steps: Select the dates, go to Format, then choose Number, and finally, select Date.

• Select the dates → Format → Number → Date.

📊 The Column Chart

When I was consistently learning five languages, I used the column chart with a legend featuring the names of those languages at the top. However, since most weeks I’m only tracking 1-3 languages, I've transitioned to using a stacked column chart. The template includes both for you to test out.

Most of you who are now used to my weekly and monthly study recaps can easily identify which language each colour represents so I’ve chosen to remove the legend. If needed, the legend can be added, though I prefer to keep the chart basic as it’s part of my weekly recap, which already includes additional supporting information.

If there are unnecessary labels on your chart, you can delete the corresponding values instead of leaving them as 0:00:00 to prevent them from showing up. Sometimes, deleting values can alter the colours of the remaining values, which is why I choose to hide the legend. Since I create these charts every week, efficiency in the creation process is important to me so I do what works.

Customizing Charts

When editing the chart, you have the option to include data labels. Here are my preferred data label settings. Feel free to adjust the text and colour to your liking.

Share Study Notepad: Language Studies

🥧 The Pie Chart

Weekly

The pie chart is much simpler as all I do is input the total hours studied for the week. I usually type it in by editing the 00:00:00.000 format. At some point I had put in a custom number format [h]"h "mm"m" because I wanted the labelled values to show up as 00h00m.

To create the chart, I select the language names and durations, insert a chart, choose the pie chart type, and customize it to my preference.

• Select the language names and durations → insert chart → (chart type) pie chart

Monthly Tracked Activities

For the monthly tracked activities, I use the data from Toggl's Reports page to view a full month summary, which I export as a CSV file. This provides me with a list of every activity I tracked in each language during the month. Next, I select the description and duration columns for one language, insert a chart, choose the pie chart type, and then proceed to customize the chart by adjusting the title, fonts, and finally adding labels to the pie slices.

• Select the description and duration columns for one language → insert chart → (chart type) pie chart

📅 Monthly Chart

The data values for my monthly chart are quite straightforward. I use Toggl and simply type out the numbers in a list. Then, I select all the values in that list, insert a chart, and change the chart type to a Column chart. This same format can also be used if you're creating a yearly chart, with the study time in each month serving as your values.

• Select all values in the list → insert chart → (chart type) to Column chart

✨ Pixel Grid

Last year, I wanted to visualize the language I spent the most time learning each day, so I decided to create a pixel grid. Although the result is simple, deciding how I wanted it to look took some time.

Each grid is coloured according to the language that was most studied for that day. Below, there's another line grid to indicate the language studied the most each month.

I found the pixel grid extremely helpful in understanding my language learning habits throughout the year. You can use the grid to track any type of habit by simply changing the legend.

⭐ Templates

You can create your own spreadsheets using my explanations but if you’d like a template to use as a base or play around with, I have created a language study log template and a pixel grid.

Get your templates

I hope you find them useful!

The language study log template includes:

• Weekly pie chart

• Weekly bar chart

• Monthly bar chart

• Monthly pie chart

• Monthly tracked activities pie charts

Got a question about the templates? Feel free to send me a message.

You can also leave a comment about how you track your studies or if you prefer not to track.

Leave a comment

If you’re also a language learner, I tag you to make your tier list. I used tiermaker to create mine by uploading the logos of the language apps I’ve used. shared her tier lists in two parts (part 1 & part 2).

The Tier List

My tier list reflects my personal experiences with each app. To determine where each app belongs in the tiers, I considered the following questions:

• Do I still actively use the app?

• Did I enjoy using the app when I used it?

• Does the app support learning multiple languages?

• If the app focuses on one language, does it effectively fulfill its intended purpose?

• Is the app free? Does it have a lifetime option if paid?

This list isn’t final as I may encounter new apps or reassess my feelings toward current ones. As of now, this is my ranking.

Ranking Criteria

• Everything I need and more: Self-explanatory; the apps in this tier provide an immersive language learning experience with abundant additional features to aid learning. Bonus points if they support multiple languages.

• Good stuff: Enjoyable to use; I eagerly return to learn with each app in this tier.

• Gets the job done: While I may not use these apps as frequently, they show me noticeable progress in my language development.

• Average: Less likely to be used frequently; these apps feel repetitive and lead to boredom.

• Heading-inducing: Causes headaches when using.

My Ranking

I ranked a total of 23 language apps. One fell into the "Everything I need & more" tier, six in "Good stuff," seven in "Gets the job done," eight in "Average," and one unfortunate app ended up in the "Headache-inducing" tier.

If you were to rank the same apps, would your ranking look the same?

Explaining my ranking

Everything I need & more: Languageplayer.io!

• Languageplayer is my app of choice when I want to immerse and learn at the same time.

Good stuff: Pleco, Ylhýra, Kaards (review), JPDB.io, Anki & Italki

• All of these apps except for Italki are vocabulary apps. I find them great for quickly creating custom cards or for using premade cards. Italki stands out for its ability to connect me with teachers who align with my learning style, especially for speaking practice.

Gets the job done: Journaly, Memrise, Apprendre le français (TV5MONDE), Satori Reader, DuChinese, Tandem & Mauril

• These apps are all great at what they aim to do. If I need corrections on my writing, Journaly is where I can go to get feedback from native speakers or other learners. If I want to work on my reading in Japanese or Mandarin, Satori Reader & DuChinese is there for support while Tandem is great for language exchange through speaking or writing.

Average: Lingq, Lingodeer, Bussu, Mango Languages, Skritter, Clozemaster, Drops & Speakly

• These apps fall into the “average” tier because after using them for a while, I quickly forget about them. In the case of Bussu & Speakly, I found it hard to continue using the app as the free versions didn’t offer much.

Headache inducing: Duolingo

• Duolingo gives me headaches. That’s all.

This list isn’t comprehensive as I’m sure I’ve forgotten a few apps. I’ve also not included apps I’ve never used even if they are well-known apps.

If you're interested in reviews for any of these apps, feel free to reach out!

Leave a comment

Some apps in my tier list were mentioned in this post about listening and this post about reading in Mandarin.

I had the idea for this post four months ago but procrastinated on it for a while. Part of the reason is because I stopped using Duolingo. Whenever I tried reusing the app, I'd get mixed feelings again.

Duolingo is fine, lots of people love it, but I couldn’t stick with it.

⌛ My 10-Year History With Duolingo

Almost a year ago I started using Duolingo to learn French outside of school. I was excited because I was finally taking my French studies into my own hands but I quickly lost interest in the app 3 levels in.

I caught the language learning bug and stumbled on Cantonese. Duolingo didn’t have that option so I went on to study elsewhere. When Mandarin caught my eye, I gave the Duolingo course a try.

Despite my long-term focus on learning Mandarin, I actively avoided using Duolingo and turned to every other resource available. Even as I saw improvement and could easily pass through levels, Duolingo still couldn’t keep me interested.

A year ago, when I made the decision to relearn French, Duolingo was among the initial apps I turned to. I figured that perhaps my initial struggle with French was due to my lack of experience in self-learning a language. Additionally, I assumed that Mandarin required a specialized app, like LingoDeer,1 tailored made just that language.

With experience in self-learning Cantonese and Mandarin, and considering French was one of the better-supported languages on Duolingo, I thought everything would be easier this time around.

Initially, everything seemed fine, and I was eager for the latest Duolingo update. The update would transform the course layout from a tree structure to a sequential path. As I was starting fresh with French, I thought this change would help me better track my progress. However, my enthusiasm quickly waned when I discovered that stories, a feature I was excited about, were now locked behind progression on the path, rather than being easily accessible in a separate section as they were before.

Without the stories feature, my interest in the app dropped even lower.

🎮 Gamification

Many people rave about Duolingo for its gamified approach and the dopamine boosts it offers its users.

However, my own journey with Duolingo has been quite the opposite. Instead of enjoyment, I mostly felt stressed and annoyed. Completing each level seemed monotonous, and every mistake felt like a setback rather than a natural part of learning. It lacked the fun or gamified feel it claimed to have.

I've realized that the kind of gamification that resonates with me involves numbers, statistics, and a deeper level of analysis. Duolingo incorporates some of this through their weekly recaps, but it isn’t enough.

Even before I started using Toggl for tracking my language study, I was using other tools such as spreadsheets. The process of creating my spreadsheets and looking at how I spent my time has become an integral part of my language learning journey.

With these charts and spreadsheets, I have a snapshot of how my day, week or month was spent learning a certain language. Duolingo on the other hand, even with its weekly reports, feels like a chore, not a game.

📢 Marketing: Passive Aggressiveness

When I stopped using the app earlier this year I received an email titled “You made Duo sad”. The email seemed to suggest that if you aren’t using Duolingo, you’re off track. It almost implies that people who use Duolingo aren’t also using other resources. Thus, not using Duolingo means you won’t progress in the language you are learning.

What Duolingo has going for it is their marketing and how do I say it, memes? I see the appeal, even though the emails and notifications can be passive-aggressive, there is humour in some of them. The likelihood that they’ll turn into memes probably increases their users.

Despite my ramblings, I haven't covered whether the app works, mainly because I've hardly used it enough to see any benefits. I’ve always wanted Duolingo to work for me and wondered how people could maintain year-long streaks.

Even trying out Duolingo's free trials couldn't hook me into using the app consistently.

In the grand scheme, we all vary in what works best for us. Don't worry if a specific tool doesn't suit you. It doesn't mean you're falling behind.

What are your thoughts on Duolingo?

Leave a comment

📝 Since The Last Update

It’s been a whole year of relearning French! In my 9-month update, I celebrated surpassing the false beginner stage, entering a phase where I could make connections and expand my understanding as a beginner. Now, this feeling persists as French gradually becomes more familiar. I find myself encountering more instances of French in my day-to-day life outside of work as if the language has become more prominent around me.

Interacting with families from diverse French backgrounds at work has made me feel part of a community. French, unlike many other languages, spans multiple countries, each with its different cultures. Exploring these diverse French cultures adds an interesting layer to my language-learning journey, which adds to my feelings of connection. This contrasts my school experience with French, where I felt disconnected. Now, I feel I’m able to create my own story with the language.

📊 Current Stats

As of November 4th, 2023, I have just under 300 hours (296 to be exact) of tracked study time. Once I started working in a French environment back in August, I estimated the exposure I got at work and tracked it as “immersion”. Since I was estimating I tended to underestimate rather than overestimate my hours.

Tracking my hours serves to outline the activities I do in my target languages and how I spend my time. According to my French-tracked time on Toggl, I have spent most of my time listening (YouTube, shows, audiobooks, and podcasts) and reading. If you’re interested in reading what I do each week, you can check out my weekly study logs.

⏭️ Going Forward

Given my daily use of French at work, my aim is to attain a level where using English becomes a deliberate choice rather than a necessity due to gaps in my French vocabulary. This goal, essentially aspiring for complete fluency, is more of a long-term goal for me however I would like to achieve this milestone around my two-year mark in November 2024 or at least, sooner rather than later.

Improving my French proficiency aligns with my commitment to better support my students in learning French and communicating with French families. Whether I achieve 'fluency' within a year or longer, I'm certain that my consistent effort will result in progress.

Share Study Notepad: Language Studies

While I don’t consider myself an expert, I enjoy sharing insights into my language-learning experiences. Some of the questions posed coincide with the questions I have. Question 4 for example is one I’ve recently asked myself. Answering the question helped me figure out where I needed to go to continue progressing.

Thank you for the questions and thank you for subscribing.

I’d like to do more frequent Q&As in the future.

Leave any questions you may have here or join the chat!

Q&A

Q1: How do you approach conversation classes? e.g. do you ask the tutor to pick a topic or do you decide what to focus on?

I’m relatively new to conversation classes in my language-learning journey! I had my first conversation lesson four years into learning Mandarin. However, for French, I prioritized lessons sooner as I wanted to develop my speaking skills along with other skills.

I approach conversation classes in two ways: 

1. Casual Conversations on Various Topics (usually daily life) 

During my casual conversations, my tutor may prompt me by asking a question such as what my plans are for the weekend. The conversation then flows naturally based on my plans and interests.

2. Audio Practice and Feedback

Occasionally, I practice speaking by recording my voice on my phone. Sometimes, I choose one of my audio logs to share with my tutor. During a lesson, my tutor and I listen to the recording. My tutor then offers feedback on areas such as pronunciation and grammar.

Q2: Do you have any strategies for finding content in your target languages that interests you, and is somewhat appropriate for your level?

Finding content that matches your level can be challenging especially when it comes to your interests. For example, I like reading, and the genre I enjoy reading the most is science fiction. Depending on the book, reading sci-fi can be a challenge because of the concepts.

To answer your question though, here is a list of strategies categorized into reading and watching/listening: 

Reading Strategies

• Choose books with visuals so you don't have to rely only on text (e.g., graphic novels) 

• Combine reading with listening to an audiobook

  • If your listening skills surpass your reading skills, you may comprehend more by listening

• Read graded readers which are designed for learners

Watching/Listening Strategies

• Watch media with subtitles to aid your comprehension (reading be helpful if the speech is too fast to understand)

• Listen to audio/watch videos with transcripts/subtitles

• Explore videos and podcasts created for language learners

Additional Tip: Use your personal interests to search for target language content that aligns with them. You may find that even with content above your level, you are able to stay engaged and make meaning.

Q3. How does that language quest thing work? It looks really cool! Thanks for sharing it

Language Quests is a challenge made by Jo Renee Languages. The quests change each month and are a fun way to change your language-learning routine! 

Q4: How do you get past the beginner level in a language completely different from your own?

Start, put in consistent effort, repeat. I think that's how I would summarize going from beginner to intermediate in Mandarin. Stay persistent and enjoy the journey along the way.

Despite my answer, it feels inadequate especially as I am working to the intermediate level in all my French skills. If you also feel my answer was inadequate, I hope these actionable steps are beneficial.

1. Prioritize extensive listening at the beginning stages. If your target language is completely different from your native language, you likely haven’t been exposed enough to the sounds. Listen to people speaking the language and notice how the language sounds. 

2. Expand your foundational vocabulary to increase your comprehension of the spoken language. You can do this by using flashcards, textbooks or by writing down the words you hear often. 

3. Output what you can. Personally, creating audio logs was the best for me at the beginning. Recording yourself encourages continuous speech, and minimizes unnecessary pauses. This helps you transition into thinking in your target language rather than translating.

4. Get feedback. You don't know what you don't know. Give yourself feedback (if you have enough knowledge/awareness to listen to recordings and correct yourself) and/or get feedback from tutors or language partners.  

Extra Resources

If you’re new here, I have some posts that can provide more information for those of you looking for more actionable steps. Some of these posts are specific to Mandarin but they also include useful tips for any language!

1. Understanding Native Speech

2. Improving Your Listening Skills (Mandarin)

3. Learning Vocabulary in Another Language

4. Developing Your Reading Skills (Mandarin)

For more, you can always check out this page:

My Language Tips & Resources

The Last Q&A:

Share Study Notepad: Language Studies

Learning a language is a long journey where we may encounter discouraging moments from time to time. I hope these reminders can help you stay consistent in your language learning journey.

🎯 Routines, Plans and Goals

• Your language learning routine is yours

• You don't need to use that app just because that polyglot uses it

• Achieving fluency doesn’t have to be your only goal

• You don't need to study 3 hours a day because someone said it’s the fastest way to become fluent

• You can change or postpone your goals if they aren’t working for you

• Using planners and tracking apps can keep you on track but what’s most important is the effectiveness of your studies

• You don’t need to be a polyglot

📚 Resources

• You don't need to learn 15 cards daily on Anki to increase your vocabulary

• Spaced repetition systems aren’t the only way to learn a language

• You don't need to buy another textbook

• You can move on to other resources

• Free resources are just as good as paid resources

• It’s okay to dabble in resources

• Listening to music in your target language can be useful in learning new words and phrases

• Comprehensible input has its benefits but the best type of resource is the one you’ll actually use

💡 Skills and Abilities

• You don't need to speak from day one

• You don't need to wait until you've mastered everything to start speaking

• It’s okay to forget words

• Don’t worry if you don’t have perfect pronunciation

• If you don’t want to read in your target language, that’s okay

• Don’t be afraid to talk to native speakers

• Not all of your language skills will be at the same levels

• It’s okay to make grammar mistakes

• Language tests don’t tell you everything about your language abilities

• Native media isn’t so scary

• Dreaming in another language is fun but it doesn’t always mean you’ve reached fluency

🧠 Mindset

• If language learning is just a hobby, enjoy it

• Know your limits—sometimes its better to do a little bit than push yourself too hard

• Step out of your comfort zones and challenge yourself from time to time

• Now may not be the right time to learn that language

• You can always return to a language and relearn it at a later date

• There’s nothing wrong with dabbling in multiple languages

Are there any reminders you’d like to share with other language learners?

Leave a comment

📢 A shoutout to other language-learning newsletters

Reading about other language learners keeps me consistent when I start to feel discouraged.

Here are a few you should check out if you haven’t yet.

4. Speaking in Tongues

5. Language Travel Adoptee

If you’ve been thinking about documenting your language learning journey, this is your sign to make a blog or newsletter.

You can read about why I created a language learning newsletter here.

In every language, there are differences in the ways native speakers communicate. What is shared between native speakers is their ability to use language quickly and effectively.

📝 Realizations

This idea of native speech came to be during a conversation with my coworker.

One of my coworkers mentioned that she sometimes has a hard time understanding our boss. She also added that she sometimes even has a hard time understanding me and our other coworkers. We are co-teachers in the same classroom so we communicate the most throughout the day. I apologized because I know that I don't enunciate all the time and mess up my words when I speak. My coworker said that none of that was the issue.

The reason why she had a hard time understanding was because we were all native English speakers and she wasn't. My co-teacher is from Afghanistan and lived in Russia before coming to Canada. She speaks at least 3 to 4 languages with English being her most recent. My co-teacher mentioned that in her past work experiences, she did not have any difficulty understanding her coworkers because they were also not native speakers.

She said when she speaks her native language, she's much quicker at speaking and can understand fast speech. When it comes to English, it takes her some time to comprehend before she can respond.

Communicating with my co-teacher was easy. I felt comfortable speaking normally because she understood me. She did understand me, but there were levels and obstacles she had to get through to fully comprehend.

What my co-teacher identified was a phenomenon of how native speakers communicate with one another. Additional variations can be found in how native speakers of different generations communicate. While I understand how the children in my classroom talk, I hear a lot of slang and phrases I know would probably go over the heads of older teachers.

Speech changes over time. As someone learning another language, it can feel difficult to catch up.

My Experience Understanding Native Speech

Most of my experience listening to native speakers of my target languages has involved listening to media such as tv shows, videos and podcasts. In these contexts, there is no expectation for me to respond.

While it is still a challenge to understand, there is no pressure to confirm my comprehension. I don’t have to agree or disagree with a question or form a response. Even still, a lack of exposure to native speech can make it difficult to understand what is happening even if I understand all the words.

Language learners sometimes experience understanding visual media like movies when there are subtitles available but lose all comprehension when subtitles are turned off. When we read as we listen, we notice words we know. Without subtitles, we are left to comprehend based on sounds alone. If we are not exposed to native speech, it can feel like we are hearing words for the first time due to the ways they are pronounced.

Some Challenges of Native Speech

Speed

The rate at which native speakers speak can result in words becoming shortened to a few sounds.

Slang and Idioms

A complex idea can be conveyed in a few words with the use of slang or idioms. Simple messages can be layered with metaphors or sarcasm that may be missed by a non-native speaker.

Understanding Native Speech When Learning Another Language

How exactly can you start understanding native speech? The answer is the same as with any other skill you want to learn or develop. Listen to native speech.

But first, you should probably have a good understanding of the sounds in the language. When I first started learning Mandarin, I didn’t know when the sound of one word started and ended. It all sounded like one long run-on sentence because I did not understand the language's speech patterns. Although this post was written for Mandarin learners, I recommend using comprehensible input and subtitles when you start listening to your target language.

Not all speech is the same

We speak differently depending on who we are talking to or the environment we are in. Thus, getting a variety of exposure to native speakers in different contexts is vital to understanding native speech. While your language teacher may be easy to understand, it’s likely your teacher has adapted their speech to be comprehensible to you.

Exposing yourself to speakers with different accents provides you with a deeper understanding of the language. Over time, you will form holistic conceptualizations of the language as you notice intonation, stress and rhythm patterns.

General Tips

• Subtitles can help when “studying” language patterns. Notice when subtitles don’t match what the speaker said. Were certain sounds missing or pronounced differently than expected?

• To actually understand native speech, don’t rely on subtitles. In real conversations, there are no subtitles. Get used to listening to native speech without tools.

• Use authentic media especially ones that involve colloquial speech (variety shows, podcasts, YouTube videos). You’re more likely to have speakers naturally talk over each other unlike in movies and tv shows.

• Stay consistent

  • If you don’t hear your TL often, you’ll have to be intentional about exposing yourself to native speech

• Embrace ambiguity

  • It’s okay to feel lost and confused sometimes. Even if you don’t notice the progress, you’re still noticing patterns.

Do you have any other tips to add?

Leave a comment

A big thank you to you all for reading this newsletter. I just hit a subscriber milestone! Thanks for being here.

📝 Goal Setting and Making Plans

We are about halfway through the year. At this point, you’re either still going strong with your goals or have already given up on them.

Setting goals can make us motivated to be productive. I know that having a monthly plan for my languages keeps me on track. However, goals and plans can get overwhelming when we start to fall behind due to time constraints or lack of interest.

❗ When to Put Resources on Hold

There are a few reasons you may decide to put resources or your goals on hold:

1. Lack of interest

2. Lack of time

3. Increased pressure from arbitrary deadlines

🥱 Lack of interest

When you set a goal to complete a resource that may take a few months, it’s hard to imagine how you may feel using that resource months down the line.

At the start of the year, I made a plan to complete both HSK 5 textbooks and the Chinese Zero to Hero course this summer. I was making good progress toward that goal but I realized I didn’t enjoy using the textbook. Even though I lost interest and wanted to try new resources, I felt that I had to continue using the resource to make progress. Eventually, I moved on to another resource once I completed the first textbook.

🕐 Lack of time

Sometimes using too many resources at once can reduce the time you have available for each resource. At one point I was using over 3 resources for French at the same time. There isn’t anything wrong with this except for the fact that I was expecting to progress with each resource as if they were the only resource I was using. Although I did make progress, it wasn’t to the amount I wanted because I was splitting my time among multiple resources. When I decided to put the apps on hold and focus on completing my French textbook, I found I made more progress.

📣 Increased pressure from arbitrary deadlines

Unless you have a tutor or are taking a language course, the deadlines you set for your goals are arbitrary. The benefit is that you can easily shift deadlines. Sometimes, though, we focus too much on completing a resource within a deadline that we rush through just to complete it.

I experienced this when I was completing my French textbook, Liberté. The textbook was exciting at first but halfway through I started to lose interest. I should’ve put the resource on hold but I instead chose to complete it because I had a deadline. I wanted to feel a sense of accomplishment for completing the whole textbook. Forcing myself to complete the textbook by my deadline made working through each chapter a chore. I’m sure I barely retained any information.

If you’re feeling stuck or uninterested in your language-learning journey, maybe it’s time to reevaluate your goals and put some resources on hold. You can always go back to them in the future!

What’s your experience working towards your language goals? Do you ever move on from resources or put them on hold? Let me know!

Leave a comment

📚 Why Listen in Mandarin Chinese?

Listening is not only important when communicating with people but also when watching media such as dramas and videos.

Not all listening materials are the same. Speech in some dramas can be clear while podcasts may include slurred speech with multiple people talking over one another. One way to improve your listening skill is to listen to a variety of speakers in different contexts.

💭 What To Consider When You Start Listening

Active and Passive Listening

Active listening occurs when you are completely focused and able to understand what you are listening to. An example of this is watching a show you comprehend or that is made comprehensible through subtitles or other tools.

Passive listening, on the other hand, involves partial focus. This can involve listening to a podcast that you don’t completely understand due to a lack of vocabulary or multitasking while listening.

Comprehensible Input

Comprehensible input in Mandarin is hard to come by when you have a limited understanding of the language. Content made by teachers for Mandarin learners is often made to be comprehensible based on skill level. Native content such as videos and podcasts can be made comprehensible with subtitles or vocabulary lists.

Subtitles

Beginners may wonder if substiles should be used when listening. Some people question whether subtitles reduce the benefits you get from purely listening.

The use of subtitles depends on your skill level. If you have not yet started reading in Mandarin, target language subtitles may not be helpful. However, listening to your TL with English (or native language) subs can be useful for a Beginner. While you may not understand everything you hear, the media you consume will be understandable because of the subtitles.

The majority of Chinese shows have hardcoded subtitles. These are subtitles that you cannot toggle on or off. If you are watching a drama on youtube with Mandarin hardcoded subtitles, you can benefit from toggling on subtitles in English as well. The result is having both TL and native language subs visible at the same time. Learning new words and making connections is easier with the help of dual subtitles.

Mainland Dramas or Taiwanese Dramas

At the start, you’ll barely be able to tell a difference between accents spoken by various Mandarin speakers. I’d recommend watching whatever peaks your interest and is available to you. Don’t worry about accents unless you have a strong preference for one over the other.

My Experience Listening in Mandarin

It’s been over 5 years since I started learning Mandarin. Listening was the first skill I started developing. I watched dramas with English subs to get exposed to the language. At the start, I couldn’t identify different accents or notice the differences between the ways people spoke.

All the listening I did helped me understand native speech. Even though my speaking skills are lower than my listening, I am able to have conversations with people since understanding is a big part of communicating.

💻 Apps to Make Listening Easier

1. Language Reactor

2. Language Player

Language Reactor

Language Reactor (LR) is a tool that makes learning with native material effective. The extension adds dual language subtitles along with popup dictionaries for videos on Netflix and YouTube. LR also has many other tools that enable you to learn vocabulary from the content you watch.

Language Player

Language Player (LP) has a similar goal as Language Reactor. With LP, you get interactive transcripts to look up words as you watch a show. My favourite feature is having the ability to search a word and find hundreds of examples of the word being said in video clips.

When I started sentence mining, I used Language Player to make Anki decks with audio from the shows I had watched.

🔊 Listening Resources + Recommendations

1. Dramas/Shows

2. Videos/Streams (YouTube/Bilibili)

3. Podcasts

4. Audiobooks

📺 Dramas/Shows

There’s always a new Cdrama to watch. To find dramas and shows to watch, I use MyDramaList. You can watch shows on Netflix, YouTube, Chinese websites (IQIYI, Tencent etc) and other streaming websites such as Viki.

Viki was my website of choice when I started watching dramas from Mainland China. To help language learners, Viki has a feature called Learn Mode. Learn Mode provides dual subtitles and allows you to interact with words.

Drama Recommendations

Here is a list of dramas in different genres I’ve watched or plan to watch. They mostly fall into the sci-fi, mystery and contemporary genres.

1. 开端 (Reset)

2. 三体 (Three-Body

3. 棋魂 (Hikaru no Go)

4. 庆余年 (Joy of Life)

5. 隐秘的角落 (The Bad Kids)

6. 都挺好 (All Is Well)

7. 你好，旧时光 (My Huckleberry Friends)

8. 家有儿女 (Home With Kids)

Share your drama recommendations in the comments!

Leave a comment

Variety Show Recommendations

Variety shows feature a lot of natural native speech. The list of shows I provided range from game shows to talk/debate shows.

1. 明星大侦探 (Who’s The Murderer)

2. 王牌对王牌 (Ace vs Ace)

3. 拜托了冰箱 (Go Fridge)

4. 奇葩说 (I Can I BB/U Can U BB)

📷 Videos/Streams

You can watch native content on YouTube and content made by Mandarin teachers to improve your listening. Bilibili is a Chinese video-sharing website like YouTube. It’s perfect for getting specific content from people living in China without having to sort through English videos.

If you already watch content in your native language on YouTube or other streaming websites, I recommend finding Mandarin speakers who also make the same content to listen to. Do you like watching gaming videos? Find a Chinese gamer to watch. Do you enjoy reading? Search up book recommendations on Bilibili to find people who talk about books.

An easy way to find TL channels to watch is by creating a separate channel on YT and setting your location to a country where Mandarin is spoken. Once you start watching videos, the YT algorithm will suggest similar videos to what you’ve already watched.

🎙️ Podcasts

Podcasts are great for both active and passive listening. Podcasts that are made for learners sometimes include transcripts and vocabulary lists to make your listening more comprehensible. Since some podcasts don’t have visuals, you can listen to them passively while you multitask.

Personally, I found that I preferred listening to podcasts with more than 1 speaker. Back-and-forth conversations are sometimes easier to follow since words may get repeated by different speakers. Multispeaker podcasts also expose you to how people naturally communicate with one another.

You can find podcasts on audio streaming platforms like Spotify, 喜马拉雅 (ximalaya). If your region doesn’t have access, you may have to use Himalaya instead of 喜马拉雅.

Podcast Recommendations

1. 打個電話給你 (One Call Away)

2. 瞎扯学中文 (Convo Chinese)

3. TCTL: 解答这个迷茫的时代

📚 Audiobooks

Audiobooks may be ideal for you if you already enjoy reading and prefer books to visual media. You can usually search for the name of a book and add “有声书” on YouTube or Google. 喜马拉雅 (or Himalaya) and 微信听书 have a large library of audiobooks that are free to listen to.

What is your experience listening in your target language and what listening resources do you use?

Leave a comment

📌 Other Mandarin Resources:

Subscribe now

This post is both a review and a reflection of my progress in Icelandic so far. At this point, I’ve spent a total of 62 hours learning Icelandic. Out of those hours, 13 to 14 hours were spent using the Beginner’s Icelandic (BI) textbook.

Before I started using BI, I spent time using Icelandic Online’s Survival Course and completed a few units on Ylhýra. In total, I’ve spent 27 hours using both.

In most of my experiences learning languages, textbooks were not my thing. I mostly watched shows and used YT videos to expose myself to the language. Beginner’s Icelandic is the first textbook that I have enjoyed using and wished there were more lessons.

🇮🇸 Beginner’s Icelandic

I’m all too familiar with learning languages that don’t have many resources (Cantonese). Beginner’s Icelandic was a textbook that initially felt too challenging for me when I first dabbled in Icelandic. At that time, all I had done is review a few cards on Memrise’s Icelandic course so my knowledge of Icelandic was next to none.

While the textbook is called Beginner’s Icelandic, I’ve found that having some knowledge of Icelandic (the alphabet, pronunciation, and a few words) goes a long way.

Before the first lesson, there are pages that go over pronunciation in Icelandic. I mostly skipped over this section because at the time I had no reference for what the letters in the alphabet were supposed to sound like. Once I got to the first lesson, I realized that not knowing any Icelandic would make using the textbook a challenge.

Despite the name, the textbook didn’t feel beginner friendly.

It wasn’t until I took a break from the textbook, and started using the Icelandic Online survival course and the Ylhýra website that I gained a foundational understanding of Icelandic. With this knowledge and awareness of the language, I was able to follow each lesson and make sense of what I was learning.

This post is supported by paid subscribers who allow me to share weekly study logs and language learning-related posts twice a week.

To support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber for 20% off until the end of summer.

Subscribe now

📖 Lesson Structure

The textbook is relatively short consisting of 14 lessons. Each lesson begins with a dialogue you can read and listen to if you have the audio. I didn’t have the audio so I focused on reading the dialogue and highlighting words or phrases that were new to me. Since I had used other materials and had already been exposed to “beginner” words, not every single word was new to me. This was rewarding as I could see the progress I had already made from other materials.

You can watch this study with me video where I work on a lesson in Beginner’s Icelandic.

💬 Vocabulary and Grammar

After each dialogue section is a list of vocabulary and sections that explain grammar points found in the dialogue.

Just reading the dialogue and the vocab list wasn’t enough for me to learn each word. When I started creating vocab decks on Kaards1 using the vocabulary lists in BI, I realized that many of the words I had seen in the first few lessons, I had already forgotten. The only ones I did remember were the words I had learned using Icelandic Online or Ylhýra. For me at least, some kind of flashcard tool or repetition method is necessary to retain vocabulary, especially as a beginner.

The explanations of verb conjugations and grammar points were helpful. Tables were included to show how verbs conjugated with the stems being highlighted. Conjugating verbs is new to me and I found that BI did a great job in simplifying and explaining grammar in each lesson.

✔️ Exercises

The exercises were my favourite part of the textbook!

If you’ve read my weekly study logs, you’ve heard me share how much I enjoyed correcting my mistakes. I’m usually hesitant to make mistakes in my other TLs but BI has made me look forward to practicing what I just learned and comparing my answers to the answer key.

Some exercises were easier than others but I still enjoyed noticing where I made a mistake. Mistakes show me what I need to work on and which lessons I may have to go back to review.

The exercises took only a few minutes to complete and completing a whole lesson took me 45 minutes on average. Knowing that I wouldn’t be spending hours to get through a lesson is also what made me enjoy my study sessions with BI.

❓ What’s next for me with Icelandic?

After 62 hours, I’m still very much so a beginner but I’m feeling good about my progress in Icelandic especially since it isn’t one of my focus languages.

If there were another textbook that followed Beginner’s Icelandic, I’d probably use it next. Since there isn’t one, I plan to use Teach Yourself’s Complete Icelandic along with the audio. Some of the topics and vocabulary are similar to BI but I think it’ll be a good way to learn more vocab and review some old ones.

📝 You may like to read my last Icelandic update

Know someone who is learning Icelandic? Consider sharing this post with them!

Share

🏡 Language Learning Comfort Zones

When you start learning a new language, it can be difficult to figure out where to start. For me, getting input was the first thing I did to learn Mandarin. I knew nothing and had no one around me who spoke Mandarin so the best way I could expose myself was to watch videos. Eventually, I started noticing new words, making flashcards and learning those words.

Over time I started to understand a higher percentage of what I was hearing and even reading. Listening, reading and learning vocab were my comfort zones. What was outside my comfort zone was using Mandarin to write or speak.

💬 Speaking, Outputting & Introversion

I’m an introvert which means I’m more comfortable doing things on my own. Speaking involves interacting with others while reading is something I already enjoy doing in English. While I’m sure my introversion had a lot to do with staying in my comfort zones, not having people to talk to or money to pay for language tutors also contributed to my lack of speaking.

I learned early on that the only way to get better at speaking and writing was to speak and write. I started practicing speaking with audio recordings using my phone whenever I felt like it. I still have the recording of the first time I spoke Mandarin 4 years ago. Even with my limited practice, I saw improvements with each recording.

Although audio recordings did help me improve my ability to think in Mandarin and form sentences, it wasn’t enough to develop conversational skills.

You don’t know what you don’t know until you’re put in a new situation.

Last year was the first year I stepped outside of my comfort zone and took my first conversation lesson on italki. Before then, I had one or two language exchange conversations and interacted with a bookseller at a Chinese bookstore (in person!). Those few interactions were positive and I always got good feedback. The conversations felt similar to what a conversation in English would be like for me. This is because even in English I’m more of a listener than a talker.

With all the listening I’ve done over the years, I’m able to understand what’s being said to me quite easily. When it’s my turn to speak though, I can communicate but my discomfort and lack of practice are evident. The most common feedback I’ve gotten from Mandarin tutors is that my listening skills are great and the only reason I don’t feel comfortable speaking is that I don’t speak enough.

The solution should be simple then, right?

Speak more.

Take more conversation classes.

Years ago when I was a student, my reasons for not taking conversation classes were the cost. Now, I know what’s holding me back isn’t necessarily the cost but my introversion.

As I said earlier, I listen more than I talk when I have conversations in English. I’m sure some of that transfers into Mandarin and my other target languages.

In Tanya’s video about not speaking her TLs, she shares that one of the reasons people don’t speak in their target language is because they are introverts. One comment in the video said,

Maybe that is the reason why I’m ok with just understanding languages, so I don’t have to get out of my comfort zone

Tanya also shares that social anxiety is what holds her back. It’s nice to know that I’m not alone. The main goals I have in my TLs are to read since books are something I enjoy. While I do like speaking my TLs, I am in no rush to speed up my speaking progress.

🌤️ Stepping Out of My Comfort Zone

In many ways writing this newsletter is stepping out of my comfort zone. I’m having to write out my thoughts and share them with anyone who will read it.

I’ve noticed that stepping out of my comfort zone in one area transfers into other areas. I won’t become an extrovert but maybe I’ll start doing more of the things that are outside my comfort zone.

How to step outside your comfort zone

It’s important to remind ourselves of the times when we have stepped out of our comfort zones, especially when we want to do it again. This reminder helps us increase our confidence and enables us to continue to develop our skills.

Here is a list of ways I’ve stepped outside of my comfort zone in Mandarin.

• I visited a Chinese bookstore, built up the courage to ask a question to the bookstore clerk and then had a conversation in Mandarin.

  • I was looking for the magazine section so I did what I would do in English in Mandarin and asked where the magazine section was.

• Had some language exchange conversations throughout my Mandarin journey.

• Took my first few conversation lessons with Mandarin tutors.

• Wrote articles for Path to Chinese Magazine issues and newsletters

  • I started out only illustrating because I didn’t think my writing abilities were good enough yet. By writing and having a reason to write, I started improving.

Advice to myself and anyone else wanting to step outside their comfort zone:

Start small.

❓ What about you?

What are your language learning comfort zones? Do you focus on learning grammar and not enough on increasing your vocab?

Are you like me, spending more time getting input and avoiding outputting?

Leave a comment

❔ Why Kaards?

I resisted calling this post anything that would allude to Kaards being a new Anki as it would be reductive to only compare Kaards to Anki. New tools, apps, and resources should be able to stand on their own without needing to take over.

Before I go into explaining what Kaards is and my first impressions of Kaards, I’d like to share why exactly I’m writing about Kaards. As a disclaimer, the Kaards team does not know I am writing this first impression post but I have shared the bugs and errors I encountered during my experience using Kaards.1

Where it All Started

I first learned about Kaards almost a year ago when it was mentioned in one of Lindie Bote’s language learning videos. All I knew at the time was that Kaards was available in German but would be available in other languages in the future. Since I wasn’t learning German, I assumed there would be no use in trying out Kaards.

While writing about how I learn vocabulary in my target languages and providing short reviews of spaced repetition tools, I remembered Kaards. I wanted to include Kaards in my post as I knew it was a flashcard tool with an SRS system. However, it didn’t feel right to include it without having used it myself.

I decided to try out Kaards for a few days (luckily there was a 7-day free trial) so I could include it in my list. I was willing to learn a little bit of German if it meant that was the only way I could test Kaards. It turns out that Kaards can be used like any other flashcard tool to create vocab cards for multiple languages, not just German.

Knowing what I know now about Kaards, this post is going to contain information I would’ve liked to know before using Kaards. It’s my hope that with more information, other language learners can decide whether Kaards is the right tool for them.

🃏 What is Kaards?

If you’re like me, then you need an enormous amount of information before committing to anything. Even after reading the Kaards website, and an article on Medium, it wasn’t clear to me if Kaards was something I could use to learn my target languages. This is one aspect of Kaards I think could be done better to accurately show what exactly Kaards is and does.

In the Medium article written in January 2022, the Kaards team describes Kaards as

“an app consisting of professionally made flashcard decks with community generated context sentences, clear statistics, and goal setting to guide you to your language goals”2

When I hear goal setting, I think of actually setting goals such as a number of cards to learn by a certain date.

“Kaards lets you set personalized language goals and estimates how long it will likely take to reach them”

The only goal options I saw were for the length of a session timer and how many cards to flip per session. Viewing progress shows you additional stats but none of this shows estimations on how long you’ll reach your goal.

Deconstructing the language learning process

In their Manifesto, they further go on to explain their goal of deconstructing the language learning process into different flashcard decks.

Since German is the only language that currently supports their process, the following decks are available: alphabet, genders, numbers, plurals and vocabulary. Although some of the decks are labelled as A1, you can edit each deck to adjust the level, change the audio accent and change the length of each session.

I tested the German vocabulary deck to see what future decks in my TLs would look like when they are available in Kaards. The back of a card is labelled by the part of speech, with the English translation in the top right. In the middle is the German vocab word and an example sentence below. There is additional information at the bottom of the screen which tells you how many new cards you’ve seen, how much time is left in your session, cards flipped and the accuracy of those cards.

That was enough for me to understand what the decks created by Kaards looked like. I switched to my other TLs, to see if there were also decks provided. Sadly there were no available decks but I was able to create my own deck or import an Anki deck.

I tried importing an Icelandic deck to Kaards. It imported properly but when I went to learn the cards in that deck, it said “Hmm… it seems like this deck has no cards”. I also had issues importing other decks. The Anki import feature is new so I’m sure it’ll continue to be worked on.

🗂️ Making Custom Decks With Kaards

I was pleasantly surprised to find that I could make decks in 4 out of my 5 target languages (Cantonese is not currently on Kaards). Since Icelandic is my newest language, I was eager to now have a tool to learn my own vocab with.

Creating a deck is extremely simple. On the deck creation page, you are presented with sections to add cards. You can either type in English and Kaards will automatically translate the word or sentence into your TL or type in your TL and get a translation in English.

To build my deck, I used phrases and vocab lists from my Beginner’s Icelandic textbook. I was amazed by how easy it was to type a sentence and immediately get the same translation which was provided in the textbook. Audio was also provided for each word/sentence I added.

There were instances where words were pronounced as they were written rather than how they would be said in conversation. This isn’t too much of an issue for me because I don’t use flashcard tools as my only method of learning. I always try to listen to native material first and treat SRS as a way to give me more exposure to words I already have context for.

Learning Sessions

Unlike the German decks made by Kaards, the custom decks are basic. There are two learning style settings, active & passive. By default, all decks are set to active. The active learning style setting shows you your target word on the back of the card and English on the front of the card. The passive learning style setting shows you the target word first.

After you flip a card, example sentences are hidden but can be shown by clicking the top right button. This feature has changed since drafting this post. Example sentences now take up the whole screen instead of half the screen. I did like the way it looked taking up half the screen, though.

When a review session is completed, you are given information about the cards you studied and statistics about your session.

Wordlists for each deck show the strength of each card.

Progress Statistics

As you can tell from my weekly study logs & monthly recaps, I like stats. I rely on the tools I use to give me information about my learning so I can better understand my language progress.

Kaards also wants to use stats to visually represent your language progress. The information you get regarding your progress differs depending on if you are viewing all decks in your target language or one specific deck.

When looking at your progress for all decks in a specific language, there is information about your stats for the day, all time stats, a leaderboard and a heatmap of your active days. I feel that the all-time and consistency information is incorrect. My all-time start date is incorrect since I started using Kaards on the 8th of May but it doesn’t matter too much.

Based on the heatmap, I’ve studied for 8 days. This is incorrect because I also studied on the 9th yet the heatmap says I reviewed 0 cards. Even if the 8 days were correct, the total days studied should say 8, not 7.

If the consistency stat is supposed to reflect how many days in a row I’ve studied, it should say 1 since I broke my 2-day streak after not studying yesterday.

The deck-specific progress stats provide more information like your accuracy, vocabulary size and learning velocity. One of the most useful stat to me is vocabulary size. It makes sense to me to include vocabulary size on the “All Decks” page. On that page, it should include the cards/words you know from all decks in that language. On the deck page, the stat only needs to select your vocabulary size from that specific deck.

💜 What I Like About Kaards

Although I pointed out bugs I encountered, I do like Kaards. Thanks to Kaards, I now have a tool to learn my own vocab in Icelandic and French. This is something I didn’t have before and I’m already looking forward to increasing my vocabulary in these languages with the help of Kaards.

A summary of what I like about Kaards:

1. Translation + audio for cards: Creating cards is easy as each card gets automatically translated with audio

2. Customizable sessions: I can limit a study session by time, by the number of cards I want to review or review freely

3. Custom decks + retention: I’m able to remember vocab through repetition and by only adding words that are relevant to me in my decks

📨 Feedback for Kaards

Kaards is still in beta so the bugs and issues I ran into weren’t unexpected. I have already shared most of these bugs with the Kaards team, who have been very receptive and quick at solving them. Some additional bugs that have been fixed since I started writing this post will be crossed out if they are no longer relevant.

🐛 Bugs

1. Decks don’t disappear after being deleted even though there is a pop-up message that says “Deck removed! Deck was successfully removed”.

2. Fixed: The list of words that need to be reviewed after a session can’t be sorted by strength (the button doesn't do anything and words get repeated multiple times in a list)

3. Importing Anki decks doesn’t always work - decks are empty/don’t import at all. A pop-up message says “Sorry! There is something wrong with this deck. Please try another”

4. Fixed: When viewing example sentences during a review session, the page crashes when the incorrect button is clicked

   1. Example sentences now take up the whole screen instead of sliding out from the right. This means you have to hide the example sentences before flipping a card or marking a card as correct or incorrect. As a result, this bug doesn’t occur any longer

5. The search function on the wordlist page doesn’t work/no results are shown

6. Progress stats don’t seem to be accurate

   1. Heatmap missed a day I studied as not studied

📝 Features I’d Like To See

** = added after this post was written

1. ** Audio support for Mandarin

2. ** Cantonese language availability

3. Goal setting with estimations of when you’ll reach those goals

4. Ability to customize user profile to hide/show specific decks

5. An overall leaderboard across all languages (currently in works)

6. Ability to see a stat about your total vocab size on the “all decks page”

7. Additional progress stats for decks instead of progress only showing cards that have been seen

   1. As of now, if you have seen every card in a deck once, the progress says you have 100% completed that deck even though the strength of each card may be low

   2. Separate stats to show overall deck progress + card known + new card percentage would be useful

8. Ability to see a list of words in any deck before learning that deck, even if it’s just a preview

9. Ability to add tags for each card/additional info (for example adding the gender of a word)

📝 Summary

Learning multiple languages has allowed me to try out new tools. If Mandarin were my only target language, I know I would’ve found Kaards to be ineffective, at least compared to other tools. For my other TLs like Icelandic, and French I’m able to see how Kaards can be a useful tool in my language learning journey.

Kaards seems to be heading in the right direction. I hope that my post has highlighted what Kaards does and how language learners can use it. I believe that with more user feedback, Kaards can become what every language learner needs it to be for them.

If you’d like to give Kaards a try, you can provide anonymous feedback to the team through this Google form. I suppose I no longer have to do that since I’ve written this post!

Subscribe now

💬 Vocabulary

Growing your vocabulary in a new language not only helps when speaking but also when listening.

There are various opinions about which method is the best for learning and remembering vocabulary. Many people swear by spaced repetition systems (SRS) like Anki, while others prefer to avoid them.

I’ll share how I learn vocabulary in different languages and the resources/methods I’ve used or heard of.

1. Spaced Repetition

   1. Spaced Repetition Software (Memrise, Anki, JPDB, Pleco, Ylhýra & Kaards)

2. The Goldlist method

3. Mnemonics and Memory Palaces (Mandarin Blueprint & Wanikani)

Finding Vocabulary

Textbooks, courses and apps are places where you can find vocab. Most of the time vocab will be grouped into a theme or category. For example, you may learn about food-related vocabulary in a textbook lesson about visiting restaurants. For some people, this gives context to the words they are learning especially when there are dialogues and example sentences.

Since I didn’t use textbooks during most of my Mandarin language learning, I found vocab in the videos and shows I watched. Later when I started reading, I wrote down new words in a notebook or added them to various flashcard software.

Rembering and Recalling Vocab

To remember vocab I have used different methods and software. I will now share how my experiences using the following methods:

1. Spaced Repetition

   1. Spaced Repetition Software (Memrise, Anki, JPDB, Pleco, Ylhýra & Kaards)

2. The Goldlist method

3. Mnemonics and Memory Palaces (Mandarin Blueprint & Wanikani)

✅ Spaced Repetition

Common in language learning and study communities, spaced repetition is a learning technique that uses flashcards, either physical or digital, that are reviewed at specific intervals. These intervals are based on the forgetting curve so reviews occur just before you forget. If a card is forgotten, the repetition is reset.

⚙️ Spaced Repetition Software

Spaced repetition software is software that calculates the most optimal time for information to be reviewed and recalled. Using algorithms, the software will automatically show cards that are due. The user then grades the card on their ability to recall the information. Failed cards are reviewed more frequently while cards that are remembered have increased intervals and are reviewed further in the future.

SRS is commonly used in academic and language learning communities. While Anki is well-known, it is not the only SRS available for language learners. When I look for a new SRS app to use, I am most concerned with having high-quality audio recordings or the ability to add my own audio through websites like Forvo.

I will now share some apps/software I have used to learn vocabulary and sentences in my target languages.

1. Memrise

2. Anki - Criticisms, Sentence Mining & My Decks

3. JPDB (Japanese)

4. Pleco (Mandarin, Cantonese)

5. Ylhýra (Icelandic)

6. Kaards

Memrise

You may have expected me to start with Anki but Memrise was the first app that I used to learn vocabulary for Mandarin. Since then, I have used Memrise’s official Japanese, French, and Icelandic courses.

What Memrise has going for are the premade courses/decks. Each card has audio or video of a word or sentence. When reviewing each card, you are not only able to learn vocab but also improve your listening as you hear how real people speak naturally.

Anki

The ability to make Anki whatever you need it to be for you is what makes it a powerful tool. You’re either a fan of Anki or you completely hate it. I’m somewhere in the middle.

There have been comments made about the usefulness and effectiveness of Anki for learning vocabulary. Recently, a well-known polyglot, Luca Lampariello, shared why he doesn’t use anki to learn vocabulary and why he doesn't recommend anyone does (blog post, YouTube video).

It’s one thing not to use a certain method but recommending other people don’t (and instead use your own method) is a bit much. Luca states,

“I'm actually a huge fan of the concept of Spaced Repetition, and I use it all the time in my learning. 

What I do not do, though, is use Spaced Repetition software. I don't use Anki, Memrise, Supermemo, or anything like it. I never have.”1

Luca then provides 5 reasons why we should not use Anki to learn vocabulary. While I see his perspective and agree with reason number 3 (reviewing old cards can become a chore) there are many ways to remedy the other reasons.

Lou, from disagreed with Luca's other reasons for not using Anki. I share similar opinions with Lou even though I am not currently a consistent Anki user. I recommend you read Lou's post if you would like to hear about a positive perspective of Anki from an Anki user.

I heard from Lou

🎴 In defense of Anki, a response to Luca Lampariello

Good morning, Luca Lampariello made a video called Why I Don't Use Anki to Learn Vocabulary (And Why You Shouldn't Either), who argues that he never uses Anki or any space repetition system software. I really enjoyed watching it, although I do disagree with a few points…

Read more

3 years ago · 2 likes · 3 comments · Lou

Now, how have I used Anki?

Early in my Mandarin journey, I wrote down new words, phrases or sentences in a notepad/notebook. I didn’t do much with the lists of words I created. When I found Anki, I decided it would be a great way for me to actually learn all the vocab I had been collecting. My list consisted of information I found in context through the shows I watched.

Even though it has been years, I am still able to open up a notebook, read my list and remember exactly where a word or phrase came from. When reviewing in Anki, I am also able to recall this context which further helps me during my reviews.

Sentence Mining

After only focusing on individual words, I started using Anki to sentence mine. Sentence mining is when you create a card with an i+1 sentence. There’s a bit of research that goes along with this but to simplify it, an i+1 sentence consists of only 1 new word or concept. With the help of context and the sentence, you should be able to learn the new word more easily than if the sentence included multiple new words. Additionally, you are now learning sentences and how words fit together.

I often broke the i+1 “rule” because there were times I had more than 1 new word depending on the sentence.

Setting up Cards

Your cards don’t need to be fancy. As long as a card has the information you need in the front and the back, you’re good to go. My cards are basic and only contain the bare minimum.

For my sentence mining deck, I used Language Player to find videos where I could find audio of a sentence using a new word I wanted to learn. I then used ShareX to record the audio and add it to the back of my card along with the new word and sometimes, the English translation of the sentence. When I flip the card to the back, the sentence audio plays automatically.

I preferred to use shows I had already watched so I had additional context. By the time I went to review a card, I had probably already heard that example sentence 5 times which also added to the ease of learning.

JPDB

While similar to Anki, JPDB is specifically for learning Japanese. It not only has an SRS but many built-in decks based on textbooks, animes, mangas, and novels. Instead of spending time looking up every new word, you are likely able to find a deck of that anime you’re watching to review before or after watching.

If you prefer, you can also make your own deck by searching up words and saving them. Every card has audio, pitch accent, and example sentences. I enjoy the additional stats JPDB provides such as how many cards are known, in progress and new.

The only issue I have is that reviews can pile up quickly and you are unable to learn new cards unless you get your due vocab down to 0. There are a ton of settings to configure if you become too overwhelmed by due cards such as decreasing or increasing the review intervals.

Pleco

Pleco is a dictionary app that has a flashcard system add-on. This system uses spaced repetition which you can configure to your liking. Since I use Pleco as my main dictionary for Mandarin and Cantonese, reviewing cards is much simple in Pleco compared to transferring my vocab lists to another software.

Along with this, Pleco has other features such as an OCR and pdf/epub reader to help you when reading Mandarin or Cantonese. This also makes saving new vocab words much more effortless. Here are my tips and resources for reading in Mandarin.

Ylhýra

The Ylhýra website has an Icelandic flashcard-based vocabulary game that uses spaced repetition. The difference with Ylhýra is that you are unable to see the list of words except for the percentage of known words out of the total items.

Other spaced repetition-based tools give you detailed stats while Ylhýra is quite limited. While this can be a downside, I find that I’m not overwhelmed by the number of cards I have to review since I never know how many need to be reviewed.

Each session is 3 minutes long and you don’t have to complete a session. Thus, reviewing and learning is easy and convenient. Since many of the words and phrases are new to me, I write down the ones I find useful. This also helps me solidify what I’m learning and be more present instead of mindlessly flipping each card.

Kaards

Unlike the other tools mentioned earlier, Kaards is not free but you can try it out for free for 7 days. Kaards is a flashcard tool with an SRS. It’s relatively new which means there are always new updates, bug fixes and features being added. While decks are only available for German, you are still able to create your own flashcard decks in 50+ languages.

The one feature I like is the ability to type a word in one language and get a translation in another along with audio instantly., making the flashcard-making process a breeze. When reviewing your cards, you can also choose to see example sentences.

There are progress stats for each language so you can see your consistency over time and how many new cards you’ve learned.

So far I have been using Kaards to learn Icelandic by inputting words and sentences from my textbook to review. I can be lazy sometimes so being able to type d for the letter ð and p for þ makes creating my cards extremely efficient.

📝 The Goldlist Method

The Goldlist method involves diving a notebook into 4 sections. In the first section, you write the current date and 20 words or phrases you want to learn and their translations. For the next 13 days, you create a new 20-phrase list on a separate page without looking at any of the past lists. You will first test yourself on day 15. On that day you go back to your first list, cover the words in your TL and note which phrases you remembered. In the second section, you will then create a new list with only your incorrect answers. You’ll then test yourself in another 2 weeks and repeat the cycle for the other pages.

I mentioned using the Goldlist method in the post about my Language Dashboard on Notion. My process was slightly different than the original method by Lýdia Machová. In Notion I used the reminder feature to remind me to review any list of words I created every 2 weeks. I used a checkbox to keep track of the review cycles I had done and also marked each phrase as known or unknown.

In physical vocab notebooks, I would review a list of 10-20 and put a checkmark on the ones I got correct. I then came back and reviewed the words that didn’t have a checkmark and repeated the same steps every few days with new words.

🏡 Mnemoncis & Memory Palaces

Like spaced repetition, mnemonics are also a learning technique that aids in retaining information. A memory place refers to a location in your mind where you can save mnemonic images. For example, your house can be a memory palace and the different paths you take to rooms can be where your mnemonic images are located.

I personally have not given memory places/mnemonics a solid try but I have noticed this technique be recommended to learners of languages like Mandarin Chinese and Japanese. One course and a tool I can think of that utilizes mnemonics and memory places are Mandarin Blueprint and WaniKani.

Mandarin Blueprint

Mandarin Blueprint is a curriculum for people wanting to reach fluency in Mandarin. They call their mnemonic system the “Hanzi Movie Method” which is a core part of their curriculum. Memory places feel a bit confusing to me but if you’re interested, Mandarin Blueprint has several blog posts going over their Hanzi Movie Method. I have not used Mandarin Blueprint so I cannot give any opinions on the effectiveness of the course of the Hanzi Movie Method.

WankiKani

WaniKani is a flashcard tool for Japanese with SRS. I could’ve put WaniKani in the SRS section but I felt it made more sense here since mnemonics are an important part of their method. With the help of mnemonics, they say that you will waste less time and memorize/recall more.

I used WaniKani for the first time 2 years ago. Since it’s been a while, I forgot my password and the email I got to reset my email said,

“Perhaps a mnemonic for your new password will help?”

Clearly, mnemonics are a large part of WaniKani. The mnemonic aspect also explains why I only spent a few days using it. I already have knowledge of basic Kanji because of learning Mandarin. Having to go through learning Kanji I already knew by also coming up with mnemonics felt like it was making the process unnecessarily long.

If you like mnemonics or are familiar with Remembering the Kanji (RTK) or Rembering the Hanzi (RTH), you’ll probably enjoy using WaniKani or mnemonics to learn characters.

📑 Summary

When it comes to learning vocabulary, what matters is using the resource or tool that you can be consistent with. There is no one right tool or method. Find what works for you and stick with it.

I’d like to know if you have any vocabulary learning methods that you have found helpful. Please share them if you do!

Also, what are your experiences using any of the methods or tools I mentioned?

Leave a comment

🎵 Listening to Music in Your Target Language

I’ve heard arguments about the usefulness of learning a language with music. If all you’re doing is listening to music, I doubt your language skills would improve much. However, songs can be a way to get exposed to the sounds of a language. The same words and phrases are often repeated throughout a song. Furthermore, you are more likely to replay a song you like, giving you more exposure to the words and sounds in that song and language.

What are your thoughts about learning a language with music?

Leave a comment

🎶 What Type of Songs Should You Learn Your TL With?

In my opinion, it’s more important to use a song that you enjoy rather than a song that is “easy”. You’ll find yourself humming along to songs you like so it only makes sense to learn the lyrics of those songs. However, as you may know, not all lyrics in songs make sense. Lines in songs do not reflect the ways people talk and communicate with one another. This is why I focus more on learning new words and increasing my vocab when learning a language with song lyrics.

📻 Resources To Use When Translating Song Lyrics

1. A dictionary for your TL

   1. Word Reference

   2. Pleco (Mandarin, Cantonese)

   3. Icelandic Dictionary

2. LyricsTranslate

Where To Listen To Music in Your TL

1. YouTube, Spotify and other music streaming sites

2. StreetVoice (街聲) - A Taiwanese music platform for indie artists

🎙️ How Do I Learn My TL With Song Lyrics?

After choosing a song, I start by getting a PDF of the song lyrics or writing the song lyrics out myself. For Mandarin, I usually use a typed version of the song lyrics while for French and Icelandic, I’ve written out the lyrics.

As I mentioned earlier, I use song lyrics as a tool to learn new words. I do attempt to translate but I’m not too concerned with getting an accurate translation. Songs can be weird and half the time I barely understand English songs.

Your vocabulary size and general understanding of a language will influence how you go about using a song to learn your TL. For example, you may only be encountering new words in a song if it is a language you are at a higher level in. For languages you are a beginner in, lyrics may be difficult to understand due to having a small vocabulary size or a limited understanding of grammar.

I will explain how I learn my TLs with song lyrics by giving my experience with 3 of my TLs, Mandarin, French and Icelandic.

🎤 Mandarin

I mostly use YouTube or StreetVoice to listen to songs in Mandarin. Streetvoice is great as the majority of the songs have lyrics listed to read while listening. Since I’m lazy, I usually copy and paste the lyrics into a doc and convert it to a PDF file. I then use that PDF file on my tablet to highlight or underline new words and write their definitions.

To save space I sometimes underline new words and create a list with the pronunciation on the right side along with the definition. Learning the characters I don’t yet know means that I can follow along when I listen to the song.

If I highlight instead of underlining, I use yellow for new words and pink for words I’m familiar with.

Mandarin Song Recommendations

• 阿肆 A SI

  • 致姗姗來遲的你 (Sincerely Yours) Feat. 林宥嘉 YOGA LIN

  • Call Me

• Limi - If My Nights Are Your Days

• 朴樹 - 平凡之路

• 老王樂隊 - 安九

• 落日飛車 - 我是一隻魚

  • I wrote a short article about this song in Issue 4 of Path to Chinese

Honourable mentions not everyone may like

• JUD - 棄權

• 莉莉周她說 - 往常

• 康士坦的變化球

  • 對不起我做不到答應了你的事 / Hoax

  • 美好的事可不可以發生在我身上

🎤 French

Writing in French isn’t as time-consuming as in Mandarin so I take my time to write out lyrics before highlighting new words. Since I can usually figure out the meaning of a word, especially if it is similar to English, I focus on the words that are completely new to me. I also take note of phrases that are commonly said.

I write the lyrics on the left side of the page and my English translation on the right side. I used the French dictionary on Word Reference to help me understand the lyrics.

🎤 Icelandic

My method with Icelandic is similar to French. I write out the lyrics and go through them to find new words. Since Icelandic is my newest language, most words in the lyrics are new to me. Thus, learning Icelandic from song lyrics is quite intensive.

If the song is a new song to me like Ásgeir Trausti - Hærra was, I listen to the song while writing the lyrics. Once I’m done going through the lyrics, I read along as I listen. Usually, the sounds become more comprehensible after going through the lyrics.

As you can see I have a lot of highlights, definitions and explanations of words.

Icelandic Song Recommendations

• Ásgeir Trausti - Leyndarmál

• Ásgeir - Heimförin

I hope you enjoyed reading this post. If you do check out any of my song recommendations, let me know if you liked them! Feel free to share song recommendations in my TLs (Mandarin, Japanese, French, Cantonese & Icelandic). I’m always looking for more songs to listen to.

What is your favourite song in your TL?

Leave a comment

I use Notion for many different things. During my university studies Notion served as a place to keep track of courses, assignment deadlines and research papers. I have pages for my creative practices such as painting, illustrating and writing. As I mentioned in my post about why I started a language learning newsletter, I shared that I use Notion to draft my newsletters.

One way I keep track of my resources and language learning progress is through my Language Dashboard on Notion.

💡 My Notion Language Dashboard

I gave a summary of my language dashboard when I shared how I time track, log, and plan my language studies. Today I’ll be going a bit more in-depth into the different pages in my language dashboard on Notion.

⭐ Active Languages + Goals Section

The top of my dashboard is a gallery view of the languages I’m currently learning. Within each language gallery page are my 2023 language goals for that specific language. I rarely had language goals in the past and if I did, they were not specific. Storing my goals here allows me to easily see my goals and adapt them if necessary.

🎯 Target Language Resources

Below my goals section are toggle headings with the name of my TLs. ASL is not one of my target languages but I had a brief moment when I wanted to learn it so I made a page to store resources. I’ve considered making dashboards for each language but for now this is how I’ve been using it.

For each language, I usually have a page for general resources. Since Mandarin was my only TL for many years, I have the most amount of pages for it. I have pages to save books I'm interested in reading, vocab lists, songs, and podcasts.

Most of these pages are messy and disorganized but they serve their purpose!

📝 Reading + Course Trackers

The next two sections contain databases to track my reading and the courses/textbooks/decks I complete. Both of these databases belong on separate pages but I have linked them to my dashboard for easy reference.

📚 Reading Tracker

This reading tracker was originally just for Mandarin, however, I’ve started using it to track everything I read in my TLs. I can use filters when I only want to see books that are in a certain language. On this page, I have a filter set to only show my current reads.

✏️ Course Tracker

Although I call this my course tracker, I use it to track more than just courses. I track my language textbooks, and vocab decks here as well. The visual progress bar and percentage show me the progress I’m making in my language resources.

📝 Language Study Tracker

The final section is my language study tracker. I used to use this section to log my language studies. This is what the tracker looked like when I started using it.

In the notes section, I set a filter that only showed me the entries where I had written notes. If I learned any new words that day from my immersion, I would add them to the specific language page on the calendar. I set reminders using Notion’s reminder feature to remind myself to review the words. My method was similar to the Goldlist method where I would review every 2 weeks. As you can see below, I’ve missed a few reviews since I no longer use this tracker. I now prefer to track my language studies in a digital planner.

❓ In what ways do you use notion?

Leave a comment

📚 Why Read in Mandarin Chinese?

If you already read in your native language, convincing you to read in Mandarin won’t be difficult. As for people who don’t read, I believe there are many benefits to reading in your target language.

Reading helps you expand your vocabulary

It’s much easier to identify new words when reading. If a character looks unfamiliar…

Read more

Without intending to, I’ve focused more and more on Icelandic.

In my 2023 language goals, I mentioned that I’m mostly dabbling in Icelandic. This is still true but since finding more resources, I’ve realized that Icelandic may be more than just a dabble language.

💬 Comprehensible Input

Icelandic Online has been great for comprehensible input. I believe that since it is so comprehensible, I am learning and retaining much more than I would have if I had been using incomprehensible resources. For the majority of my Mandarin language learning journey, I have used incomprehensible materials. Even with comprehensible materials, the beginner stages of learning Mandarin are always a challenge due to how different it is from English.

Learning Icelandic is the first time I’m able to truly experience comprehensible input.

What is Comprehensible Input?

Comprehensible input is commonly spoken about in Japanese language learning communities. It originates from Dr. Krashen’s Input Hypothesis in his Theory of Second Language Acquisition (SLA). Krashen believes that a second language can be acquired when a learner/student understands most of the language.

Some people assume that media made for children like children’s books or T.V. shows are the most comprehensible. If you have actually read any children’s books in your target language, you’d know that just because it’s for children doesn’t mean it is comprehensible. In addition, your interest level may be low when using uninteresting material. This is where Krashen stresses the importance of compelling comprehensible input.

“Compelling input appears to eliminate the need for motivation, a conscious desire to improve. When you get compelling input, you acquire whether you are interested in improving or not.”1

I have found this to be true now that I am in the intermediate stage of Mandarin. Most books, videos, and podcasts are comprehensible to me and so I can acquire the language without having to put in too much effort.

Many of Krashen’s articles are open-source and available at sdkrashen.com. They can be a great way to learn more about SLA if you don’t have access to university library databases. I encourage you to check out the references listed at the end of the articles you read to continue expanding your knowledge!

🖊️ Icelandic Online

I dabbled in Icelandic for only a few hours (less than 10) in January and December 2022 by using the Memrise course. I’ve officially been learning Icelandic for about 2 months now since being consistent at the start of this year. Icelandic Online along with Ylhyra have been the resources that allow me to learn consistently.

Everything on Icelandic Online is in Icelandic. I almost hadn’t noticed it at first since most of it was comprehensible. As of now, I have completed the Survival (Level 0) course.

The course has short videos with dialogue based on specific topics such as starting a new job or visiting a library. Along with this there are matching and fill in the blank exercises to learn new vocab and how verbs are conjugated.

The lack of explanation can be confusing but I have found it to be easy to follow due to the visuals. Since I take notes, I can always look back to review what I learned. What I enjoy most is the audio presented with the words and example sentences. The audio increases comprehensibility and will be a great help when I start speaking.

Even though Icelandic Online is mostly comprehensible, I do use an Icelandic dictonary to look up some words. This helps me spend more time with the language and strengthen what I’m learning. It seems to me that with comprehensible input, my level in Icelandic could surpass my other TLs without even trying.

I’d like to read more research studies and articles relating to linguistics and language acquisition/learning. Would you be interested in reading about what I learned in future newsletters?

Leave a comment

Let me know if you enjoyed this type of post by tapping the heart! I appreciate all comments and shares!

Share

You can also support me other ways over here.