My top and flop methods to learn a language - part 2

Welcome to part 2 of my top and flop methods to learn a language! I have already shared with you some of my favourite and least favourite methods in part 1, and I'll be sharing more in this article.

For those who don't know, I have both a Bachelor's and a Master's degree in Modern Languages, and I have also been learning languages by myself since 2018.

If you've just started learning your target language, you might feel a bit overwhelmed by all the methods and resources available out there, so I hope these two articles can help you out.

Top: setting the language of your devices to your target language

I used this method a couple of times over the years. The language of my phone was first set to German, then to Portuguese, and now it's currently set to Slovene, while the language of my laptop has remained steadily set to German.

While this is far from a miraculous method, it is a simple yet good strategy to immerse yourself in your target language a bit more. It is also especially recommended if you want to learn terms related to the functions of your device, such as "save", "copy", "paste", and more.

This method alone obviously helps very little in reaching fluency, but it's still a very valid immersion strategy.

Flop: overrelying on apps or passive learning

This is a very common challenge among people who are learning a language without a teacher, including myself. We start learning a language on an app and we find ourselves at a point where we either have no memory of the grammar concepts whatsoever or we are unable to form original thoughts in our target language despite understanding it.

Sure, apps can be an amazing support in our busy world. Since they are on your phone, you don't have to carry around piles of textbooks and notebooks, which makes them extremely practical.

However, apps have a fatal flaw: despite the efforts to integrate AI chatbots to implement more speaking and writing exercises, this aspect remains extremely underdeveloped.

The users of these apps tend to generally agree. On the Internet, there are numerous accounts of people who have admitted that, despite having years-long learning streaks, they are actually incapable of speaking their target language.

In the past, due to having a much busier schedule with university, I realied a lot on language learning apps, but I personally found myself thinking of learning as a task to be completed as soon as possible rather than a hobby, so I was not learning with intention anymore, but just going on autopilot.

I elaborated on this in one of my previous articles, which you can read here.

Yes, apps are useful, but you will need more support if you want to be able to understand and actually speak your target language.

Top: watching cartoons and Youtube videos in your target language

This method is so easy to implement that, in my life, I first used it and then I realized how helpful it was.

That's because I first started watching Youtube videos in English when I was in high school, without any learning goal in particular, I just wanted to have fun. Even without a specific purpose, that helped me tremendously: I improved my listening skills, and I learned new words that I would not have otherwise learned in school, like the verb "debunk" and the adjective "tedious".

I have now implemented this strategy again: in the summer of 2024, I started watching Winx Club, one of the most iconic cartoons of my childhood, in Brazilian Portuguese, and it helped me pick up the slang and a lot of vocabulary from day-to-day life - even swear words!

Now, I have switched to Youtube videos, but I can confidently say that watching a bunch of content in Brazilian Portuguese has helped me improve my understanding and vocabulary immensely, thus also giving me more material to form original thoughts.

You obviously have to be somehow strategic when selecting the videos to watch, but other than that, it's a good and low-effort way to immerse yourself in your target language, improve your listening skills and pick up some idioms and vocabulary from actual native speakers.

Flop: planning too much into detail

This was a terrible habit that I picked up when I first fell down the rabbit hole of productivity Youtubers and influencers, and it influenced all my hobbies, including language learning.

But Simona, planning and being productive is not a bad habit!

You'd be surprised how easily it can turn into one. Picture this: you plan every single minute of your life into details and think that now you'll be more productive than ever.

Then, boom: one single unforeseen circumstance happens. It can be big, it can be small, it can be trivial - your train home is delayed, your alarm stops working, your car breaks down, one of your relatives or friends needs help all of a sudden, you name it. You have to change your big, detailed plan, you know it's not your fault, but your motivation still drops. If you cannot even plan properly, then what's the point?

When we fall into this trap of over-preparing for something, we lose our initial purpose: our goal is to learn a language, not crafting a perfect plan.

Especially if you're moving your first steps, starting out is way more important and productive than having everything scheduled minute-by-minute. By starting out, you're reassuring your mind that whatever you're doing, although it's something new, is safe and absolutely manageable and that there is no need to run away from it.

Overplanning can also be a subtle symptom of procrastination disguised as productivity: we are still afraid to start, so we plan too much to feel better about ourselves instead of actually starting.

So, my tip is to plan your exercises while leaving room for unexpected events, e.g. if you want to read an article in your target language every day, write it on your to-do list without a specific time, so you still get the reminder, but it's flexible enough that you can fit it anywhere in your day.

Top: journaling and writing by hand

Writing by hand itself has countless benefits on our brains, such as aiding memory and creativity (Source).

This reason alone should persuade you that writing in your target language is an amazing learning method, but if that's not the case, consider this: since the fatal flaw of apps is the lack (or limited amount) of practical writing and speaking exercises, writing some original texts or sentences is the only way out to hone your production skills.

What to write about is up to you: you can journal about your day, try to fit as many new concepts as possible into a paragraph, set a minimum amount of sentences per day. Some people even started writing novels in their target languages for the sole purpose of practising more.

Personally, I've tried both writing on my computer or notes app and writing on paper, and the latter has proven to be the most effective, not only because of the aforementioned benefits, but also because I was in desperate need for a method that would help me feel more present and intentional in my learning process, so an analog method was the best bet.

If you're also relying on apps to some extent, practicing your writing skills on paper is a good break from your screens and it balances out the, sometimes numbing, repetitiveness of most apps.

Flop: sticking to one method for too long

Yes, apps can get overly repetitive, but so can any method. After many years of self-studying, I've realized that one of the easiest ways to make learning fun is, first and foremost, learning to recognize when a certain method is getting monotonous.

Maybe it's not even getting boring, but it's not suitable for your learning goals anymore, or maybe you had a lifestyle change and you cannot fit your current method in it anymore.

Learning is not always perfectly linear, just like life in general, so if you think that you'll be set for life with your chosen method, or set of methods, you might want to reconsider.

Top: reviewing your learning method often

Conversely, a better approach would be to audit your method every now and then to see what needs to be improved.

For example, I do that every month, with reminders and all, and I share my considerations on Bluesky:

You can obviously set this reminder as you please (and keep it private, of course!), the most important thing is to be honest and as objective as possible about your learning needs and the areas of improvement.

Sometimes we need to stop and see if there's something that needs some revamp. Working on them for a moment will repay us immensely in the future, possibly also saving us from bigger struggles.

Flop: letting other people's negativity get to you

Finally, the ultimate tip that you need to hear today is: keep going, no matter what people say.

With the rise of AI, it's very easy for people to think that learning a language, alongside many other activities, is useless. However, keep in mind that you're learning your target language for you and you only, not for someone else.

Sure, it could give you more work opportunities, but that's just the side effect. In order for you to keep learning, it has to be interesting to you first, the rest can come after that.

Also, nobody has ever rejected a candidate because they knew too many languages, so the worst that could happen is that your life remains the same.

The online language learning communities are also alive and well, so trust me, you will find some like-minded people out there. In the meantime, ignore those idiots who put you down and keep doing what you're doing confidently, you've got this and we are rooting for you.

With that said, I hope you enjoyed this second part of my top and flop study methods. If you missed the first one, you can check it out here.

Have you tried these methods? Did they work? Would you try other ones that I didn't mention? Tell me in the comments below and subscribe to stay updated, if you wish!