this post was submitted on 17 Mar 2025
17 points (100.0% liked)

Language Learning

530 readers
22 users here now

A community all about learning languages!

Ask / talk about a specific language or language learning in general.

Sopuli's instance rules apply

  1. Remember the human! (no harassment, threats, etc.)
  2. No racism or other discrimination
  3. No Nazis, QAnon or similar whackos and no endorsement of them
  4. No porn
  5. No ads or spam
  6. No content against Finnish law

Other active Lemmy language communities:

Other communities outside Lemmy:


Community banner & icon credits:

Icon: The book cover of Babel (2022 novel by R. F. Kuang)

Banner: Epic of Gilgamesh tablet (© The Trustees of the British Museum)


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
all 19 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Lazycog@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 hour ago

First week of daily intensive course is over and boy am I overwhelmed, but even more determined. The teacher is awesome and patient so it's actually a lot of fun.

Home chores do get ignored though.. Going to a 3 hour course after work is bit much.. But thankfully it's not for long.

[–] emb@lemmy.world 2 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago) (1 children)

In the past couple weeks, I've switched Slay the Spire to my target language. Now even my most compulsively procrastinating time gives a little practice.

It's not the greatest for intensive study (no audio, after all), but it's a great way to ease in.

  • I already know most of it just from pictures and having played a lot, so it's fun even if I'm not being a great learner
  • Quite a few cards, items, or events show up just seldom enough that I do still need to read them
  • There are tons of words I don't know, many of them at the top of the card showing a picture of the thing
  • Lots of repetition, so my brain gets the redundant exposure it needs

And besides that specific instance, I'm getting more confident overall. To the point where I feel like I won't be totally missing out on games if I try to play them in Japanese.

[–] Lazycog@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 hour ago

That sounds impressive! Give playing in japanese a try maybe? I've noticed I really enjoy being sometimes thrown into the deep end and not understanding everything. It motivates me to learn even more if I don't understand but I want to :)

[–] BeardedGingerWonder@feddit.uk 3 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Nearing the end of French Duolingo section 2 and wondering if I should start trying to use some other resources.

[–] Lazycog@sopuli.xyz 3 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

Highly recommend picking up a grammar book too! It will give you confidence when you can revise what you've learned and understand it better!

[–] BeardedGingerWonder@feddit.uk 2 points 33 minutes ago (1 children)

Is there anything you could recommend? I do find myself parroting at times and googling it afterwards, definitely think I'd benefit from a deeper understanding.

[–] Lazycog@sopuli.xyz 1 points 14 minutes ago

Sadly I can't give any recommendations for French :( hope someone in this thread who is learning French can pitch in. If not, then it could be a good idea to make a post in this community asking for one maybe?

I know exactly how you feel though. I started my German language learning with duolingo (still do it!) and while it's fun I felt like I started struggling later on at higher levels since I didn't really understand the sentence structure and certain rules. Got myself a grammar book and I started enjoying duolingo again after that and find it still really useful for actual vocabulary training.

[–] Sorolainen@sopuli.xyz 3 points 14 hours ago (2 children)

Since the birth of my son, about seven weeks ago, I have had difficulties on finding the time and energy. I haven't entirely stopped listening podcasts on my languages but meeting people to speak with and especially reading has suffered.

It's not a crisis really but this time doesn't lend it self for language studies as good as the time before fatherhood.

[–] Lazycog@sopuli.xyz 2 points 2 hours ago

Congratulations! I've heard that time flies with kids and that you should relish small moments with them as much as possible, so don't worry about language - but don't let it go either! That's you-time hobby when you need it :)

[–] emb@lemmy.world 3 points 8 hours ago

Couldn't have a much better excuse than that. Go easy on yourself, you're right to focus your energy on giving him a strong start!

Although while you're taking care of him, you do have a captive audience for a bit of speaking practice, lol. I'm sure he won't mind if you make mistakes.

[–] fxomt@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 18 hours ago (2 children)

I've slacked off so much, I feel guilty :( I hope this week I'll get off my ass and continue learning, though

[–] Lazycog@sopuli.xyz 2 points 2 hours ago

Hey! No slacking fxomt!

Honestly it always sounds so overwhelming when you list the languages you are learning. You deserve time off ;)

[–] koncertejo@lemmy.ml 5 points 20 hours ago (1 children)

Tried doing some language exchange on the ENG-JP VR Chat world earlier this week, and was faced with the stark reality that I need to drill grammar and basic conversational sentences more first. Day 453 of daily Anki vocab study.

[–] Lazycog@sopuli.xyz 2 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

Impressive streak though! Live conversations have tendency to smack us down, but don't give up.

VR-chat for practicing sounds exciting - have never tried since I don't own VR set but that would be an awesome way to use them for other than gaming purposes.

[–] koncertejo@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

You can also do it even if you only play on a PC, it doesn't require a headset, but it's a great way to feel like you're actually talking to another human being.

[–] Lazycog@sopuli.xyz 2 points 1 hour ago

I didn't know you can join VR-chat without the headset. Damn, maybe I'll give it a try after I'm finished with my daily intensive course. Thanks for the tip!

[–] EbenezerScrew@lemmy.world 5 points 22 hours ago (1 children)

Picked up German on Duolingo again. I should finish Unit 1 today or tomorrow.

[–] Lazycog@sopuli.xyz 3 points 2 hours ago

Viel Glück! That's what I'm working on as well :)