Learn ANY Language Effortlessly with this LAZY Method

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“The most effective thing is the thing you’ll actually do” is the lesson I have to keep re-learning in every single domain of my life. Thanks for bringing this up for me again.

I've kind of done a mixture of the two. I've spent some time learning the basics of the English language, and then started immersing myself in the language, mainly by watching videos in English with subtitles on (very useful btw). I would translate the words I didn't understand, so that I knew what they meant the next time I heard them. Eventually I started understanding more and more of the language to the point that I'm now writing a comment in English without the need for a translator app :)

I've studied about 4 languages now including both in a school setting and self study. I definitely think a slow increase in comprehensible input is one of the key factors in language acquisition. The one thing I would say is that certain languages like Japanese do have more difficult grammar, honorifics, and elements like kanji that are really difficult to learn through immersion alone. Consciously working on learning to read native writing systems will be necessary for everything above beginner level so don't skip that part. Also, working on studying vocabulary with a system like Anki even just 30min a day is really helpful for increasing the level of comprehensible input faster. I really recommend the Refold 1000 most common words packs as they are a fantastic way to get a good understanding of the common words and phrases much faster than with just input alone without that much effort.

Your final bit about how you're 900 hours in and you're understanding but not speaking honestly makes a ton of sense. I've tried learning languages in the past and they all emphasized speaking WHILE learning to understand. But as a person, I definitely listened and understood English being spoken to me for a long time before really being able to formulate my own thoughts into a sentence that made any sense beyond "See Jane run. This is Jane's ball. The ball is round."

So to recap: Focus more so on input & absorbing the language Focus more on ‘revision’ in the sense of strengthening the connections in your brain of what you already know. Sounds grand. I’m using Duolingo for a while which I find is doing great for me but I don’t want to limit my learning of a language to just that. I’ve started watching videos that are really helpful and trying to find other ways of absorbing the language. Your approach is practical for people with busy lives but what I will say is depending on the language I do think it’s key to learn the basic grammar rules and a bit of vocab first before you start this more passive approach. That way, you have a place to start when listening your target language. Just my 2 cents 🤷‍♂️

watching this video made me realize i've learned english subconsciously, i didnt even set plans to force myself to stop using subtitles. One day i forgot turning on subtitles and i realized that 10 minutes into the video, but honestly i had no idea how to adapt the same technique to my third language because its grammar is more complicated than English but perhaps we have to take kids as an example, and surrender ourselves with the language we are trying to learn. Thank you so much for the video, if you could learn Spanish with this technique i can learn French too hopefully.

I was recently asking myself the very question of "why do we learn languages in a different order to how we acquire them as a child?" I've found that listening to lots of music has been very effective for language learning, and Olly Richard's storybooks are awesome!

During high school, I found I learned more efficiently by mucking about with children’s songs, stories, and recipes. It helped with learning what worked grammatically, with idioms, and with things that don’t quite translate. Also immersion! I got some index cards and labeled everything in the house

I've followed this approach with more look ups but when I systematically immersed in material about my level until I mastered it, it was the quickest internalization of Spanish compared to anything else. As I'm learning output and my input is approaching only native level material, I've found a method to intensely study that works with immersion. I'll read a page in a book or use an online reader like Lingq. I'll contemplate one sentence at a time until the whole meaning comes to me. When extensively reading I'm unconsciously taking in a lot but it also helps to really sit with a small piece of the language until it clicks. I only do look ups if I absolutely don't know the word or phrase. This has really accelerated my Spanish level.

Agree with your approach, currently learning korean as my third language and have made the process more fun and enjoyable instead of long hours of boring grammar classes. I myself do a mixture of both(conscious learning + comprehensible input) because I like to increase the pace a bit sometimes because that motivates me to keep learning, however input and focusing on something that is sustainable(and motivating) is the key always.

Top notch. I learned German after about 8 years or so of school, grammar, etc. in contrast, Russian after about 3 years. I studied Russian grammar for an hour or so and that’s it. I then read books for 5 year olds, watched videos geared to the same age. Eventually worked up to Early/ mid teen level material. Hint. Don’t get bogged down trying to write a language!! I’m in the sciences and almost never write anything except in English even though I was raised mostly in French (Canadian).. the couple of times I write a message in German or Russian I just use an on line translator site…better than spending amillion hours toiling learning grammar, verb endings, etc.

This is a super helpful video, man! Like most students, I’ve had years of Spanish and learned very little, so I’m trying to get an actual base. I made the mistake of trying to set up a rigorous schedule where I would target specific things on specific days, and it made it a burden. What I’ve learned is to tack it on to things I enjoy. Reading my favorite books in Spanish, watching English stuff with Spanish subtitles (actually incredibly helpful) along with Spanish with Spanish subtitles (do NOT use subtitles in your native language, you won’t learn anything), and have been using a few apps and vocab drills as an addition. Going much better!

I learnt English by reading toddler books, some of them being the same stories as on TV. The language is simple and supported by lots of pictures. From there I moved on to reading picture books with increasingly complex sentences and with fewer and fewer pictures until I could read without any visual prompt. By that time I had enough vocabulary to understand short articles in newspapers and magazines and figure out the meaning of odd words from the surrounding text. I still think that children's picture books and toddler TV are a great way for a beginner - very low-level material for adults is hard to find. TV ads have also some use, because of the repetition and short and simple content that is often easy to understand with practically no knowledge of the language at all.

This was honestly the most helpful video I've ever watched on the topic of learning languages like I'm actually genuinely excited to do so now. Thank you so much for the advice!! 😁

i have this approach to learning everything in life. Not just language learning. If you're obsessed with something, you'll get good at it. So it's not a question of whether or not you can learn, it's a question of how much fun you can have. Pass a certain fun threshhold, you develope an obsession, and become good at it without having to "work"

Understanding what I hear has been my biggest challenge with French. They smoosh their words together so much. It didn't help that most courses teach "proper" French, not spoken French. Even my colleagues with the politest accents don't speak French that way! What turned things round for me was the Pimsleur app. I started from the very beginning to unlearn the rubbish I've been taught. I only do the aural bits as I can already read French. It is a really well designed course and I often say to myself "ah, I see what you're doing!" I supplement that with the Mauril app to help with Canadian accents. My ability to understand spoken French is now at the point where I can follow what's being said on YouTube videos even if I don't recognize all the words.

Your main point's valid. However, I highly recommend you start speaking early on. It's incredibly frustrating to be tongue tied in basic conversations. I'd suggest talking to yourself. Repeat some things you heard. If you can, describe what you're doing. Retell past events. Talk about your plans. Opinions. Whatever. I speak as a language teacher with over 20 years of experience, and a language learner of an even longer period (but multiple languages). What sticks most strongly for me is the stuff I actively remembered and rehearsed through this self-talk method. Bottom line: use speaking (output) in tandem with listening/reading (input).

I am a profi linguist (translator and interpreter) and can speak Czech, English, German, French and quite some Spanish. I always spend quite some time studying the basics, grammar, vocab... and then I start reading books in that particular language, speaking with foreigners and listening to recorded speech (Youtube is great for that). Learning a foreign language IS a considerable achievement and you just NEED to invest the time to do it. If you dont want to give the effort, you will never learn (I spent 1 year in Finland, but was only able to learn a few words... because I was too lazy to do that). Maybe some exceptionally talented people can learn a language without even really trying, but that is certainly not my case.

I learned English without sit down and study, I was just watching YouTube videos, sometimes just pause and look on Google Translator, it took me a lot of years to finally understand one entire video Duolingo helped me a lot, not sure why so many people hate this app. Nowadays I am able to have conversations in both English and Italian (and of course my mother tongue which is Portuguese) But I am trying to learn Korean, and daaaamn, is really hard, everything is so different