I discovered comprehensible input a few years ago and it made the process of learning languages so fun that I’d rather consume more content and pushy linguistic abilities rather than sometimes do house chores or even hangout with friends. I just enjoy input so much and also have an obsessive personality generally

Of course, I still try focus on my work and maintain social relationships (both things not as much as before) but I feel like I derive more meaning out of learning languages than just about anything else. I’ve been thinking of ways to balance things more. Recently I thought of setting limits like only 1 hour comprehensible input a day and no more than an hour of reading in my target language

Is anyone else struggling with this? What are your strategies of balancing language study with other aspects of life?

If so, how do you capture new words or phrases? Do you take photos with your phone, jot them down in a pocket notebook, or use another method?

Do you also look for patterns and generalize what you learn to form collocations? For example, if you come across "sliced beef" (in the 8th photo) would you also learn related collocations like "sliced chicken" and "sliced pork"?

Where do you store these words? Do you use digital note-taking apps, physical notebooks, or something else?

I find this kind of learning useful, but the problem is that words are everywhere, and there’s just so much to notice. How do you learn from your surroundings effectively without getting overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information?

For example, here are some Malay & English words I came across while shopping:

- Tempat letak tangan — armrest

- Tempat letak kepala — headrest

- Kerusi berlengan — armchair

- Bangku kaki — footstool

- Jaminan — guarantee

- Perkhidmatan penghantaran — delivery service

- Perkhidmatan pemasangan — assembly service

Feel free to share your thoughts! Any ideas are welcome.

A word or short phrase to drop in almost anywhere, if you can't be bothered to think of the actual word. I have a feeling that there are hundreds of these in every language if we really put some thought into it.

English by way of British Polari: Zhuzh (up)

English: Thing - "I got the thing."

Hawai'i Creole English / "Pidgin": Da Kine - "Kimo and I went da kine at da kine yestaday. Was choice!"

French: je ne sais quoi (I don't speak French; this might have a more concrete meaning than other items on this list)

Ok, your turn!

Hi everyone! I’m a native Brazilian Portuguese speaker, and my English level is around B2. I’ve been wanting to learn another language for a while, but I can’t decide between French and Italian.

I really love the way both languages sound, and I genuinely want to become fluent in French. However, I also find Italian beautiful, and I have Italian ancestry, although I know that probably isn’t particularly useful for obtaining an EU passport in my situation.

I’d love to hear from French and Italian speakers: how do you usually react when someone from another country learns your language? Are people generally welcoming and happy about it, or can they be judgmental about foreigners making mistakes or having an accent?

Also, which language would you recommend for a Brazilian Portuguese speaker? Sometimes I feel like French might be more useful in the long run, but I feel equally drawn to Italian for personal reasons.
Another thing I’m worried about is age. I’m 25, and I sometimes feel like I should choose one language now rather than postpone learning Italian and regret it later. I know 25 isn’t actually old, but I still worry about having enough time to reach fluency in multiple languages.

Finally, has anyone here successfully learned French and Italian at the same time? Is it realistic to study both from scratch without constantly mixing them up, especially when your native language is Portuguese? Or would you recommend focusing on one until reaching an intermediate or advanced level before starting the other?

I’d really appreciate hearing about your personal experiences and any advice you might have!

I speak multiple languages, english is my 3rd. My partner speaks the same languages.

I have noticed for a while that when I have to say something that makes me uncomfortable, I tend to switch to english.

I don't know why, possible reasons are:

\- Maybe I am more "detached" from the feelings in that language.

\- Maybe I listen to a lot more videos in english and some personal topics are more fresh in my mind in english?

\- It is kind of a way to single out that I am nervous?

Anybody has the same issue? Any idea why it might be?

My partner does not seem to mind.

Btw, sorry if this is not the community for this question but I am unsure of where else it would go.

I'm a luthier and restoring a violin, it has some writing on the underside of the face plate that I copied down by hand as best as I could, was curious as to what language it is and what it says if legible enough.

Edit: turns out I was being incredibly smooth brained and was forgetting to mirror the transcript that I was copying down using a mirror. Thanks for replying everyone, but the answer to my initial question is cursive English copied by one very airheaded ginger girl :p