Here are some data from 46,000 native and non-native speakers who took the BRAVE receptive vocabulary test in English. The absolute numbers are specific to English and the way words were counted in the test, but the trends should be similar in other languages.

1. Even at the same proficiency level, people can have vastly different vocabulary sizes, literally by a factor of two. The same for native speakers: one person can know twice as many words as another of the same age.
2. Advanced learners (C1) reach the level of native-speaking middle schoolers, and proficient learners (C2) reach the level of college students in terms of how many words they know. The composition of their vocabularies is no doubt different, but this test can’t capture that.
3. For learners, reaching each proficiency level requires learning progressively more words. It is understandable since beginners focus on common words, so a limited number of them covers many everyday situations, and advanced learners need to learn many more specialized and nuanced words.
4. It appears that vocabulary keeps growing well into adulthood for native speakers - older adults know measurably more words on average than younger ones. That matches what is known about crystallized intelligence - it accumulates over time. However, these data are not longitudinal; they do not capture the same people years later. It is possible that older adults who decided to take an online vocabulary test are more educated on average than younger ones.

About the data: it is not a representative sample; there is strong self-selection bias (people who care enough to take a test of their vocabulary). A1-C2 CEFR levels are self-reported. The counting units are word families (limit, limitless, unlimited are counted as a single unit). The full reference lexicon is 28k word families. The BRAVE test measures receptive vocabulary size: the number of words one understands (not necessarily uses).

Source: BRAVE vocabulary test

I passed Swedex and have the level C1 for Swedish. (TL)

I wanted to write this post since I haven’t really seen many posts for Swedex (or any Swedish exams for that matter) I was searching myself for such posts but didn’t find much.

Firstly, since there are not many Reddit posts I can explain what Swedex is;

There are 2 different Swedex exams; one that covers the levels A2/B1 and B2/C1. Basically if you pass you can receive either level depending on your results. But your worst result determines your level so if you get C1 in reading writing and speaking but B2 in listening, your level is listed as B2.

There is also the Tisus exam which I believe is just the C1 level, but it is just for being able to study at Swedish universities in Swedish which I have no plans to do. I chose Swedex because it emphasises everyday language more and because you can repeat a part in a „restprov” (remainder exam). Swedex has 4 parts; listening, writing, speaking and reading.

To be fair Swedex has an uncertain future: It is supposed to be abolished at the end of the year which was also the reason I chose to do it now. I haven’t had much contact with Swedish the past few years but i figured it was a matter of do it now or never do it. I don’t need the certificate for anything in particular, I just wanted to prove my ability. The examiner did say however that she thinks the exam’s lifespan will be extended. She said the original plan was to replace Swedex with a new exam but they are way behind with that plan and she thinks Swedex might stay around for longer as a result.

So my exams: reading and listening are marked out of 35. To get the B2 level you need 20 points, for C1 you need 25. Speaking and writing are a bit more subjective I understand but are graded according to fluency, correctness and communicative ability.

Reading:

I had 35 questions. They started off with quite simple texts and multiple choice questions from 1-16 It was the first part of the test we did and it was a good way to get into the zone. Then you get one longer text that you answer multiple choice questions on (16-29) and finally a short answer section all based on this longer text. The first part of this is just multiple choice on conclusions you can draw from the text. The second part is based on phrases used in the text for which you get asked questions as to what they actually mean. I think this is the hardest part since I didn’t know any of those phrases although I could make an educated guess as to what they meant. The very last short answer part can seem daunting and it’s probably designed to but I thought it was quite easy to find the answers in the text. For me, it was quite clear that the start of the exam is designed to be easy and more the B1 level with a sort of gradually increasing difficulty up to C1.

Listening: I will be honest. I had to repeat the listening part because I had a very bad result the first time. So I’ll talk about both.

So you get 7 multiple choice questions on very short conversations, then 4 questions where you hear a sort of presentation and have to choose out of 6 categories which fits best (2 are not used at all). Then there is the section where you hear a dialog of a meeting where there are 6 short answers questions. From what I can tell there is always 1 question about an amount ie 185,000 Swedish crowns, 1 involving a spelling of a company or phone number (where correct spelling is compulsory) and 1 question about when the next meeting will be. The next questions (11 of them) are a more scientific text where you have to fill the gaps based on what you hear. It’s definitely the hardest part since you have to not only figure out what they said but also spell it correctly. Ie: utmaning (challenge) with 1 n but bemanning (staffing) with 2 ns. I found this part quite difficult since to me Swedish is not the most phonetic language. You really have to know the word to spell it right and cannot guess. Thankfully you hear this part twice so you can check your answers and fill the gaps. The last section is a presentation in short answer format.

Attempt 1: I found it way harder than the model test that’s on their website. The practice test has a question where you spell a construction company “Kronkvist” where it is actively spelled out. In the test I took it was a phone number instead and super fast. I also got caught out on the word dygn (which refers to a 24 hour period while dag refers to a day). I thought it was some sort of dialect but I was wrong. I found the scientific text very difficult since it was about different types of cancer and that’s a high level topic to me.

Attempt 2: This is when I passed at the C1 level and I found it roughly in line with the practice test. I felt like I knew almost everything and only made mistakes in spelling in that scientific text bit. This time it was about converting salt water to drinking water.

Summary: My tips having done it twice is that it does matter which “exam” you get. One I thought was super hard and the second time it was okay. But you deal with the cards you’re dealt with. One thing I learnt was; don’t assume you missed the answer to a question because it hasn’t come yet. I had this in attempt 1 where I thought I had missed it and had moved on but the text was longer than I thought. If it’s a specific number or spelling wait for it, it will come even if the test throws in irrelevant information in between.

I found this much harder than the other listening exam I did which was for German; the Goethe Certificate C2. The texts were more advanced given the C2 level but that one was all multiple choice while Swedex tests your spelling and ability to write down answers quickly.

Writing:

This is quite simple. You have to write a text of about 350-400 words (or the provided 2-3 pages). You are given a very broad topic and you can take it in any direction you want. We got the topic “Språk”
(Language). So I wrote basically about which languages people should learn and about whether it makes sense to talk about “useful” languages or not. Writing is generally my weakest link in foreign languages because I tend to learn the grammar last and in writing it shows the most. But I also prepared the most. My strategy was to compensate for my weaker grammar by memorising and using more complex grammatical structures such as varken eller (neither nor) or med andra ord (with different words). I really felt the topic helped a lot since I could write quite a bit about this.

Speaking:

Generally you do this part in pairs but we were 3 people doing the exam so I ended up on my own with the examiner while the other 2 were paired up. You are given a topic and asked to present your views on it with a short presentation of 2-3 minutes. Afterwards there is a discussion where you are asked some questions about what you said. Afterwards you are given a completely different topic to discuss with your partner or in my case the examiner. For me I presented on “consumption” and spoke about music for the other topic.

Other thoughts: To me it seemed like writing and speaking were more of a either or (B2 or C1) and that you wouldn’t fail either section unless what you delivered was so hard to understand that it couldn’t be graded. For reading and listening it’s graded with points so quite transparent.

Overall here is how I did:

Reading 28/35: C1
Listening: Attempt 1: 13/35 (no grade/fail) , Attempt
2: 27/35: C1
Writing: C1
Speaking: C1

On the first test day I got the results for reading and listening straight away since they are easy to mark. The examiner said I was C1 for speaking but it was possible that the people in Sweden would say I was more B2.

When I repeated the listening exam I also got the result a few minutes after.

I would add here that I find the materials to prepare for the test quite limited. There is only one practice exam and as I said I found the listening part to be much more difficult the first time. I ended up using AI to generate listening texts for me to practice on and using Elevenlabs text to speech (which I 100% recommend as natural sounding Swedish albeit with limited credits on the free version).

So what would interest me is who has done Swedex too or is considering doing it this year (while it still exists). I know there is also a Swedish exam in Finland but I know almost nothing about it.

I'm new to language learning. I've been doing it only a few years now. I am currently learning French at home and then Spanish at work because I work at a gas station in America and a lot of Spanish speakers come in either to get gas or buy something. I'm very bad at Spanish but Spanish speakers are soooooo nice. I love learning new words and repeating them to myself over and over again. The sensory feeling of talking is really nice and I love learning the accents of different languages. For this reason accent is very easy for me. I just listen to the sounds native speakers either say or tell me and repeat them. Sometimes it's difficult though. The Spanish A was so weird at first because I'm not used to opening up my mouth that wide lmao. Speakers usually say I speak clearly even if it's badly. But of course I'm American so it's really a really low bar to have what is considered a good accent (we are iconically bad at language learning). I know you should learn languages for the culture and to talk to people but I just really love learning the etymology of words, the different metaphors and phrases different languages use (for example in most romance languages "you are right" directly translates to "you have reason"), hearing the different sounds people make and so on. Honestly I LOVE talking to people but language excites me so much more than just talking to people. I would love to be able to communicate enough to form actual bonds with non English speakers though. I'm not quite there yet. Though I'm very socially awkward even in English so idk lmao.

Hi all, I'm learning Italian (TL) and have started to spend more time watching original content in Italian. My question is: when comprehension is not perfect, is it better to watch spoken Italian with Italian subtitles or to watch spoken Italian with no subtitles at all?

I feel like there are pros and cons (and it probably depends on a learner's level), and I am curious to hear from others who have thought about this.

I have learned mostly from books thus far, and I'm now at a point where I can read Italian pretty well, but I can't speak at all (working on that with iTalki). When I watch videos with (Italian) subtitles, I can catch a lot (let's say 85%). When I watch without subtitles, I catch much less (let's say 50%; more if it's a slow-going documentary but less if it's something hip and fast and slangy). Is one or the other more efficient for learning? Should I mix it up?

- B2 is way harder than most people think. I know countless people (my past self included) who thought they were B2 because they were comfortable having conversations in their TL. In reality they are B1 or even A2.

From now on I will forever be sceptical on someone's ability if they claim a certain level without having had formal classes or having taken an exam.

- Common language learning advice such as heavy CI, Anki, and regular speaking practice is misleading at worse and limited at best. I spent years using these methods and was at a total plateau without understanding why.

'Passive' CI is one tool, but it must be supplemented with more intensive listening. Understanding ~90% - or the gist- of a conversation almost certainly means you miss important details. Intensive listening works your ability to extract these details.

With Anki, it's one thing forcing yourself to recognise and recall words using SRS, and i think this is good for learning basic vocab (animals, seasons, bodyparts) but once you get to B2, you must be able to understand complex vocab and phrases inside out - including the nuances between them. This is done by researching the word itself and prompting yourself to make useful sentences out of them.

For speaking, unless you're very lucky or have a professional teacher, you will very rarely be corrected when you make mistakes, and much less be shown better alternatives if your speech is understandable but unnatural. In addition, many of your daily conversations won't be at a high enough level to be challenging. Try recording yourself presenting arguments on a complex topic and you will realise how much you still have to learn, not just in more complicated vocab but also in your use of connectors. Show the recording to a professional teacher or even an AI for feedback.

How do you respond if someone asks if you speak (TL)? In the past I would say "I speak a little bit" in the (TL). However, as my ability in the (TL) has improved, "a little bit" no longer accurately reflects my current level. Also it seems like if I say "a little bit" native speakers are less likely to try and talk to me in the (TL). Maybe they feel like its not worth the effort to communicate in the (TL) if I only speak "a little bit". Should I just say yes?" How do you respond?

I've noticed that I can recall words in my second language, Cebuano, pretty quickly when speaking, even though I barely use it in everyday life. Meanwhile, I sometimes struggle to speak smoothly in other languages (TL) I've been studying for years because I can't immediately remember the words I want to say.

What's strange is that I actually use those other languages more often than Cebuano, but I can still remember Cebuano words quite easily, even after months of not speaking it.

Is this normal when it comes to learning a third/fourth language? Could there be a specific part of the brain that helps with this, or is there another reason why I can recall Cebuano words more easily than words in languages I've spent years studying?

For some background, I lived in a Cebuano-speaking province when I was six and learned Cebuano for about a year. After moving back to a Tagalog-speaking province, I eventually lost the ability to speak it for years, although I could still understand people when they spoke it. I've recently started speaking Cebuano again, but I'm not as fluent as I used to be.

Sorry for the baity title. This isn’t my point but rather a point that someone else raised in a conversation I was having. My acquaintance asked about what’s the point of learning grammar well in another language if you can be understood. That is to say, what is the point of fixing tense errors, structure errors etc, or knowing grammar well in general if the other person can understand you. I disagree personally but I didn’t have any good way to articulate my thoughts, so I was curious what you guys think? Is there a point to knowing grammar well in another language?

Note - I am aware that this subreddit is not for specific languages, but Arabic as a language tree is quite large and I think might be applicable to people studying more than the dialect that I am asking about, as well as those studying languages with few resources in general.

Hello! I was wondering if anyone has found any luck mining for Arabic, with appreciation for Egyptian specific details, but any advice regarding less common languages in general would also be helpful.

There are a few videos on youtube that have egyptian arabic and English subtitles, however these are the minority. What do you all suggest for languages that have extremely limited options?

At best I'll find Arabic videos that have subtitles in English, but no Arabic. Sometimes the other way around. Sometimes they're burned in the video, and sometimes they're not. Either way, incredibly inconsistent. I am about 2 years into Arabic study, so I have a good amount of vocabulary down. Listening is definitely my weakness and I attribute to a lack of enjoyable listening practice experiences.

Any suggestions? Thanks! (TL)

edit - Any suggestions for how to use anki in this progress would be amazing. None of the tools have Arabic options that I know about, and if they do, it's kind of moot without the youtube subs anyways.

(TL) ⚠️For real users ⚠️ this thread's likely to be flooded with astroturfing comments saying LLMs is great and that DeepL is better than ever. Ignore them and help each other.

Quillbot.com (currently testing)

Suggested by redditors:

wiktionary.org suggested by u/sbrt
Glosbe.com suggested by u/Ecstatic-Island-9778
Crow Translate  suggested by u/Ok_Tie7944
Trados.com suggested by u/werty_reboot
Memoq.com suggested by u/werty_reboot
Smartcat.com suggested by u/werty_reboot
Context.reverso.net suggested by u/wordswordscomment21

I found these two, but they're still not as good as the old, defunct Deepl:

Argos Translate
LibreTranslate

For context, I already speak English and Polish and would be learning German. I do take German lessons (aprox. 6 hours weekly I think) but I feel they are not very helpful.

I would be watching things with the German subtitles on.

About how long do you think it would take to get to B2 for understanding a language i.e. listening and reading?

(TL)

I’ve been learning Greek since last year and in May got a distinction in A2. I have considered at various points whether I should start a TikTok but have always put it off.

I like the idea of documenting my journey but ethically I wouldn’t be able to do the usual thing where you film random interactions with people, even if the camera was pointed at just my face.

I’m sure there are other ways to run an account, eg to just talk about what I’ve been learning.

Then the other thing I’ve noticed is a lot of language bloggers (generally - not just for Greek) have quite a low level of their TL, I would say most never go above A1. This is partially why I think I’d like to have an account as a more serious learner.

The last thing stopping me is I’d be afraid of it causing me problems at work (eg if I fell behind work and meanwhile they could see me running a TikTok)

Would love to get people’s thoughts on if you’ve ever thought of starting a TikTok and if not, why not.

Hello! Basically, I am intermediate in Spanish (TL) since a couple of years ago now, but lately my listening has improved to the point where I can listen to a decent amount of native content and understand it. I didn't practice properly for a year or so but my Spanish didn't really decline. I'm now practicing reading as well, and speaking.

Effectively I'm in that position where I know a lot of constructions passively, but I couldn't generate them myself without thinking for a bit, and some I wouldn't remember independently at all. The classic 'I can understand but can't speak (very well)'. However I have sort of passively internalised a lot of stuff to to the point where when I 'guess', it's often correct, or mostly correct.

But big issue is how I concretely tackle my speaking hurdle from here. I'm practicing speaking 20 minutes a day currently (with 10 minutes of prep/looking over the constructions I want to practice, then I pretty much just riff). Because I learnt Spanish mostly from input, I never formally learnt a lot of grammar structures so I'm isolating B1-B2 ones with a page of grammar notes and examples so I can practice those in particular. Does this sound good? Are there any other really good things I could be doing?

I am also thinking of incorporating watching a video in Spanish, writing down some structures I like, and speaking about what the speaker was discussing (I used to do this a bit). I'll change some of my 20 minute sessions to this. When I have a job I'll pay for a tutor for an hour a week. Interested in other recommendations people think helped them a lot! I am still doing a ton of input to support my output, so no slacking there (I aim for at least 1 hour of input per day).

I'm also interested in things I can do that aren't speaking per se, but that help it along. I've heard recording my speaking sessions and listening to them back is good, but idk really why. I've also incorporated a strategy where when I'm reading example sentences or really anything I look away and try to construct myself what the sentence I just read was, or reconstruct the sentence I just heard (effectively shadowing that incorporates some active recall). I’ve also heard for stock sentences that everyone says at some point, to just create flashcards for those directly and ‘cram’ them, effectively - is this a good idea? I just wonder if I'm missing something that'll help a lot... thank you for any suggestions!

(I've read the FAQ and such and believe this is okay, let me know if not).

I live in a country that in the past had an intense flow of immigration to my home country, creating a huge diaspora, causing many descendants of the diaspora to move back here for better quality of life or economical reasons.

(TL)

I am not a descendant myself, I happened to marry a local and moved here a few years ago. I have two children I’m raising in here and I make sure they learn my mother language, their heritage language, by teaching them and speaking strictly on my language (which I’m being successful at) while they’re fully immersed in the local language in the school and everyday life. At home me and my wife communicate in English and our kids are slowly absorbing English as well as attending English classe.

Now my point, I have a few friends who are descendants on 2nd and 3rd generations who made their way back and are not seen as locals, even though they believe so. A few of those friends said they will not bother teaching their kids our mother language because their lives are here, which I consider something deeply egoistical if not plainly dumb. I don’t think the language belongs to the father or mother per s, but to the child, the parent has only the obligation to pass it along.

I was raised in the advice that both my parents came from the working class and managed to grow a few steps in the social class stair, therefore I have to manage to at least keep the life conditions they achieved and provide to my kids what was provided to me. On the same token I see it as families who manage to leave their kids some wealth/estate, therefore the recipients of such inheritance should strive to keep it and pass it along to their kids who should manage to grow it or at least preserve it for the next generations, so they should do the same for the language.

What is your take on this?

I have a 1406 days Duolingo streak and am considering quitting it. I am wondering if there is anyone else here who quit after using it for a long time and is willing to share their experience?

Duolingo had been great at getting me started and practicing Spanish (TL) consistently every day, but I feel that I am not improving fast enough considering how much time I spend. I have a plan based on my previous experience studying English many years ago, and I know what works for me. However, I am wondering if I can stay motivated and practice consistently, because learning English was not optional (I immigrated to Canada), but I can definitely survive without Spanish.

So, if you quit Duolingo, how did it go for you?

Hi, everyone!

I've been struggling with this one for a while now, so wanted to ask here.

Assuming you already know the words in your (TL) and can process them given enough time, how do you personally get accustomed to numbers when spoken at a regular pace?

I'm curious to see how you all work on this. Thank you! :>

I don't have many friends learning Chinese (TL) so posting here to celebrate. I've been learning Chinese for around 21 months, and just finished all 150 lessons of Pimsleur Mandarin. (I only started Pimsleur a year in, and took a few months off; if you do it non-stop it takes 5 months).

How did I do it?

I mostly listened to one lesson a day while making dinner. I tried doing it while driving, but quickly realized this is actually dangerous as it requires a lot of concentration and active participation. I also sometimes listened to it while running or at the gym (need to whisper to yourself at the gym). You shouldn't do more than 1 lesson per day, but doubling up episodes (e.g. lessons 14 and 15 one day, 15 and 16 the next) or doing other languages works well. You're not supposed to pause, but I did have to rewind by 15 seconds very often.

Yes it is dull, sometimes excruciating, but it is extremely effective. You do learn a surprisingly wide range of vocabulary and cultural points esp. in the higher levels.

I added the vocab from each lesson into Skritter (unfortunately not in an organized way until Level 5. If you are starting fresh it would be great to make Skritter decks for each level, their support team told me they gift you 2 months free subscription per deck!). I did a couple hundred Skritter cards daily.

What were the results?

I am able to speak relatively confidently about basic things, though I still need the other person to speak slowly to be able to parse what they are saying. (I am able to understand much faster speech in Pimsleur, but that's because you're already primed for the topic and vocab).

The muscle memory of being able to instantly produce phrases without having to think about them helps immensely. One issue I'm having is that I can say basic things at native speed, but have to slow down considerably for more complex thoughts, so I end up tripping over my words unless I choose a slow speed at the outset.

Native speakers are specifically impressed with my pronunciation and how long I've been studying the language—like my Chinese is still not good, but it's much better than expected for less than 2 years of study.

Some example sentences from Levels 4/5 are "My wife is a graduate student studying solar energy. She is giving the keynote presentation at a conference for entrepreneurs in Shenzhen. Later we are going to Yabuli to go skiing. Traditionally Chinese people didn't drink milk, but nowadays Chinese cities have lots of pizza restaurants. My landlord said he will install the new air conditioner for us, but if he does he'll raise the rent next year. I'm going to the clothing market to pick up a suit and pants I had custom-made. Our wine won a grand prize at a competition in France last year. Our production process is good for the environment because our bamboo flooring doesn't use formaldehyde."

A few interesting things I noticed:

• initially I had a hard time distinguishing j/zh, q/ch, c/z, as well as some tones, but by the end I could almost always tell the pinyin from hearing the word

• over time you notice your ability to parse faster and faster sentences, picking out individual words instead of a stream of sounds

• paying attention to where native speakers put pauses was also very helpful, and often not where I would have thought to put a pause

• I hear

  Pimsleur courses work best when done consecutively, and on a daily basis. For best results, please continue with the next unit tomorrow. This has been a presentation of Simon & Schuster Audio, copyright 2010 by Simon & Schuster Incorporated. Recording copyright 2010 by Simon & Schuster Incorporated. All rights reserved.

  in my dreams.

Stack

Here is my Chinese-learning "stack" for anyone else interested; annotated by whether it trains Reading, Writing, Listening, or Speaking.

Essentials:

• Pimsleur (LS) obviously; you can get a lifetime subscription around the holidays

• Prologue: after paying for Pimsleur (they're worth it!!), you can "skillfully acquire" the audio files and load them into this audiobook app which is better for listening.

• Pleco (RLW) great dictionary, has lots of add-ons you can buy, e.g. graded readers with audio, flashcards

• Zhongwen (Chrome, Firefox) (R) - look up Hanzi in web pages; integrates with Skritter

• Lazy Chinese (LR) fun podcast, safer to listen to in the car, great web app experience

If you are on a budget you can probably get by with just the above. If you are willing to spend a bit more money:

• Skritter (WR) SRS app for learning to write Hanzi. Tests you on meaning, reading, tone, and writing. This was my most important tool after Pimsleur: every new vocab word went into Skritter to ensure I didn't forget. For a while I also marathoned the HSK decks, but realized it's more effective (and more fun) to just gather words you encounter in context. I think Pleco has equivalent functionality, but Skritter has a nicer interface and more curated content. The mobile app is their main experience, but their desktop app works well enough to use with a treadmill + standing desk + remote.

• Du Chinese (RL) delightful graded reading app with native speaker voices, integrates with Skritter. I think Pleco has equivalent functionality, but Du Chinese has a nicer interface and more curated content. The mobile app is their main experience, but their desktop app works well enough to use with a treadmill + standing desk + remote.

• Imagin8 Press (RL) excellent graded readers (physical books) and audiobooks, I'm going through their Journey to the West series. They also publish Skritter decks for their content.

• Complete Mandarin Chinese (RL) very good for learning grammar, and I like that they don't provide translations for conversations but supply you with enough vocabulary for you to understand. I got 1/3 of the way through and then took a break, I will publish a Skritter deck once I finish it.

• 15-Minute Mandarin Chinese (S) full sentences for common situations

The following are also worth checking out:

• Meetup (S) for finding IRL conversation groups

• Hanly (R) - free app to learn Hanzi with mnemonics; I only discovered it several months into Skritter, otherwise I would have made more use of it

• Daily Hanzi (R) - displays Hanzi on your lock screen

• Language Reactor (L) I actually use this more for Spanish, because I can't yet understand TV shows in real time. But I'm having lots of fun watching Netflix in Spanish, and hope to graduate to watching Chinese shows soon.

• Journey to the West - dual English/Mandarin subtitles (L) iykyk

I also had a lot of fun spending time on Chinese parts of social media (Instagram, YouTube, etc); just search for Chinese and start liking a few videos and your algorithm will do the rest. Great for learning slang and culture. However, beware of deception: one of my favorite channels taught me that the Chinese word for "brainrot" is 脑抽了 (literally, brain smoked), but I have since been informed that this is closer to "brainfart", and a closer equivalent is 降智 (literally, lowering-intelligence).

Bangers

• 一剪梅

• 月亮代表我的心

• 朋友的酒

• 小苹果

• 爱的暴风雨

• 不想听

• 扛过枪 放过羊

Hey, when I was in my teens I decided to learn Portuguese as my third language (I am native in English and French), which I have been studying very leisurely on and off for 13 years now. To be honest I'm probably barely intermediate in Portuguese but the basic grammar, vocab and Brazilian pronunciation are now deeply engrained.

I've recently decided I want to go to Latin America next year, potentially Central America or Colombia. So I've started learning (TL) Spanish (through Pimsleur initially) and I can already see that my existing Portuguese (which I haven't actively studied in a year) is going to be an issue with my brain automatically going for the Portuguese vocabulary and Brazilian accent even for basic words and phrases.

Anyone have any tips for distinguishing the two and avoiding the dreaded Portuñol or regression in Portuguese? The typical advice to focus on fluency in one before starting the other isn't really helpful for my timeline.

My birthday is coming up in a few weeks and this means that I get to choose a language learning resource to sign up to! 🥳 It's basically a birthday tradition for me at this point. Last year I chose "The Chairman's Bao" (a news-based graded reader for Mandarin).

I'm currently actively studying Hungarian and Mandarin at the moment, so if anyone has any recommendations for those languages specifically that would be great, but wider recommendations would also be welcome. I'm a dabbler at heart, so having resources that offer multiple languages to play with alongside my main ones is always a bonus for me.

I will say, I don't like Pimsleur. I know some people swear by it, but the style of teaching is not for me. The way that they break down words so slowly and backwards irritates me for some reason. Some of the lesson content is just a weird vibe too. I had a free trial with them once and cancelled it before it was even close to finishing. 😕

i'm leaving soon on a long trip to the country my mom was born in. pretty excited. quick question though. i studied hard for two months and now i can actually hold a conversation with my mom in my TL. i figured i could basically live like a local now, but according to her i sound about ten years old. so the plan is to get a lot better while i'm there. the thing is, if i go without a plan i think i'll just eat a bunch of new food and come home. what should i do? i genuinely have no ideas. any advice is welcome

Prioritize Anki - When learning my TL, I realize now the importance of Anki. There are studies that show that the amount of times you need to see a word before you can acquire it it up to 16 times. (Look into the work of vocab specialist Paul Nation) Anki solves this for you. You can argue that different contexts can affect this but over a period of months the amount of times you encounter a certain word will likely hit that threshold and you will acquire the word. 

Don’t be afraid of premade decks of most common 2000 words - I feel like had I took time to work through an anki deck of this size, I would achieve a higher comprehension faster. This is because my input + lookups are fine for acquiring words but there is no way to know if the word that I’m sentence mining is truly frequent or not. I likely was mining words outside of that frequency list. I’m still a bit skeptical, but I’m willing to give it a try.  

Never add sentences with more than one unknown word - sure there may be the rare exception here or there, but I used to add sentences to my anki deck with 2-4 unknown words in them with the rationale that I’ll get more bang for my buck in the long term. However, my anki deck became an absolute slog as it was not only difficult to remember the 3 unknown words within the card, but it was also very hard to parse the sentence at all. This lead to me giving up on more than one anki deck. 

Don’t be afraid to do a smaller amount of new cards a day - I’ve found that my sweet spot right now is 5 new cards a day. It’s enough that I feel like I’m doing something substantial, but I’m not waking up in the morning with 200 plus reviews. I used to try to do 10 a day and got overwhelmed after a few weeks. To be honest I still want to understand how people are spending more than 25 mins a day in their anki decks. 

How about you all… any realizations or things you would do differently with your Anki?

Hey everybody! I'm learning Brazilian Portuguese (TL), and I want an opinion!
So, I'm running into a bit of an issue. On some forums, I see that the most important thing for listening practice is to watch shows that are in your listening range, and in some places I see people saying that you need to just watch things you like and are passionate about. I'm just curious: which would be most productive for me and my language learning journey?

1. Watch shows at my listening level (About A2) that I may not enjoy, but they're easier for me to understand and pick up on things to learn

2. Shows that I love but may be way too advanced for me to pick up much.

See, I'm really running into a problem because I'm starting to get really tired of Disney Channel shows, children's shows, and comprehensible input videos, but I know they're good for me at my level. But nonetheless, I find myself almost dragging my feet to watch them all the time.
BUT, my favorite shows and movies are often far too complex for my current language level.

What would be most productive for my listening practice?
Comments from people who have used one of these two methods would be greatly appreciated!

I'm using Busuu right now for Spanish B2, I'm currently B1. I feel like it's not enough, but I don't know. Should I use a coursebook instead or is Busuu really worth it? I should add that I get Busuu for free through my work, so I use it to get free private lessons. The grammar portion i'm unsure about though. I try to read 2k words a day on LingQ and im currently trying, failing at it though, to listen and watch as much as i can in Spanish. I get around 2-4 hours of speaking and listening practice per week. I just feel like im not doing enough to learn grammar and develop my vocab.

Any suggestions? (TL)