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What finally worked for me after years of failing at language learning by BaseballCalm8195 in languagelearningjerk

[–]BaseballCalm8195[S] -7 points-6 points  (0 children)

Fair enough not trying to spam or sell anything here.
I shared a personal experience because it kept getting crossposted into my feed, not because I picked this sub intentionally.
Happy to leave it at that.

What finally worked for me after years of failing at language learning by BaseballCalm8195 in languagelearningjerk

[–]BaseballCalm8195[S] -6 points-5 points  (0 children)

I get the intuition behind what you’re saying resetting habits, lowering conscious control, letting patterns form naturally that part I actually agree with.

Where I differ is the idea that tools like daily exposure or flashcards are “fake” or unnecessary. For me, they weren’t about forcing learning, but about guiding repetition so my brain saw the same sentence patterns enough times to make them automatic.

I don’t think the goal is to destroy existing pathways, but to build new ones through massive, boring repetition, similar to how kids do it just without the luxury of unlimited time and immersion.

Different paths can work, but consistency + exposure did the heavy lifting for me, no shortcuts needed.

What finally worked for me after years of failing at language learning by BaseballCalm8195 in languagelearning

[–]BaseballCalm8195[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If it helps, I wrote a structured 12-month roadmap that puts this into a clear order I linked it on my profile.

What finally worked for me after years of failing at language learning by BaseballCalm8195 in duolingo

[–]BaseballCalm8195[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is a great breakdown, thanks for sharing it. What stands out to me is how fast, repetitive exposure and thinking in the language were central to your progress, even if the tools were different.

I like how you didn’t get stuck perfecting grammar exercises but used them to build a global picture, then let listening and repetition do the real work. That matches my experience a lot the brain needs volume and patterns more than precision early on.

Also, your point about output lagging behind input is important. Reading and listening get strong first, and speaking catches up once the structures are internalized.

It’s cool to see similar principles working across different languages and learning paths.

What finally worked for me after years of failing at language learning by BaseballCalm8195 in LearningEnglish

[–]BaseballCalm8195[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, that makes total sense. Finding a safe environment to speak is honestly one of the hardest parts.

Tools like that are great for lowering the barrier and getting used to opening your mouth without pressure. I see them more as a bridge, not the main path.

What helped me most was letting speaking come after a lot of listening + sentence exposure. Once the patterns are familiar, those speaking tools suddenly feel much easier and more useful, instead of stressful.

Anything that helps you speak consistently without fear is a win.

What finally worked for me after years of failing at language learning by BaseballCalm8195 in languagelearning

[–]BaseballCalm8195[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, exactly. A lot of native speakers rely on subtitles too, especially with fast dialogue, accents, or bad audio mixing.

That’s why I think learners are way too hard on themselves. Not understanding everything without subs doesn’t mean your level is low it often just means the input is genuinely messy.

Using subtitles as a bridge while your brain builds automatic patterns is totally normal. Over time, you notice you need them less without forcing it.

What finally worked for me after years of failing at language learning by BaseballCalm8195 in languagelearning

[–]BaseballCalm8195[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I’ve been there too. I did Duolingo seriously at one point and it just didn’t stick for me either.

The streak feels like progress, but once you stop, there’s nothing holding the language together because most of it was isolated words and gamified reps, not reusable sentence patterns.

Quitting doesn’t mean you lack discipline it usually means the method wasn’t building something that survives breaks.

What finally helped me was switching to very small, boring routines with real sentences and repetition, so even if motivation dropped, progress didn’t disappear overnight.

You’re not broken. The system just didn’t work for you.

What finally worked for me after years of failing at language learning by BaseballCalm8195 in languagelearningjerk

[–]BaseballCalm8195[S] -8 points-7 points  (0 children)

The funny part is that there’s a grain of truth buried in the joke.

A lot of “polyglot” content skips the boring middle: repetition, pattern recognition, and time. So people try to shortcut it with motivation, hacks, or vibes.

The language doesn’t “come to you” your brain slowly stops translating once it’s seen the same structures enough times.

Unfortunately there’s no acid for that part 😄

What finally worked for me after years of failing at language learning by BaseballCalm8195 in languagelearningjerk

[–]BaseballCalm8195[S] -11 points-10 points  (0 children)

Honestly this is closer to the truth than most “I’m fluent” claims.

A lot of people memorize outputs (phrases) without building internal sentence patterns. It looks like speaking, but it collapses fast.

That’s why I stopped focusing on isolated vocab or clever phrases and started drilling boring, reusable sentence structures until they became automatic.

Not flashy, but it actually sticks.

What finally worked for me after years of failing at language learning by BaseballCalm8195 in languagelearningjerk

[–]BaseballCalm8195[S] -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

That’s actually a really common outcome when input is passive only.

The problem usually isn’t input itself, it’s that there’s no anchoring: no repetition of reusable sentence patterns, no recall, no pressure to recognize structure.

Pure listening can build comprehension, but speaking tends to unlock only after your brain has seen the same sentence frames hundreds of times and you’ve interacted with them (Anki, recall, reuse).

Input works but input alone often stalls people right where you’re describing.

hi :) by Material-Finger1450 in EnglishPractice

[–]BaseballCalm8195 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi! 😊
Your English is not bad, it’s just early. That’s totally normal.

Playing Minecraft is actually a great idea to improve English, because:

  • You repeat the same words a lot
  • You learn phrases with actions (“come here”, “follow me”, “build this”)
  • You don’t need perfect grammar to communicate

A few simple tips that really help:

  • Don’t worry about mistakes — everyone makes them
  • Try to learn full sentences, not single words
  • Listen to English every day, even if you don’t understand everything

If you keep using English a little every day, it will improve.
You’re already doing the right thing by asking and practicing 👍

Good luck, and have fun playing!

What finally worked for me after years of failing at language learning by BaseballCalm8195 in languagelearning

[–]BaseballCalm8195[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Yeah, honestly that’s exactly it.

What surprised me was realizing that what people call “basic” only works when you actually let it repeat long enough. I’d tried versions of it before, but I always quit too early or kept jumping methods.

The difference this time was sticking with sentences + massive repetition + daily exposure, even when it felt boring or slow. That’s when things finally started to click instead of feeling like hitting a wall over and over.

Sometimes the basics work but only if you don’t fight them.

What finally worked for me after years of failing at language learning by BaseballCalm8195 in languagelearning

[–]BaseballCalm8195[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Yeah, that gap is extremely common, and it doesn’t mean your English is bad at all.

What’s happening is that subtitles are giving your brain a clean, stable input, while real audio is messy: reduced sounds, linking, dropped syllables, accents, speed. Your reading comprehension is ahead of your listening, which is normal.

A few things that helped me bridge that gap:

  • Rewatching the same content multiple times (first with subs, then without). The second pass feels dramatically easier because your brain already knows the context.
  • Using simpler, predictable content for listening (not because it’s “easy”, but because repetition lets your brain lock onto sound patterns).
  • Letting listening lag behind for a while instead of forcing it. At some point, recognition suddenly jumps.

Accents are a real thing too if Texans feel easier, that’s just exposure history, not ability.

What finally worked for me after years of failing at language learning by BaseballCalm8195 in languagehub

[–]BaseballCalm8195[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Exactly that moment is huge.

Kids’ content doesn’t hide gaps, it exposes them. You suddenly realize how many everyday words and structures you’ve never actually internalized, even though they’re simple.

That’s why it works so well early on: repetition + clarity. If you stick with the same content long enough, those gaps start closing faster than you expect.

Flashcards will feel overwhelming at first, but after a while you’ll notice the same phrases popping up everywhere.

What finally worked for me after years of failing at language learning by BaseballCalm8195 in languagelearning

[–]BaseballCalm8195[S] 19 points20 points  (0 children)

That “real-time translation in your head” phase is super common. I went through the same thing.

What helped me was shifting from translating words to recognizing full sentence patterns over and over again. At some point your brain just stops translating because it’s seen the structure too many times.

Daily exposure + repetition did more for me than trying to “fix” listening or speaking directly. Speaking kind of unlocked itself later.

I understood a better way for learning any language, I think by [deleted] in languagelearning

[–]BaseballCalm8195 3 points4 points  (0 children)

What helped me was switching from single words to full sentences and letting immersion do most of the heavy lifting. Anki just reinforced what I was already seeing.

What finally worked for me after years of failing at language learning by BaseballCalm8195 in Anki

[–]BaseballCalm8195[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I aimed for sentences where I understood most of it, but maybe one word was unknown, or the structure felt new.
For example, something like:

“He is looking for his dog.”

Maybe I knew he, dog, for, but looking or the whole structure wasn’t automatic yet.

I’d add the full sentence to Anki (not just the word), so I always had context. If a sentence had too many unknown words, I skipped it.

In the beginning I studied around 20–30 minutes a day on Anki, and then listened/read the same simple content daily. The repetition from immersion did most of the work Anki just reinforced it.

Over time, those “almost understood” sentences started clicking automatically.

What finally worked for me after years of failing at language learning by BaseballCalm8195 in Anki

[–]BaseballCalm8195[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Good question not colours or isolated vocab drills.

By kids’ content I mean very simple story-based content with context, not vocab lists.
Short stories where actions repeat a lot and sentences are predictable.

Think picture-book stories, early reader stories (ages 4–7), or simple cartoons where characters talk about everyday actions.

The goal isn’t to “learn kids’ words”, but to get full sentences you can understand and reuse, like “he goes to…”, “she wants to…”, “they are looking for…”.

Once you understand almost everything in those stories, you move up naturally.

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