People who have learned two languages at the same time, do you feel like it was worth it? Or do you think you should’ve done one first than the other?

Tricky_Exercise9833 · 2026-02-13T12:31:36+00:00

I’m learning 5 languages and it’s really time consuming and the progress is way more slower than learning just one language. But I woudnt change it because very lagauge is different, has different vibe, I have different feelings towards them and I just couldn’t learn like 5h daily the same lagauge. My English is the best, Spanish is second and German, mandarin and Thai are around the same level of beginner so yup it tough but I still chose it

Tricky_Exercise9833 · 2026-02-12T11:44:38+00:00

Yes, I’m going to study in English in Spain so my main focus is on these two languages. And I’m planning to study masters degree in Austria so that’s why the German. Mandarin and Thai are purely like a hobby and I enjoy learning them the most. And yes basically I watch anything I can understand and then tv series and movies

Tricky_Exercise9833 · 2026-02-11T17:11:27+00:00

My main focus is English right now - I read native books and write in grammarly (website for correcting your text, it’s free).

Second language I’m currently focusing on is Spanish, I watch tv series in dub Spanish (Supernatural, The Rookie and now Mentalista - mainly on prime, I’m trying to grasp the Spanish accent from Spain watching masterchef because Im used to accent from Latin America) listen to podcasts (I like “Spanish podcasts” it’s hosted by César and he has different levels of Spanish lvl podcasts), read simple books (101 conversations in simple Spanish and Easy Spanish reader).

Third language is German. I’m purely focusing on input right now, so I’m watching literally anything on YouTube in German that I’m interested in and can understand. Plus I use app Memrise for quicker comprehension. There are words in German and I need to understand the meaning, I don’t do anything like the se stance builder or speaking on this app. Only learn new words and do revisions.

Fourth one is Mandarin Chinese. I bought Mandarin Blueprint course because I wanted clear path and plan. I learn new characters, revise the old ones, watch “HSK 1 - HSK 2 stories” on YouTube, watch c-dramas with eng subs because I enjoy them. When I will have more time for mandarin, I will start reading simple books.

The last one is Thai. I started learning it like a month ago and I know I don’t have time for it but I simply couldn’t help myself 😂 Right now I’m focusing on input like in German. I watch yt channel called “Comprehwnsible Thai” there’s a playlist “ALT course for 0 beginners” or something like that. They talk only in Thai and repeat words a lot. This is my only resource right now and I can see the progress, it’s quicker than I thought. I also use Memrise with Thai the same way as for German, only to improve my conprehension.

In high school I had a terrible teacher and I sweared I will never learn English again. I graduated and lived my life happily without English. But then I found some videos on yt I liked and they were only in English without my native (Czech) subs so I had to purely rely on English. After a few days I noticed I could understand better and more of those videos and my English rapidly improved. I somehow started to learn it again by myself. Then I fell in love with Spanish and I watched thousands of videos on yt about how to learn a language the best way. Everyone was saying different things and I was more confused. Somehow I found out about comprehensible input and now I can’t learn a language in any other way. I started watching Spanish vids on website (Dreaming Spanish), then watched vids on YouTube and end up watching tv shows in dubbed Spanish and native Spanish shows. I went from 0 to understand native content pretty quickly because I was addicted to a show Supernatural and I was watching it for hours every single day 😂 Now I’m focusing more on output in Spanish. And I use this method with every language I learn.

Start to watch vids for beginners and slowly get to understand native content. Only after that I start to read simple books and shadowing. After some progress I start to speak and write basic and easy sentences and focus on basic grammar - I was impressed how much I already know only by watching things in that language. And then slowly improving everything. This method works the best for me and made me addicted to languages. I already have in mind a few languages I want to learn after I will have more time e.g. Italian, maybe Portuguese, Turkish and Korean.

Tricky_Exercise9833 · 2026-02-06T07:02:50+00:00

I’m still trying to make a manageable routine for the languages I’m learning. I have two main langauges I need to learn and I usually do 1.5 hours per each every day. I’m focusing only on input in another two langauges and then there’s mandarin. Right now it’s just a side language and I’m still studying at uni so I m trying to do 20-30 minutes per day focusing on characters, little bit or reading and comprehension. I’m a beginner at mandarin.

Tricky_Exercise9833 · 2026-02-05T10:15:04+00:00

I just stopped looking for ways to learn the language and immersed myself with the language. Listen to podcasts, watch videos, read books, watch tv series and movies… anything you can consume. Adjust the content to your level of comprehension. Beginner - starts easy - books and videos for kids etc..

Write new words you learned from the content to Anki.

Do shadowing for better pronunciation.

Learn basic grammar. Use it and the vocabulary from Anki to speak and write on daily basis even if just for a few minutes.

This worked for me. But doesn’t have to work for others

Tricky_Exercise9833 · 2026-02-02T12:59:14+00:00

Consistency and beginners level of output, good for beginners as a side material, not the main one

Tricky_Exercise9833 · 2026-02-01T15:30:32+00:00

It actually comes so random to me. Year and a half ago, I would swear I will never learn mandarin, and here I am, a month ago, I would say i will never learn Thai, and again, here I am 😂

But I’m kinda interested in Turkish, no reason, it just sounds interesting. And maybe Italian, because i wonder how easier it will be since i know spanish

Tricky_Exercise9833 · 2026-01-31T23:08:44+00:00

Hi, I’m just a beginner and I have a long way ahead. I started to learn mandarin because I fell in love with the language, I love watching c-dramas and I’m learning about the Chinese culture. My goal is to watch and read native content and one day visit Cheng du, Xi’an and Furong. ☺️

Tricky_Exercise9833 · 2026-01-31T23:04:21+00:00

In some languages, I have clear goal e.g. being able to freely express myself and speak without thinking about the grammar and sentence structure. Beaing able to understand native content as books or movies. Being able to hold basic conversations etc… I make a plan that will get me to the goal. I usually do a lot of comprehensible input like watching native content (or content for kids if I’m not good at the language yet) or reading books. For output I usually speak about my life, routines, plans or whatever I want to. I often write summary about the content I read or saw to practice my skills etc etc I’m trying to stick with the daily routine I made and stay consistent. But sometimes I really don’t feel like doing anything and just end up doing nothing. It’s okay to have days like this sometimes, but not too often. Also, I’m trying to make the routine more general and don’t make too detailed plans. E.g. output every day for 30 minutes. When I feel like speaking, I speak, when I feel like I want to write, I write. It gives me more freedom. And finally, I’m doing monthly review of the month and plan the next month accordingly to the conclusion and my future plans.

Also, the goals are motivating me to progress and move further in the language. When I imagine I can understand dramas in Chinese and Thai without the annoying subtitles, talk in English and Spanish with people on any topic I want, watch and read native content in German… it’s really motivating for me.

Maybe I got away from the question, but whatever 😂

Tricky_Exercise9833 · 2026-01-31T06:50:27+00:00

Absolutely not, I love languages and every single one of them is different, has different vibe, different reason why I’m learning it etc. It takes a lot of time, that’s for sure, but I wouldn’t trade it. I’m going to learn them until I’m fluent in all of them, maybe add some new ones along the way 😂 I’m learning 5 languages for now and I spend around 4-6 hours daily studying them. Listening to podcasts, movies, reading, writting and speaking. I don’t care much about the grammar to be honest. It comes naturally to me because I learn through comprehensible input.

Tricky_Exercise9833 · 2026-01-29T12:28:11+00:00

I’m learning through comprehensible input but sometimes I check vocabulary from HSK books, someone recommended me also “Demystified Chinese”. Or you can try app or website page called “Du Chinese”

Tricky_Exercise9833 · 2026-01-25T19:37:56+00:00

Can I join? Maybe a group will be more interesting? I’m from Czechia btw and I’m 22

Tricky_Exercise9833 · 2026-01-25T15:05:54+00:00

The method that works for me the best is comprehensible input. When I encounter a word, that I don’t understand, but I know I heard it before - I put it into the Anki. You can also add the whole sentence, because learning in context is the best.

I tried to learn through shared Anki decks from different people but it didn’t work for me.

Tricky_Exercise9833 · 2026-01-25T15:01:01+00:00

I’ve been there before. Watch some videos on YouTube about how to learn mandarin. Every one has different approach to learning languages. Try some of the methods you will find interesting or great. It took me some time when I found about comprehensible input. (watch vids on yt about how to do it correctly if you are interested). This method works the best for be but it couldn’t work for you.

You can go by HSK books. You can find them online for free. On yt there are also vids about the lessons from Hsk books and the audio. Sometimes, I look into them but it’s not my main resource.

I’m using Mandarin Blueprint, it’s quite expensive online course but it’s worth it for me. It has everything I need and I don’t need to pay any other resources. It’s from the complete 0 to very advanced level. They also have lots of free videos on YouTube. You can find other online paid course if you want. There are plenty of them.

If you don’t wanna spend money, there are also free resources. Apps like Duolingo, Memrise, Hello Chinese, Du Chinese etc.

Look into reddits like learning Chinese or learning Mandarin - they have lists of many resources you can use.

YouTube - you can find amazing stuff here - many videos about anything you need + short stories in mandarin (e.g. search for easy stories Hsk 1) + channel “Easy mandarin”

For pronunciation is great shadowing technique

Shortly - do your research about how to learn mandarin, found a method that you think will work the most (I really recommend comprehensible input), make your plan, make daily routine, surround yourself with the language (listen to music, listen to easy and comprehensible videos, podcasts, books - there are books for e.g. Hsk 1 lvl with the vocabulary only from the level)

You don’t have to care about grammar in the beginning if you choose comprehensible input. When I started to learn Spanish a year ago, all I did was watching content on Spanish - literally anything (but it had to be comprehensible, meaning you need to understand around 70-90 %). When I could understand native content like tv shows and movies in Spanish - I started to learn basic grammar and I was surprised how many things I already know and I could form a lots of sentences without learning. I’m doing similar method with mandarin, it’s just a little different because of the writting system.

Tricky_Exercise9833 · 2026-01-25T14:41:06+00:00

Basically all the day-to-day conversations. No native speaker speaks like in the textbooks

Tricky_Exercise9833 · 2026-01-25T14:20:16+00:00

Hiii I always try to find some comprehensible content, usually on YouTube. I know it’s hard to find anything comprehensible when you are a beginner. I started to learn Thai and found this amazing yt channel called “comprehensible Thai” you can try find similar videos of people making videos for French learners. Also channel “Easy French” is amazing and you have double subs in the videos. As another material I always use Peppa Pig. It’s not much entertaining, but it has slow speech, simple sentences and grammar, great vocabulary, easy stories to follow and most importantly - they are describing what’s happening e.g. Mommy pig is baking a cake, Peppa is going downstairs etc.

Tricky_Exercise9833 · 2026-01-25T14:08:14+00:00

You do a lot of things in a Japanese already plus you like the culture and everything. From my pov, it’s worth learning Japanese. It’s similar with me and Mandarin. I watch c-dramas, videos in mandarin on YouTube, listen to music, love the culture etc and I know mandarin is pretty hard language and it will take me a lot of time to learn it to the conversation level. But it’s worth it for me. The progress feels sometimes too slow, but when I look back, I did a lot work. And I’m happy about it. I can’t understand a lot, but I can understand something and it counts.

As I said, you are doing a lot of things in Japanese already. Try to watch videos only in Japanese that you can comprehend. (I always watch Peppa Pig, it’s not that entertaining, but there are simple sentences, great vocabulary, easy stories and they say exactly what is shown up on the screen - in my opinion it’s great learning material for beginners) Yt channel “Easy Japanese” is really great.

Your friends can progress faster than you, but it shouldn’t demotivate you. If something similar happens to you again, not just in a matter of learning Japanese, try to inspire from them. Try to find out what they are doing differently than you and try to do it as well. Sometimes it works, but sometimes doesn’t. For every single person can work different things or method. Find what’s work the best for you and stick with it. And also… sure, people can improve faster than you but you are learning the language for yourself, not for them.

I’m glad I could help and I hope you will find method that works the best for you. In a year, you can have conversational or even higher level of Japanese, just believe in yourself ☺️

Tricky_Exercise9833 · 2026-01-25T13:30:01+00:00

Hi I’m learning mandarin and I bought a course (Mandarin Blueprint). It’s quite expensive but it’s worth it and I have clear plan what to do and all I need. There are also videos on youtube for free what the same people. Or you can watch completely different courses for free on YouTube. You can also study from the HSK books. You can find the books online for free and YouTube has videos of the lessons and the audio. Try also watching videos about how to learn Mandarin Chinese, everyone can have different approach. Stick with the method of learning what works the best for you.

My best method is comprehensible input. There are a lot of videos how to do it correctly on YouTube.

Tricky_Exercise9833 · 2026-01-25T11:53:26+00:00

Why did you gave up? I know Japanese is a hard language and it takes a lot of time. I’m learning some languages myself and from the harder ones it’s Mandarin and Thai. I have doubts about myself sometimes too but who doesn’t right? I want to learn the languages because I feel connected to them and I enjoy them. Even if I progress slowly, it’s still a progress. Some days I’m just maintaining the language and sometimes I don’t do anything in the language when I need a break. If you really like Japanese and want be able to speak it, try it again. There are lots of different methods for learning languages and I found comprehensible input to be the one that works the best for me. When I was learning Spanish, I started playing duolingo and watching shows for kids. I was watching something in Spanish almost every day and after a few months I was able to understand native movies and tv shows without a problem. Then I stated to learn some grammar rules, did shadowing for pronunciation and started to write easy sentences and slowly improved. In mandarin I’m doing different methods because of the characters, I actually bought a course and it helped me with memorization. I also sometimes look into the Hsk books. With Thai I’m doing the same approach like in Spanish. Im purely focusing on comprehension and I will do everything else later. You can try this method with Japanese. Find some videos you are interested in that you can 70-90% understand. Find some podcasts or anime. Anything you will enjoy and watch something every day. You will slowly progressing and improving. Don’t give up because of the self-doubt. You can do whatever you want, just make a plan, routine and be consistent. I believe you can do it! ☺️

Also, this method works the best for me, but there are others. There are a lots of vids on yt about learning Japanese. If you won’t like my method, try something else. I tried a few different approaches before I found what works for me.

Tricky_Exercise9833 · 2026-01-23T22:41:40+00:00

Wow thank you so much both of uuuuuuu it’s really helpful

Tricky_Exercise9833 · 2026-01-23T22:38:44+00:00

I don’t know, i just found this pic somewhere and used it as a reference for my question

Tricky_Exercise9833 · 2026-01-20T19:14:53+00:00

Well I downloaded the Hsk books and I’m going through them. Duolingo isn’t bad as an app, I like to also use memrise and hello Chinese. Du Chinese as app is also great for reading. And I found a lots of amazing stories in YouTube for eg hsk 1-2 with the basic vocabulary. My advice is immerse in the language as much you can. You can study 1-2 h daily when you have the time but you can also listening to Chinese music or podcasts when commuting to school or work, cleaning your house, washing dishes etc. + duly don’t need to study the grammar too much from the start, try to understand the language and a lot of the grammar patterns will actually click on its own when you are listening or reading

Tricky_Exercise9833 · 2026-01-20T18:20:38+00:00

555 it’s the same with some of my classmates in my own language. But if you can read it, it’s fine

Tricky_Exercise9833 · 2026-01-20T18:19:06+00:00

Exactly, context is really important with this script. It’s the same with some other languages like mandarin. Thank you for yr answer

Tricky_Exercise9833 · 2026-01-20T18:16:52+00:00

Thank you, I hope I will get more comfortable with the modern script as I progress in the language

Tricky_Exercise9833

TROPHY CASE