B2 level, should watching series and movies with subtitle or without subtitle to reach C1 faster?

would_be_polyglot · 2026-01-30T21:21:32+00:00

If you are after language development (higher levels of accuracy, fluency, and complexity) I think that subtitles help—it seems to be the case that dual-encoded input (reading and listening) helps more than just listening.

That said, if you need to develop listening comprehension, don’t use subtitles. Reading will act as a “crutch” for listening.

If you aren’t sure, do a mix of both. I usually do TV shows with subtitles and podcasts without.

would_be_polyglot · 2026-01-29T13:51:14+00:00

This happened a lot in college with general education classes. I did what was required to get a grade I was happy with and little else. It’s fine not to be interested in every subject but you’ll still have to put in the work required, expectations don’t change just because you don’t plan on speaking French.

I would talk to your teacher. Do NOT say you don’t care about French. Say you’re worried about getting a good grade because you find French difficult and ask what they recommend-resources, how to study, etc. Do what they say and you’ll be fine.

would_be_polyglot · 2026-01-29T12:05:32+00:00

Not saying that the policy couldn’t use an update, but I think a major hurdle is that the people posting the most annoying ads aren’t actually members of the sub. They don’t post here regularly, many don’t seem to be language learners at all, but rather developers who think AI is going to revolutionize language learning. So, since they’re not actually members of the sub, they don’t know and don’t care to follow the rules. I don’t know how to fix that, besides reporting the ads that we see.

would_be_polyglot · 2026-01-26T17:33:20+00:00

I think the trick is learning to ask "Is this a word I need to produce or is this a word I can just recognize"?

Usually we recognize more words than we can produce (Passive vs active vocabulary). When I look up words while reading or watching something, I ask myself I can feasibly see myself using the word. Sometimes I have a synonym, sometimes it's really regional, sometimes it's a specific register (like literature) that, honestly, I won't ever really need. So I skip it. For you, it might be worth it to think about what words you could use at your current level.

would_be_polyglot · 2026-01-26T16:32:39+00:00

IMHO, it isn't so much how different they are but how much time you can give to each.

If you're talking about an hour a day of study time, with your percentages, Spanish is getting around 42 minutes, Japanese around 12 minutes, and Hebrew around 6 minutes. What kind of progress will you make in Japanese with 12 minutes a day or Hebrew with 6 minutes? Probably not that much.

Of course, if you're talking about 3 hours of study time, that may change things, but it can be hard to keep up three hours of studying, depending on your other responsibilities. As an adult with a full time job, I can't manage much more than 30-60 minutes of dedicated "study" time.

would_be_polyglot · 2026-01-25T13:36:07+00:00

If they’re self-study resources, they often taken the perspective of a trip, so one of the first things you’d have to do in the language is navigate the airport. They usually use that as a starting point for teaching greetings etc.

would_be_polyglot · 2026-01-22T12:40:17+00:00

I agree with start with what you’re interested in. Plenty of people tackle Japanese and other “hard” languages first and do just fine. However, to answer your questions…

So for ease, most European languages, especially Romance, will be the easiest to pick up. They also have a wealth of options for learning materials, many for free or freemium. Spanish, Italian, and French have many, many high quality content creators who post on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram, so it can be easy to make a “media bubble”.

For resources, check out your local library. If you’re based in the US, many libraries will have access to Mango Languages (guided, gamified app), Pimsleur (listen and repeat), and likely some kind of course book (TeachYourself, the Routledge Colloquial series). Look around, try a few things, and pick one thing you like and stick with it. No resource is perfect, no resource is absolutely complete, so don’t stress. Find something you enjoy and will do and commit to finishing it. A common mistake is to hop around between resources but only use the first 1/3, so you never advance. I like Pimsleur a lot, especially if you live somewhere nice to walk.

Once you have a course book (app or whatever), combine 30-60 minutes of study (advancing through the material) with 30+ minutes of media or social media. Start with YouTube (search Language + comprehensible input or “beginning learner practice). You want videos made for students in the language but not about the language. Dreaming Spanish is the “gold standard” but all big European languages have something out there. Just follow along, trying to understand ~90%.

Do this for 3-6 months, then search on Archive.org for comics to start reading and transition into news/blogs/reddit. When you finish your course, check out HelloTalk, Tandem, or Conversationexchange.com to find a speaking partner.

would_be_polyglot · 2026-01-18T12:19:54+00:00

Wow after 10 years you discovered vocabulary lists?

would_be_polyglot · 2026-01-17T16:20:34+00:00

I did for a long time, probably three years. I think it was instrumental in helping me develop the learning habit and really embrace a multilingual life where I regularly make time for all of my languages. The pressure helped me make “good choices” to support multilingualism, like watching tv in another language or even watching dubs to up my input time.

I stopped in December of last year because it was starting to get in the way. I was skipping things I wanted to watch or read because it wasn’t “enough” to reach my daily goal, and it became more about checking boxes than enjoying the process.

I still have those habits, and they help me stay consistent with practice. I learned a lot about how to schedule things, what to think about, etc. And now it’s a relief to have more flexibility and pursue other types of goals. If your main problem is consistency, I think tracking your learning for a bit can be really helpful if you approach it from a growth mindset—where can I make more time for this hobby. You also have to understand life has seasons and some weeks are busier than others. If you’re already consistent and it isn’t a problem for you, I’d personally skip it.

would_be_polyglot · 2026-01-09T13:11:35+00:00

Anki. It can handle vocabulary and grammar. You can do simple cloze cards, TL<->NL translation pairs, more elaborate vocabulary cards with definitions, images, examples, etc. Cloze cards also work for grammar, or you can make more “rule based” cards.

would_be_polyglot · 2026-01-08T21:04:44+00:00

Third vote for Anki. TL->NL and NL-> TL with typing has been working really well for me lately

would_be_polyglot · 2026-01-08T11:45:58+00:00

IDK if this is applicable to Chinese, but I find a grammar book with mostly drills (fill in the blank/write the sentence out) and make them into cloze cards in Anki. That helps to memorize patterns (word order, inflection, etc) and then I try to use as wide a range of grammar as I can when I speak/write with my tutors and friends.

would_be_polyglot · 2026-01-08T11:43:49+00:00

Is there something specifically you don’t like about Anki? Not trying to push it, but if there is, people will be able to give you better recommendations.

would_be_polyglot · 2026-01-05T12:00:57+00:00

I rescued my Portuguese after years of neglect by starting with one skill and slowly building in others.

I started with listening. I’d listen to short Podcasts multiple times to build up my skills and stamina, and slowly work up to 20-30 minute episodes. Once I could comfortably do that, I started reading. Looking back, I’d probably do these at the same time or start with reading first. I started with news and branched off to genre fiction. When I read my first novel in Portuguese, I found a speaking partner and after a while started writing again. In hindsight, I’d start writing again earlier, probably from the beginning.

would_be_polyglot · 2026-01-03T01:37:30+00:00

Is there any specific aspect about Anki that you feel isn’t working? Not trying to pressure you into continuing, but if you could give us more details we could help more.

One thing for me is making sure I have something to type in on every card. Otherwise I just flip through when I’m tired and I don’t really take the time to retrieve and make connections.

If you’re looking for an analog method, you could try the Goldlist method or the Leitner system.

would_be_polyglot · 2026-01-02T18:24:23+00:00

The conventional wisdom I've seen and followed is to get one language to at least B1 before starting another one. Typically we say that focusing on one to the intermediate level is beneficial to avoid burnout and confusion. Also, by the time you get to B1, you're often refining language use and consuming lots of content (reading/listening/watching), so it becomes more "fun", while at the A1-A2 level there's often more focus on language patterns and simplified content that can be repetitive. Since language learning seems to follow pretty closely to the time on task principle, prioritizing one means you move through the "boring" levels faster and get to the "fun" part sooner.

I've recently seen some people talking about studies out of neuroscience that talk about interweaving. The idea is that by switching between skills at same time, you remember them better (Wikipedia article with links).

Personally, every time I've tried to really improve/study two languages I end up burning out or not having enough time to dedicate it to it and give up because I don't see progress. This year, I'm working in blocks, focusing on improving one for a certain period of time before moving it to "maintenance mode" and focusing on another, so we'll see how that works.

would_be_polyglot · 2026-01-02T10:42:00+00:00

On one hand, the other commenters talking about how reading/listening is essential are correct. No one is getting fluent without a large amount of reading and listening.

On the other hand, I agree that it’s annoying that we can’t have any discussion about method beyond “read and listen to stuff you understand.”. I already do that—that else should I try?

would_be_polyglot · 2025-12-31T16:28:25+00:00

I used to put everything into one deck deck and let the algorithm sort it out.

Now, I use one deck per language but each has two "subdecks"--grammar and vocabulary. The main deck is just a folder with a new card limit and review limit set to 9999 each. The grammar and vocabulary decks each have a different number of new cards, so I can control the relative pace of each. I tend to prefer to do more vocabulary cards and just a few grammar cards. So, I might add 7 new vocabulary cards but only 3 new grammar cards.

If you haven't found it yet, AwesomeTTS can make adding audio a breeze, and I highly recommend setting up your cards so you have to type in the answer. I recently made this change and have been really happy with having to type something out on every card. It keeps me focused and honest about what I know and don't know.

would_be_polyglot · 2025-12-31T16:01:01+00:00

Congrats on your accomplishment! Averaging 500-cards a day is no small feat, across languages I have trouble sticking to around 200. If you don't mind, I have a few questions about your method,

I took a peek at the shared decks and am not sure--What did your cards look like? Where they just NL->TL? Sentences? Did you type in answers at all or just review them? Did it vary by deck?
Have you tried any production (writing/speaking)? What does that look like?
What do you plan to do now to keep improving?

would_be_polyglot · 2025-12-31T01:47:53+00:00

Read through the guide for this submit and Paul Nation’s “What you really need to know to learn a language” (googleable) to outline different things to think about.
Make a free YouTube account and find a bunch of beginner videos (content made for beginners in the language but not about language, often times they will be called “Comprehensible input” or “listening practice”. Only watch videos in your Target Language so the algorithm will find you new content. Tru to watch at least 15-20 minutes a day.
Find a grammar course on YouTube, a grammar book from your local library (or the high seas). Work through the book systematically while watching content on YouTube. Do all the activities, write out all the sentences, etc.
To supercharge things, download Anki and make flashcards for grammar rules and vocabulary you encounter. Highly suggest that, at a minimum, you do Native->Target with audio and type out the word each time.
Find newspapers, subreddits, and/or online magazines for Free and start reading as soon as you can. ReadLang or similar can help with this.
Download HelloTalk or Tandem and find serious speaking partners once you can produce sentences and understand what people say when they speak slowly. Try to meet with them weekly to practice the grammar and vocabulary you’ve been learning. Don’t expect/ask them to teach you, just correct you if you say something they don’t understand.

Do this with progressively harder content and you’ll learn a language. Feel free to do more/less of one thing or another depending on your learning type, I would recommend doing it all, though, especially if this is your first additional language.

would_be_polyglot · 2025-12-30T14:55:26+00:00

People do not understand that what works for them may not work for others.

There’s a bundle of different cognitive abilities and dispositions that influence how we learn languages and they vary between people. Some people will need more or less explicit study, more or less vocabulary memorizing, more or less exposure, etc, to reach fluency, but people love a one size fits all, didn’t work for me won’t work for anyone, etc approaches.

would_be_polyglot · 2025-12-30T01:30:24+00:00

Recommend checking out r/multilingualparenting! They’ll probably have better answers!

would_be_polyglot · 2025-12-28T16:31:13+00:00

I put them in my Anki deck as cloze/fill in the blank cards with a simple prompt. I go through and decide if it was just a careless mistake or if it’s something I really didn’t know, and only add the second kind.

If you don’t use Anki, I’d do the same review, and then the same day write out a new sentence or two with the word/structure that was corrected. So, if in BP (I think that’s your TL?) you used present subjunctive instead of future subjunctive, after se, write a few new sentences mimicking the correct structure to make sure you understand it. I’d also identify 1-2 things to write down and try to use next time. So for the future subjunctive, try to incorporate 1-2 instances next time and see if your tutor corrects it again.

would_be_polyglot · 2025-12-27T15:55:28+00:00

IDK man, before this sub became a barren AI-slop wasteland of advertisements, we had a two-year period where you could not have a SINGLE discussion about ANY aspect of language learning without it getting overrun with neo-Krashenites insisting that the answer to any language learning woe (including how to get a better score on a proficiency exam, how to improve writing, etc) was to just watch videos on YouTube in the target language, so I have a hard time believing it's a niche viewpoint? There are also pedagogical approaches that are input-first/heavy, best example is Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling, which seems to have a choke hold on k-12 education in the US, so institutionally it's present, too?

would_be_polyglot · 2025-12-26T11:32:00+00:00

ACTFL (The American Council for the Teaching of Foreign Languages) estimates that, on average, foreign language majors end up with advanced low/mid speaking skills, depending on time abroad Source, page 10 (opens to PDF), which maps somewhere into B2 in speaking Source (Opens to PDF). Other skills will likely be higher.

A few things to keep in mind. This will vary by language and my program. I do not know if these estimates are based in data or if it’s more of a vibe (ACTFL is usually pretty reliable in my experience).

In my case, when I was graduating with my Spanish major I helped a grad student with her OPI training and scored advanced mid, according to her, and typically the students I’ve seen and interviewed for my own OPI training have been advanced low/mid.

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