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What's the best way to (start) learning a language? (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 day ago by vladmech@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

21 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I traveled to Japan for a few weeks last year and had grand plans to learn a bunch of phrases, but got lazy and punked out. I still had a great time, everyone was super kind, but it was embarrassing how well so many folks spoke English and I couldn’t even be assed to put in a bit of work.

My wife is half Mexican and we’re in California, and she gets a lot of people initially talking to her in Spanish, which she can’t speak beyond an ordering food level, and would like to change that.

What’s the best way for us both to get to a beginning conversational level in Spanish? I tried Duolingo a while ago and it was eh, and I’ve heard it’s all AI these days. Any other recommendations?

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[–] adb@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 day ago

I’m surprised no one seemed to mention this yet but IMO the best way is to find a good teacher.

Books (preferably with some sort of audio media) and apps can be decent but you need a lot of self-discipline and they won’t adapt to what you are struggling with.

Of course, nothing beats full immersion in a society that only speaks the language you want to learn, but even that, a complete beginner will be much better off with an actual teacher.