Related Recs

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Depends on the language

I’ll switch my phone interface to that language to help recall better. Flash cards, translating from one language to another mentally, also works. Also making music playlists and definitely watching films/shows in that language help too

@thisismoy

Jul 20, 2024

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Learning languages through music, film and tv

extremely satisfying when you can begin to recognise individual words, then entire phrases, then sentences

@theeyah

Jan 15, 2025

😃

Immersion & learning like a kid

1. Learn the basic building blocks for your language of choice (i.e. pronouns, action verbs, common objects– literally the essential words you’d need to formulate the most basic sentences to communicate simple ideas). That can be done by googling things like “essential verbs in (insert language of choice here)” or “100 essential words to learn in _______.” Pair that up with any beginners grammar language book that you can take out from your local library. At this point, you don’t need to know how to speak the language, just have a general idea of how different elements come together to form coherent sentences. 2. Once you’ve acquainted yourself with those principles, the fun and most critical part comes into play: immersion. Since you’re not at the talking stage just yet, you need to treat yourself like you’re a baby hearing words for the first time and trying to associate meaning to them via their context. The best way I’ve found to do this is by watching kids tv shows in the language you want to learn and also finding YouTubers who are native speakers of that language. Turn on the subtitles and also keep them in the same language. This will allow you to start matching visuals with words and understand how sentences are composed in more organic ways. It will also force you to make language connections the way children do when learning their native tongue. You want to remove the buffer of thinking in your mother tongue and then translating the word in the new language. Instead, you want to start making immediate semiotic connections to the things you’re seeing. Like 🍎 is manzana in Spanish, but you wanna avoid thinking “oh that means apple in English which translates to manzana in Spanish.” It’s an extra loop you have to jump through that makes the language learning process less natural and more arduous imo. 3. In tandem to immersing yourself by listening to the language being used, here’s where you can start applying it bit by bit. This can be by either repeating the sentences you see in the tv shows you’re watching and start challenging yourself to write & say very basic sentences with your knowledge from step 1. In an ideal situation, having a friend or acquaintance who speaks the native language and can start talking with you is also incredibly useful since they can actively correct you while you practice. Though very beneficial, I know that that may not be an option for many people, so practicing on your own with the aid of the media you’re watching in the native language still works very well! This is a very long response, but I hope that these suggestions can help create a more structured approach to learning your new language. Good luck!! ✨

@verygoodvalentina

Feb 19, 2024

Top Recs from @elisawtaf

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The most beautiful song

I was at work in my restaurant and heard this song playing and literally had to stop to look it up. The only way I can describe it is like if your best friend were a guitar and you just got your heart broken and so they wrote you a song to make you feel better lol. Anyway, it’s called Girasoli Nella Neve (which means Sunflowers in the Snow in Italian) and somehow the artist only has 92 monthly listeners???

@elisawtaf

Jun 11, 2024

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Going out clubbing with your sister 🌟

It’s one of those moments where you look at the baby sister that you grew up with and realise that you’re both becoming young adults in your own right. Nothing compares to dancing at 4 am in a Berlin nightclub with someone who you used to have dance parties with in your living room whenever your mum was out of the flat. All those moves you practiced? Their time has finally come! And what makes it even better is the absolute freedom that comes from it - knowing that you couldn’t care less what other people think, because you get to dance with your sister, and that makes you the luckiest person in the room 🤭

@elisawtaf

Jun 16, 2024

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Treat yourself like a child

I once heard the concept of treating yourself as if you were a child on days when you need to rest and recuperate. I think it’s based on the idea that everyone still has an inner child that needs to be looked after in some way, but sometimes we’re so overwhelmed by having to be an adult (cleaning, cooking, studying, emails…) that we neglect that side of ourselves a bit. Depending on how you're feeling on your self-care day, you can literally just do exactly what you want - your dream day - but in a way that’s measured and will allow you to slip back into your routine for your upcoming exams. For example, my dream day during an exam season would be waking up relatively early, having a really nice breakfast, reading a book in the morning and then having lunch. After a quick call with someone who I love, I would then go swimming, before going home and watching a favourite movie of mine while eating a few of my favourite snacks. Then I’d just prepare a few things for slipping back into my exam routine and go to bed pretty early. I guess the point is to try and see which part of you needs to relax more (your body, your mind) and to allow that to happen. I hope that this makes sense and that it’s helpful to you! And good luck with your exams :-)

@elisawtaf

Jun 23, 2024