Starting from the Top: What I've Learned So Far

I am starting this journey with a certain label: "Casual language learner." I have been pursuing language...mostly in my dream future. I've taken two semesters of Spanish (one in high school, one in college) and have started six different courses on Duolingo. I'm at a B1 in reading/writing Spanish, can understand some children's songs in German, can read Hangeul (mostly not knowing what I'm reading), have a handful of favorite Italian words (shoutout to tartaruga) and know how to swear in Thai (if you know, you know). I have experienced the bliss that comes from watching a show and recognizing a word or phrase in the correct context. But at this point in my journey, I haven't established and followed a structured plan to begin speaking a language.

The reason? There are two. One being the excruciating difficulty of having to choose one language to focus on at a time (but what about this other language? It's just as beautiful. But what about this one? What if I come across someone who speaks it but decided to learn something else?). The other being the sheer volume of resources, literature, and opinions currently floating out there that all claim to offer something the rest don't. Which should I trust? I don't want to waste any more time.

I can't offer any professional insight...yet. But I can share highlights from my experience with the casual methods I've been using for the past few years:

• Duolingo. The app is incredibly popular, often directly correlated with language learning. However, many language experts, such as online teachers, YouTubers, and app creators, cast a more negative light on the Owl (RIP), saying that its learning structure isn't effective and won't get you to fluency. Well, on that second point, they're right.

  
  

  According to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), C2 is the level of mastery. You can understand, read, write, and speak with little to no issue; you are now fluent. However, the furthest Duolingo can take you is B2, a high-level intermediate. Communication is certainly possible, but you don't have an expansive enough vocabulary or level of confidence to participate in high-level conversation or writing. Additionally, less popular language courses on Duolingo may taper off before even reaching that level. It's in your best interest to use Duolingo if you're pursuing one of its top four languages: English, Spanish, French, or German.

  
  

  • (Caveat: Duolingo can be helpful for learning non-Latin alphabet systems. I learned Hangeul, the Korean writing system, purely off Duolingo with ease. Now, Hangeul is by far the simplest Asian writing system to learn, so the experience may be different with other languages like Japanese, Mandarin, and Hindi might be different. But it can at least help you start to recognize symbols and common stylistic patterns.)

    
    

  However, Duolingo is still a valuable tool: It's a launching pad. A catalyst. As Evan Edinger explains in his guide to the pros and cons of the updated app in 2025, Duolingo's own CEO stated that the app is designed to tailor to engagement rather than education. Its gamified structure aims to capture your attention by reaching goals, competing in tournaments, and increasing your score. The value of the app is in its ability to keep you going, a handful of vocab words and fun challenges at a time, rather than enthusiastically diving into an intensive learning system just to lose interest and motivation over time and giving up. It may not prepare you for proper conversations, but the farther in the course you get, the richer and more expansive your vocabulary will be.

  
  

  If you're interested in Duolingo, use it to test your interest in a language, build your vocabulary, and learn foundational grammar, spelling, and punctuation rules. Then use that as your steppingstone for more effective methods down the road.

• Movies and TV: I work from home. I do solitary work that lends itself to long hours of quiet. The problem is that I don't do well with complete silence. To fill the background (and keep my ADHD satisfied), I often have shows or movies playing the entire time. Over the past year or so, my hyperfixation has been Asian shows, starting (as you do) with k-dramas and expanding into Thai, Japanese, Chinese, and Taiwanese series. Because I have them going constantly during work hours (and often during non-work hours, heehee), I have naturally begun to collect recognizable words and phrases, common terms like greetings, filler words, formal and informal pronouns, and, as I mentioned before, swear words ("SHIA").

  
  

  While watching your favorite genres in your target language may not be the best way to start out (unless you're using a tailored platform like Lingopie or the Cake app), doing so can be an extremely valuable aid in learning how native speakers use the language. Apps, learning platforms, and even many YouTube videos tend to overexaggerate pronunciation to increase understanding for beginners. However, if you jump straight from that to a conversation with a fluent/native speaker, you'll likely be immediately disoriented by things like speed, mumbling, or unfamiliar slang phrases. Of course, conversation in movies/tv is also often overexaggerated, but at least the dialogue will be much more natural than textbook conversation practice (or, in Duolingo's case, such wild sentences as "Yes, I want to live, I want to die in the north," or "I do not need to read your terms of service to accept you." What a romantic).

  
  

  Start making a list of words that stand out to you. Search for their meanings, then write them down, first the original word, then the meaning. Or, if your target language has a non-Latin alphabet, use a tool like Google Translate (with caution) to copy and paste the word in its proper script, then its romanization (to help you remember how the word is pronounced), then the meaning. Your list will grow faster than you think. This is also a great tool to test your interest in a particular language and even travel (many Thai shows are secretly just elaborate tourism ads, but it is a genuinely beautiful place. From what I've seen. In shows).

  
  

• Easy practice with books, music, and YouTube videos. What I have been starting to utilize to begin independently putting my vocabulary into practice is easy conversation, reading, and listening practice. Because I don't currently have a language partner, the next-best options are tools like short story books, children's music, and beginner-to-intermediate YouTube conversation videos. These provide a good foundation for recognizing the most common words, phrases, and sentences you will encounter and learning to respond correctly.

That's it for now. Stay tuned for when I'm actually able to give good advice. ;)