from Hacker News

Ask HN: How to best learn a new (spoken) language

by jamiedumont on 2/2/25, 7:15 PM with 9 comments

So … what does the consensus on best technique for learning a new language?

I remember seeing some techniques mentioned here over the years - specifically in response to a question about DuoLingo where the conclusion was there are better methods.

I’m a native English speaker, who at points has had conversational French under my belt and GCSE (high school?) equivalent education in French and German.

I’m looking to pick up enough German over the next 12 months to make better-than-average/expected conversation whilst on holiday in Austria.

So, what’s the best methods to (re)learn a language?

  • by locallost on 2/4/25, 7:11 PM

    Even though the ability to learn a language decreases in adulthood, I'd say the immersion part is unavoidable. I learned English as a child and teenager, and took a big leap when I first went online and read and read and constantly read. German I learned, or started, in my mid twenties and I'm fairly good, but without living in Germany for over a decade now it wouldn't have worked as well. If you need to process it as you speak it will not really flow. How to achieve immersion without living in a country? I don't know.

    As a comparison, I learned a bit of Italian for a vacation with Duolingo and I'll say it helps, but the moment I stopped after the vacation, it was basically all gone. I did not create a meaningful lasting impression in my mind. It would've been better to try to listen to Italian im parallel through movies etc. Still, my son learns French with Duolingo and I noticed it helps him focus on doing the work, I even have a feeling it's improving his overall learning in school.

    Another caveat is that the way they speak in Austria or parts of it can be challenging for non native speakers, and even some native speakers.

  • by Alex-Programs on 2/2/25, 7:22 PM

    r/languagelearning and r/german have some good advice in their wikis.

    You'll find a lot of people encouraging comprehensible input, where you try to receive as much German as possible while understanding about ~90% of it and letting your brain kinda "work it out" the "natural" way.

    It's quite cool, and I've made a tool built around it (https://nuenki.app, which selectively translates websites to give you comprehensible input as you browse the web). I'd recommend pairing it with other methods - Anki is effective but miserable, and proper grammar reading (the subreddit has some good links) can have a very high ROI.

    I quite like the Easy German youtube channel. They have some clips from Austrians - and that's something to bear in mind, as Austrian German and Swiss German are quite different to the High German ("Hochdeutsch") (edit: see the reply; I'm wrong here) you'll generally be taught.

    E.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vzv_FDh4N2o

  • by jamager on 2/3/25, 5:00 PM

    Very very summarized (the devil is in the details):

    From 0: phrase books + spaced repetition + easy recordings for beginners (many webs provide them for lots of languages). Don't forget to work on listening and pronunciation

    A1 - A2: add active reading with graded readers + some writing

    B1 – B2: keep on graded readers and SRS, add Italki tutor, podcasts and new learning materials. Mix passive and active reading / listening. Start looking at grammar

    +B2: lots of comprehensive input + whatever you fancy (eg language exchanges, creative writing, etc)

    If you want to know more I wrote a book here: https://thehardway.guide/ (with lots of links to other books / sources)

  • by baxtr on 2/2/25, 7:36 PM

    Just out of curiosity: anyone here from the States that is seriously considering moving to Europe/Germany due to the political situation in the US?

  • by gus_massa on 2/3/25, 1:50 AM

    One possibility is to watch movies with subtitles, bu increasing he difficulty with time:

    German sound + English subtitles

    German sound + German subtitles

    German sound + no subtitles

    ---

    If you can get them, some cartons like Dora the Explorer or Pepa Pig have a very slow pace and may be helpful.