宇崎ちゃん

I'm aware of that too. But "mastering" and "being perfect" are 2 different things. To me "mastering" means "being fluent enough to heavily use the language", which doesn't take me a lifetime at all. I can understand it takes a lifetime for most people, but that's because they either learn it the wrong way, or they give up at an early or intermediate stage. Making mistakes is actually a good thing when learning a language (or rather, when learning anything at all). If you know you're doing it wrong, your brain will do its best to avoid doing it again.

It sure is possible, that's what we call "C2 level". Mastering all the nuances and expressions: I'm not sure what you mean by this one. Mastering accent: Olly Richards always aims on the accent from the very beginning. He has a nice Egyptian accent while speaking Arabic, while he still has his British accent while speaking English for example. Being able to read and write perfectly: English is not my native language, but I can read and write it much better than most of the Americans who don't even know how to distinguish "your" from "you're" (annoyance #1). Mastering sentence structure: I don't understand what's so hard about this one. Though it can be hard in languages with lots of exceptions, but if you use the language non-stop every day, it'll all become natural to you at some point.

Thought that too for a minute, but I soon realised they meant more like a "my duty is done", rather than an "I'm done with it".

As soon as I'm able to automatically think in the language, listen to it without or with little problems and utilise it without thinking too much about it, I consider myself "done". There really isn't anything more I want to add to it, since I cover both speaking and writing under "utilise". I don't really mind the reading part, I don't really like reading stuff.

When I saw it this afternoon, I was like "OMG, Linguaholic got hacked". I actually think this theme fits more for websites specific to Mandarin Chinese, rather than a more generic language website.

Yes, I teach people over Skype sometimes, but for the most of the time I get taught instead. The most frequent hold back is fear, but that can be overruled by just doing it any way. A second hold back might be terrible internet speeds, a solution for most countries would be to find a better internet subscription. A third would be more relevant to teaching: materials. You're a human just like anyone else, spontaneously getting the right teaching materials out of your head can be really tricky. In fact, all my professional Skype teachers sent me PDF files and eventually showed their copy on their screen through screen sharing. And based on that I had to answer questions by speaking, or hold a conversation using whatever is written in the PDF file. That's all beginners stuff. If you have more advanced students, you'll often notice that they decide how the lessons would look like, and you'll need to adjust yourself to that. Right now with Japanese, I usually learn new Kanji and grammar rules during the first 30 minutes, then I have 15 minutes left for questions based on what I have found while we didn't speak each other (like new words or grammar in books, apps, videos, etc.). And on any level, be prepared to answer questions that randomly come up, because you will get those. Like how I once asked what's the difference between word A and word B. For 99% of the time, the teacher answers them straight away, but there is a chance he'll need to look it up in a dictionary too. I hope that helps.

As I already advised multiple times before, always use multiple tools and resources and never limit yourself to only (one) app(s). Language learning really is hard work, and that's generally getting underestimated.

I had a time when I met a Czech woman with her Dutch husband. I was speaking Polish to her, while she was speaking Czech to me. None of us realised we were speaking 2 different languages, until her husband asked me if I'm a Czech too. I said "but I don't speak any Czech, it's Polish", to which we all couldn't help but laugh. So this is how easy it can be to confuse languages.

Perfectionism isn't exclusively a women's problem, I know a couple of blokes having this problem too. It's a problem that affects a specific characteristic, not a specific gender. It's probably true that women tend to be shy, but it's nothing different to men. I know a couple of people (both male and female) that travel to places with a language barrier (France, Germany, Spain, Japan, South-Korea, Argentina, etc.), only a very few of them learnt to speak the language of the country they visit. Not because the others can't, but rather because they tell me they are too shy. However, being shy in language learning is actually a matter of not knowing how to learn the language. Before I stopped studying Japanese and started learning it instead, I was really shy on this aspect. Heck, even before I actually spoke English to an English speaking person, this already happened. But I came over it in both cases. I stopped being shy about English at the university. I had no other choice, because the teachers only spoke English. Same thing with Japanese, but on Skype. And after that, I haven't been shy or perfectionistic or anything else when I started learning German or Spanish, I simply went for it. So yes, it's perfectly possible to overcome your shyness, perfectionism, fear, etc., you'll just need to try until you feel more 'at home' in that language. Then learning another language will magically become much easier.

I tried his method for Spanish, German, and Japanese before, and it works well. However, keep in mind that "speak for day 1" doesn't mean "speak without any help at all". Benny's method involves the following 4 things: 1. Skype. 2. A notepad-like app (or notepad itself, if you're using Windows) to write down phrases you know you will use. 3. A web browser with 2 tabs opened up: one being Google Translate and the other one being an online dictionary. But if you like Benny's method so much, you should definitely join the #Add1Challenge. I was supposed to take this challenge a few months ago, but I turned away when I saw the price tag: $ 97 USD. And that was a special price offer by the way! Now you may think "but 97 dollars for 3 months is cheaper than 30-50 dollars for Italki sessions each week right?", to which my answer is "it's 97 dollars A TOP OF THE 30-50 DOLLARS EACH WEEK". On the other hand, the main benefit of this challenge is that you encourage each other and you have access to famous polyglots during these 90 days.

My business life is rather complicated. On one hand, I'm a self-employed game developer, games journalist and web developer at the same time. On the other hand, I work for a web design company on a part-time basis, where I perform my web development activities in. On yet another hand, I will probably become a student again next year. But that's unsure for now. But for my games journalist job, knowledge of Japanese is a required task for me, since most of my viewers are from Japan and so most of the games 'discussed' are. And since Nintendo launched a new developer portal that merges Japanese and Western developer portals, knowing Japanese is apparently a pseudo-required task for this one too. I can't disclose why though.

Paper bank cheques don't exist on my continent any more (we use internet banking or mobile banking instead). To be honest, the first time I heard of the word "cheque" was 2.5 years ago when I became a licensed Nintendo developer. When I initially saw the word as one of the payment options, I had no clue what a "cheque" is at all. "Check" on the other hand can have multiple meanings: To verify.To see/notice something.Whatever we in the Netherlands do with our public transport passes while boarding a bus or tram, or before boarding a metro or train (and also when getting off all of these), which by the way works the same way as in Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, (South-Korea?) and a couple of major European and Australian cities.Whatever everyone does with their passports on aeroports.That "OK" sign.To put an "X" on a multiple choice question.And I probably missed a few more.

Good to know. Locked.

Sorry, I wonder how I skipped this one. I've added "Books" to the poll.

I tried Human Japanese before, it has some excellent explanation throughout the entire app. The only problem is that some chapters tend to be way too long, making it boring at some point. For this reason, I never finished reading the 2 apps. I do like how they explain, but I think it should have been shortened by a lot if it actually went to the point more often.

I used to note all my language deadlines in Google Calendar, but I recently changed my goal from learning multiple major languages to just one language, so the deadlines no longer made sense. But it doesn't mean I don't use my Google Calendar at all any more for language learning, I actually use it for all my appointments with my language teacher. Any other activities (flash cards, apps, YouTube, music, etc.) I consider as stuff I do as much as possible (so I fill up the blank spaces on my calendar using these). I can't be specific about my activities (most of them are NDA-covered), but in general: Flash cards as soon as I wake up. iTunes while doing my morning things (shower, breakfast, etc.). Mornings are when I go to work and do either my game development or web development stuff. In the mean time I use Google Play Music (imported from iTunes) or YouTube. Afternoons are when I practise Kanji on Wanikani or vocabulary/grammar on Memrise. Late afternoons are either meetings with my language teacher or driving lessons (depending on the day). In the case of driving lessons, I don't do any language activities. Early evenings are when I review whatever I did in the afternoons. Then evening till night are when I just relax (mostly in Japanese, which is what I'm currently training). The point saying this is: if you do this on a daily basis, it'll become automatic. Once it's automatic, there is no need for a language calendar (or normal/digital calendar). I used to note everything down, but then I did everything automatically because I got used to do all of this.

I'm aware of this, that's why I said "human being" and not "conversation partner". You can use a human being for conversations, as well as pen pals or just people who can correct your mistakes.

Which is why I'm glad to live in the Netherlands: internet is nearly everywhere! I have a 6 GB data subscription + unlimited calls/text, so I never worry surpassing any limits. But I understand your case, each time I visit Poland I always buy a SIM card from the provider with the biggest data plan: Orange. But the big down side of Orange is that it only works well in Warsaw, so as soon as I leave Warsaw to see my family NEAR IT, I immediately lose my access to the internet (along with the fact I can no longer make any phone calls or write any texts).

The first time learning a new language is always hard, no matter how you look at it, no matter the language, no matter how hard you try, this is the moment everything seems vague to you. One of the best things I have noticed at Linguaholic is how diverse people here are when it comes to learning a language. Everyone here has their own opinion on what is best to use and what not. That's why I started the first opinion poll on this forum: how do you learn? What does "IMO" mean? "In My Opinion". This is a very commonly used word online to express ones' opinion. What's the point? I have seen a lot of topics asking the same question, but I want to centralise this idea in a series of polls. This way I can easily do a research about how people learn a language. More polls may follow in the future. Each poll lasts 2 weeks, so hurry up if you want to participate! I never learnt any foreign language before, may I join in? Sure! It's your opinion after all, I'm looking for either new/single language learners, polyglots or even people who don't bother learning a language. The more different people, the better. Where can I see the results? For now, I'll put them on my language blog. I may as well open a new website just for this (and language tips), so stay tuned. My results for this poll: I concentrate mostly on speaking at first. I believe it's the most fun way of learning a language and it helps you get used to spoken languages early on. As for the second question, I use mobile apps, web apps, multimedia, one-on-one language teachers, flash cards and pen pals as much as possible throughout the day. Mobile apps include Memrise, JapanesePod101 (the advanced levels work well enough for me) and Anki (flash cards). Web apps I'm currently using are Italki and WaniKani. However, I just started with WaniKani and I'm first trying to get as far as the free version can take me before I decide to pay for it. REMEMBER: keep it fun! So no insulting arguments if you disagree with someone else. Constructive criticism is OK.

No, I believe we live in the digital age and therefore I always rely on online dictionaries. But it could be just because I'm just a big tech guru. Each time I just start off with a language, I rely on an online dictionary all the time. But as I become more and more proficient in the language, I try to stay away any form of dictionaries except in cases I'm really clueless. I'm as well a practical learner, so paperwork barely works for me unless I already can speak and listen.

I actually disagree on this one. Of course being in the country is the ideal environment, but it's not the essential one. If it would be essential, I wouldn't even be able to speak English to begin with. You really have no idea how small this world has become thanks to technology. And thanks to this, you can learn any language anywhere and any time.

I have recently joined WaniKani to learn Kanji. So far it's looking really good. It's strict, but I guess it's for the good because it prevents you from getting overwhelmed. I'll keep trying until I reach level 3. Then I can see if it's worth the 10 USD monthly in order to continue or if I should stick with my encountering method.

No. I always see study apps as tools used with language learning, not for language learning. What I mean is that of course you should use language learning apps, but never use it as the primary and/or only tool! Your primary 'tool' should be an actual human being who knows what he or she is doing. However, keep in mind that humans can be as busy as you are, so they're not always there to help you. So the time you're alone can be filled with multiple language apps (each app has its own purpose if you choose the right apps, utilising multiple tools will then improve your skills). Other tools that are more important than apps are your own motivation and discipline. Incidentally, this also answers the question "what can I use as my ONLY language learning tool"? The only right answer is, "there is no way you can get anywhere using only 1 tool"!

Here in the Netherlands, children are taught Dutch (native), English, German and French (and on higher levels they get Latin and Greek too). However, it doesn't mean everyone speaks all of these languages! In fact, most people here only speak Dutch, English and eventually the native language of their (grand)parents, in case they're not native Dutch people. Why is that so? Dutch is the official language and therefore, you can't avoid it here. Their parents will talk to their children in their native language, so it's no surprise they are good at it neither (though it really depends, because Turkish and Moroccan people tend to find their parents' languages much easier than Dutch, while Polish or Indonesian people often find the opposite). Then there is English, which is widely used in multimedia here (TV, internet, radio, video games, even newspapers), but English also often gets mixed into Dutch on purpose (like "dit is zo fucking cool"). Meanwhile, German, French, Latin and Greek are often seen as subjects at school, so they forget those languages as soon as they go to a college or to an university. In my case however, I never had any of these 4 languages at school. If I would have them, I would definitely expand my knowledge about those as much as I did with English (because my English was nonetheless horrible until I joined English speaking forums).

I hate being under pressure for whatever reason. If I am, I normally slack off any way. Instead, I prefer learning a language (or anything else) at my own pace. At the beginning it'll take forever, but after that it can eventually skyrocket at the speed of light. This video eventually proves me right: