loulou

To me, teachers can really make or break how you not only learn a language but how you feel about it as well. When we had to pick high school foreign languages as an elective, I never would have guessed picking German on a whim would have led me to where I am now in my studies. My teacher was so into everything Germany related and actually had the heart and passion to want us to learn the language. He even would take certain students to Germany as exchange students for a month during the summer to help teach them about the language and certain things. Having someone who cares about the language can mean everything; if they are just teaching you because they have to or feel obligated, then there won't be any enthusiasm. I am a firm believer of making something interesting, fun and encouraging to help students not only learn better but to actually want to learn to continue learning. Plus, it can really, really strengthen your conversational skills and pronunciation having an actual human being to physically talk to instead of a text book.

My main goal next year is to try and wrap up my German study and finally visit Germany. It's been 8 years since I started casually learning German and during that time it has really left and impact on me, so I think a trip to put my hard earned skills to good use its deserved. Plus, the food and history is... Well, a plus I also want to focus more on studying the Japanese alphabets and kanji, which has really suffered as I have been trying to focus more on vocab and sentence structure than retaining how to actually write and read things. I remember basic kanji, but I really, really need to buckle down once I feel strong enough in my German skills.

Listen, listen, listen. The best advice I can give, and what helped me the most, is watching movies or shows in the language you are learning, as well as music, talking to people online via skype or in person, and YouTubers. Pronunciation is so tough to get the hang of through just reading and studying text, so listen to anything and everything you can find. Then your next goal would be mimicking them to the best of your ability, and it definitely takes practice. It took me a month to try and pronounce the word "twelve" in German correctly, but I mostly just kept talking to myself and finding videos where people actually would sound out the word slowly.

For learning and studying, I definitely prefer to handwrite things down. I just feel that it helps me learn better and to retain the information instead of just typing all of the notes. Something about actually writing just cant be replaced, even though it is insanely slower depending on how fast you can type Though if I'm trying to teach or help someone else, I use typing or printed sheets, mainly because my handwriting is awful!

I think I have to agree with everyone in saying that language apps should mostly be for supplemental use or a learning aid, not your entire way of studying. I can only speak about DuoLingo from experience, but I don't really feel it helped me with conversations and speaking practice and instead focused more on grammar and vocabulary. Don't get me wrong, I will use it any time I feel like I need a quick refresher on something I feel confused about, but having a textbook or someone/something explaining to you why such and such is the way it is really can't be replaced in my eyes.

I have done this so many times with German and Japanese. It helps because then after I have written it down and translated the lyrics, when I listen to the song again I am subconsciously thinking about the translation for it in my head. Plus it helped my spelling and writing skills, especially for Japanese which I desperately need the help with. It's not an end-all way to completely learn by any means, but I definitely would consider it a learning aid. Plus, who doesn't like some good music?

Oh, this is a tough one... English (Native) - Since it's a universal language and all German - I've been (trying to) learn German ever since I was in high school and fell in love with the country and history through that. Considering I have family and want to visit someday, it's on the list. Japanese - Because who doesn't want to lean this? Again, history plays a big part in this choice since I am absolutely fascinated by their culture and history. Italian - It sounds so sing-song-y and beautiful, definitely wouldn't mind knowing this one. Arabic - The writing is so, so beautiful, being able to read and understand the calligraphy would make me so happy.

I definitely second (or third) taking a class or continuing your learning after finishing a course. From my experience, it is a good tool to help you practice and get to a certain point, but it by no means is going to make you fluent in a language. A buddy online or, if your town is big enough, close by can help with conversation and pronunciation, but advanced books, whether they are novels or study tools, would probably be your best bet for higher level grammar and vocabulary. I finished the German course and I definitely say my strongest is reading, but that's mostly because you spend so much time reading sentences and examples. I wouldn't say any of the other things you listed are a weak spot by any means, but I can definitely read and comprehend faster than I can listen and understand Maybe it's just me.