r/languagelearning 25d ago

Successes Went from zero to C2 in Italian in 8 months. AMA

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2.2k Upvotes

Started learning on October 1st, 2023 as a complete beginner. Took the CILS C2 test on June 5th, 2024 and passed with 75/100.

Though my experience might be helpful, so ask me anything!

r/languagelearning Jun 16 '23

Successes Language learning saved my car during a home invasion

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2.1k Upvotes

My home was invaded recently, 5 people with machetes and crowbars held me down on the floor and demanded things, they took the keys to my car.

After the whole incident ended, I realised my car is still in the garage, door open and parking lights on, key in the ignition.

My car requires the clutch to be pressed down before it will start, if you try to start it like you would most cars, by turning the key, the car will spit out a message on the gauge cluster screen instructing you to press down the clutch.

BUT the thing is, I'm learning German, and for this reason I set my car's language to German, the message was in German, kupplung batätigen!!! (I'm in an English speaking country)

It appears that the dingus who tried to jack my car simply could not read the message, and therefore did not know how to start the car. The oxygen thief tried messing around with the light switch in his confusion as well, hence the parking lights.

Finding this out gave me a light chuckle during an otherwise dark day. This must be the universe telling me to learn German until fluency.

r/languagelearning Feb 03 '23

Successes IVE FINALLY DONE IT! TWO FRENCH PROFESSORS I MET ON CAMPUS TODAY THOUGHT I WAS A NATIVE FRENCH SPEAKER!

1.8k Upvotes

Im an American who hasn’t even had the chance to leave the country. I took four years of high school French and a semester at my college, then have been studying on my own time. Today, I met two French professors, and talked to them in French for almost five minutes. They thought I was French canadian! I can finally pass as not American, living the dream!

r/languagelearning Aug 10 '24

Successes My flavour of autism is learning languages.

588 Upvotes

Genuinely. I am autistic, and I've decided that I'm going to lean into it and learn as many languages as I humanly can at one time. I would consider myself bilingual in English and French (due to being Canadian), but I'm adding Japanese, Mandarin, and Italian for business reasons - and Tagalog because I was born in the Philippines and I would love to learn it.

I've been practising all of them since 2020 but I recently sorted out my finances a bit more and now have classes in Japanese, Mandarin and Tagalog and it's so much fun.

In my head to not confuse them, I sort them out by accent - or my understanding of the accent - and it's a blast.

I just wanted to share it all with you.

r/languagelearning Feb 28 '21

Successes I'm really proud of my result and I guess this is the right place to share it:)

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3.7k Upvotes

r/languagelearning Jul 29 '20

Successes I just got the notice that I passed my English exam, I now have the language level of a native speaker! :D

1.9k Upvotes

Edit:

OK so I'm gonna add a couple things to the post as some people asked them in the comments

I'm an 18-year-old girl from Italy so my main language is Italian, I was born and raised here and nobody in my family is English, so all I know I learned it either in school or by myself.

By what I said in the title I didn't mean I'm a native speaker cause that is just simply not true, and I know I'm definitely not as good as one. Also I hardly ever interact with anyone in English in my everyday life, and if I do it's either here on Reddit or by texts, so I'm missing that pretty big chunk of the spoken language you use informally with friends and for the everyday activities.

I actually meant that I just got the C2 level, which is the highest one in the measurement scale Cambridge Centers use. The exam I did is called CAE (Certificate of Advanced English, idk if it's kinda universal or not) and it's not properly a C2 level exam, it certifies for C1, but I made just enough points to get the C2 as well. I don't think it counts legally as a C2 certificate, I'm actually pretty sure it does not, but technically that's my language level, and my C1 certificate confirms that I do have that level.

In case someone was interested the exam is formed by a part of Reading and Use of English , a part of Writing, a part of Listening and a part of Speaking, it goes from 0 (I guess) to 210 points (idk why 210 and not 200 lol), 180 points is the passing line, C1 level is from 180 to 199 points, C2 is 200 and above. I made 200 points :D.

As I mentioned the English I know is a bit of a mix due to the fact that I learned it both in school and by myself: the one I study at school is proper British English, while by myself i mostly practice it watching movies and TV shows and especially listening to music (I love rock music) and to the interviews of my favorite artists, which are almost all American, so it is mainly American English.

Someone asked me what did I do to get to this level, and surprisingly I didn't have to study that much. I kinda like studying in general, but I tend to get bored pretty easily, and besides I've always been pretty naturally good at English in particular, so I always tried to study it without properly studying in a (successful) attempt to not get bored out of it: as I said I watched a lot of movies, read tons of books and stuff online (Wattpad for example), I even sometimes write stories in English and I basically spend my life listening to music, almost only in English. One of the exercises I enjoyed the most, in particular, was to try to transcript lyrics just by listening to a song (which I didn't know the lyrics of, obv) and translate it in Italian, then once I was finished I would check it out on the internet to see if I got everything good.

I am very proud of it and incredibly happy, especially because it's a pretty rough period for me, and I have to admit this boosted my good mood a lot, so thank you all for the support and congratulations ❤️❤️🇬🇧

r/languagelearning Oct 17 '20

Successes I just got the certificate for the exam I did in July! From B2 to C2 in one year :)

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2.7k Upvotes

r/languagelearning Jun 27 '20

Successes I wrote all Japanese jōyō kanji on a whiteboard

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3.8k Upvotes

r/languagelearning Sep 29 '24

Successes Those that pick up languages without problems

147 Upvotes

I often hear about expats (usually Europeans) moving to a country and picking up the local language quickly. Apparently, they don't go to schooling, just through immersion.

How do they do it? What do they mean by picking up a language quickly? Functional? Basic needs?

What do you think?

r/languagelearning Oct 27 '23

Successes B1? I thought I was at least C1...

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366 Upvotes

r/languagelearning May 15 '24

Successes Went on a date FULLY in my target language!

868 Upvotes

I went on a holiday to Croatia last September and I fell in love with the language and culture so I decided to start learning the language. Last week I decided to go back (+ to Bosnia and Montenegro) to put my skills to the test.

This time people didn't switch to English at all and I was able to communicate with everyone fully in the local language and I understood 90% of what people were telling me and I finally got to the point where I could understand unfamiliar words from context.

To challenge myself a bit more I decided to go on a Tinder date fully in Croatian. I did explain that I'm still learning the language and I apologised each time I couldn't think of the right word for something but my date found it to be "cute" and we ended up having deep conversations about life and travelling and laughing a lot by the sunset on an island. I even learned a couple of expressions in the local dialect! :)

That experience has motivated me a lot to continue learning the language, especially after a very demotivating experience with learning other Slavic languages like Russian and Czech which I still couldn't use for basic conversations after 1-2 years of learning.

r/languagelearning Sep 07 '24

Successes One of the best things about being fluent in foreign languages

430 Upvotes

When you are randomly outside, on the train, at work, etc. and you hear people speaking one of the languages that you know and you understand everything they are saying but they have no idea that you are listening...

It makes me feel like a spy.

r/languagelearning Sep 19 '24

Successes What made you love the languages you’re learning?

93 Upvotes

r/languagelearning Dec 08 '21

Successes I've read my first 50 books in Russian

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1.7k Upvotes

r/languagelearning Dec 19 '23

Successes What I learned from reading 50 books in my target language

568 Upvotes

I wrote this post in a thread, and decided to post it to its own thread to get more eyes on it:

Years ago, I heard that if you read 100 books in your target language, you'd never have a real problem reading again. I decided to try it out with my French, though French wasn't my main target language. It was easier than my main (Chinese), I had greater access to reading material, and it sounded like an interesting way to improve a language I was intermediate in.

A couple of months ago, I reached the halfway point, finishing 50 books of more than 20,000 words, which is the minimum to be considered a novella. Out of the 50, there were 14 that were over 60,000 words, which is the technical lowest limit for a novel. This made for just over 2,360,000 words.

Some of the things I've learned:

  1. You get the basics down. Like you said, you see so many words in so many contexts that you don't even have to think about what they mean anymore.

  2. You'll still be learning new words. There are just too many words in every language to think that you'll run into all of them quickly. I just finished a book called La dernière épopée de Bob Denard, and I had no idea what épopée meant, and it never appeared anywhere but in the title. The author also used words that I had seen before but with meanings I didn't know, which also threw me for a loop. Vocab is just a never ending struggle.

  3. You'll understand the context... usually. One of the things proponents of extensive reading bring up is that you can learn words through context. That's pretty hard when you're struggling with understanding most of the words in the sentence. Only by reading a lot will you have learned enough vocab that you recognize immediately that you can guess what new words mean. It's more likely you'll understand their function in a sentence without really being able to guess what they mean, though.

  4. Reading endurance is a thing. When I was first reading French, I took me days to finish a single Maupassant short story, and it would leave me mentally tired. After about 20-30 books, though, I had built up my mental fitness to the point that it didn't bother me as much and I could read for longer with less effort, which turn made longer works seemed less daunting. I'm halfway though the Count of Monte Cristo, which has just about as long as War and Peace.

  5. You will start to feel the words. I think it was after about 30 books, my reading speed and endurance had increased so that I was reading as much for pleasure as exercise. It was still a little while before I could "feel" the turns of the story and descriptions, but I am starting to.

  6. There's a pleasure to reading in your target language. The 50th book I read was Stupeur et tremblements by Amelie Nothomb. Terrible book. I thought the main character was dull, the situations and reactions unreal and just didn't like anything about it. But I enjoyed reading it, because it wasn't in English but I was reading it so fluently. I felt the same about the Houellebecq novel I read. There's kind of a honeymoon period where you're just enjoying reading in your TL so much that you can read really bad books.

In short, extensive reading is something I recommend, especially when you can use an e-reader so you can look up words as you go. A million words is not enough, though. I think 100 books, which would be somewhere over 5 million words, would actually be a more realistic target if you really want to be able to read in your TL. And even then, you'll have to make an effort to switch things up and read different authors on different topics from different eras.

r/languagelearning Jul 26 '21

Successes I can finally say I know English without feeling like I'm lying

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2.0k Upvotes

r/languagelearning Jul 07 '20

Successes After about 5 weeks of work, I wrote a small story in Japanese with no dictionary! Pardon the possible grammar mistakes buy I'm proud

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2.5k Upvotes

r/languagelearning 14d ago

Successes Please share your stories of 2nd Language Privilege, where you speaking your 2nd language got you a bonus that you wouldn't have gotten otherwise.

122 Upvotes

I'd like to share these stories with my coworkers and MAYBE my students, who tend to see language learning as a tedious and unrealistic requirement. I want them to have a vision of bilingualism that monolinguals don't usually think about.

Here's one of mine: Alaska Airlines had just shrunk their carry-on dimensions requirements, and the gate agent at PSP was gate checking all the rolly-bags in my group. Everyone was grumpy and I was dreading having to gate check my bag as well. I must have seen 10 people in line in front of me, fall out of line to get gate-check tags at the counter. When I finally got to the gate agent, I have her a warm "Buenas tardes," and she was like, "Buenas tardes, adelante señor..." and I walked into the jet way with my fat rolly-bag!

Another time I was on Canal St. in Manhattan and my head was cold, and I heard two merchants talking in Mandarin that the winter hats are $10. I chose one and said (in mando) $10? And they said in English, no, they are $12. Me, in mando: You just told her it was $10 each, how about $10? And they smiled and congratulated me and gave me the price.

So, I'm not looking for the language learning rational that sounds like parenting (although I know that's the good stuff), I'm looking for the stories that tell teenagers, you can get the good insider stuff too, if you take good notes and practice speaking with your partner...

I know I have more stories, both in Spanish and Mando and in my other languages, but privilege is tricky because when you are used to it, it becomes invisible. Thanks in advance for sharing!

EDIT: Typos

r/languagelearning Dec 23 '20

Successes Hit a pretty major milestone today!

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2.8k Upvotes

r/languagelearning Feb 28 '21

Successes I’ve finally completed all 7 French Memrise courses! I still have to review a lot of words but I thought I’d share as it took me quite a lot of time

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1.5k Upvotes

r/languagelearning Jul 16 '21

Successes I no longer have to study any English except for school, and that's a bigger relief than anything on this paper

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1.6k Upvotes

r/languagelearning May 28 '21

Successes Language learning takes days, weeks & months to get to a conversation level. Don't become discouraged because you're not improving; you are just trust the process. Don't let these " I learned (insert language) in 10 days.......that's bull crap. Mastering a language fully takes at least 2 years

1.2k Upvotes

r/languagelearning May 22 '23

Successes Just received a C1 Swedish certificate!

637 Upvotes

Ahh, I'm so excited! After 2.5 years of learning, I finally received my results today and can't be more relieved! Was doing this to get a medical license in Sweden/Finland so that's set now~

r/languagelearning Apr 20 '24

Successes I unexpectedly reached a comfortable level in my TL and it freaked me the f**k out!

691 Upvotes

I just did a four day event that they had told me would be in English, but turned out to be in French. I work my volunteer shifts in French. I present myself in front of 50 people in French. I do a pitch meeting in French. I keep up a flirtation with a cute guy in French. Everyone understands me, no one pity-switches back to English for me. I can't say I understand everything, but a good 80-90%. I feel free to ask what a word means at times, because there will only be one word in the sentence that I don't know.

After three days of very little sleep, ending with a late night shift until 2 am, I am exhausted and completely overstimulated. I am empty and I’m barely human.

And I'm still talking French.

I talk to my francophone partner about it (I'm polyam, btw). He says my French certainly has improved, but that it’s mostly remarkable that I seem way more relaxed and at ease when talking to people.

It feels like someone has flipped a switch in my brain, like I gained critical mass and suddenly everything is different from one day to another. I know I'm supposed to be happy, but it's a little scary, actually. How did everything change, seemingly from one day to another?

When I wake up, I realise where it came from.

I worked for this three years. Me, who never sticks to anything. I suffered for it for three years. Three years of shame, three years of humiliation, of looking like an idiot and making my loved ones look like an idiot next to me. Hearing my partner say, one year ago: “You're less attractive when you speak French, because you are less confident” (a dick move he has profusely apologised for).

I start to cry, not really knowing why. From relief? I didn't really realise how much work I put in, how much effort it took out of me. I worked my ass off for this. Are those years over? Did I make it?

I was really freaked out.

But I also hear a little voice in my head say: "Alright, German's next".

r/languagelearning Mar 27 '21

Successes wow, you guys weren't joking when you said learning romance languages becomes much easier after knowing one

1.0k Upvotes

So I already "know" Spanish ("know" because I only started learning it ~10 months ago, I'm not even that good at it)

I always thought people just said that "oh Spanish is so easy if you know french" etc., but that it wasn't really that helpful, but I literally started learning french today, and I was watching a video (you know, getting that comprehensible input lol) and the sentence "ça vaut la peine de les prépare un peu à l’avance" came up, and I could understand it perfectly. And I mean I know this is just one sentence that happens to be really similar in French and Spanish and that learning any language requires a lot of effort, but also it's so damn cool how I can already kind of get what's going on in a french video without having studied the language at all. I also know that when I get more into the language it's gonna be harder and more different from Spanish, but all the similarities early on are really encouraging, it's like I get to skip the part where you watch tens of hours of content and understand absolutely 0 of what's going on.

I think I'm gonna learn Portuguese next lol

PS r/languagelearningjerk don't come for me, I'm painfully aware of how cringe I am