you brought up a great point about starting with passively consuming the language (watching tv shows, youtube videos, etc) rather than actively consuming it (speaking to someone, writing it). actively learning can be really intimidating if you’re getting back into a language and could lead to those negative thoughts of “i’ve forgotten so much of the language” “i’m not where i used to be”. passively learning for a little bit could spark that motivation and interest in the language again. i’m going to try this with Spanish :)
I’m only able to focus on two languages at a time too. One main and one I’m maintaining or slowly learning. I feel so guilty about ignoring my other languages particularly because I have been focused on Japanese and Korean for over 10 years 😂. Poor German, French, and Spanish. They’ve truly been abandoned.
@@jenifferdavies1369 I’m trying to relearn French since I’ve just moved abroad to study to Paris and I am sharing my whole experience over on my UA-cam channel ☺️☺️☺️
Thank you for this! I just passed my French C1 and still have a hang up about it because after two years of picking it back up (not intensively but a big change for my lifestyle) I still feel like my level is not back to where it was before I “abandoned” it about 12 years ago. I started Arabic from scratch about three years ago and for the last six months had to abandon it a bit for my French exams and I’m not sure when I’ll be able to pick it up again and I keep worrying that I’ll lose it all - especially since I impulsively started almost daily Spanish classes immediately after my French exam. This video is a good reminder that taking breaks and switching focus languages can be part of the process and doesn’t have to be something to be ashamed of. Maybe for Romance languages it’s feasible for me to do a sprint like model and attain a B2/C1 efficiently, but for Arabic it can be a more gentle and ongoing vibe. I always enjoy your videos and hope you’re doing ok!
I've recently thought about studying japanese again. I ended up stoping because my work became too much and studying japanese felt too much like a chour rather than a hobby. I regret not sticking to it, because the thought of re-learning seems a little overwhelming. I also still work at the same job, so i wonder if i'll feel its like a chour again. For now, i've been watching more japanese media just so i can hear the language. I love your videos! They give me motivation.
I feel the exact same way about studying Japanese again as I stopped a long time ago for the same reasons as you. After years of putting it on hold (with much regret), I now feel eager yet overwhelmed to relearn it. 頑張りましょう〜
I was studying Japanese for years over a decade ago (self-study and then college courses), but a bad study abroad experience soured me on the language, and I dropped it. I still wanted to learn a language, so I picked Spanish, but my heart wasn’t in it, and I eventually stopped. I decided to get back into Japanese in 2020, and instead of being discouraged by how much I forgot, I was surprised by how much I remembered. What’s made it a lot easier for me, mentally, is just how many resources there are now. It’s nothing like when I was studying it before, and having that variety really makes a difference. (Like if I’m not super motivated one day, I can at least listen to a podcast episode.) I’m going at a very slow pace, but that’s okay. I’ll get where I want to be eventually.
hi. brazilian here. i started the process of learning russian in june, 2023, a couple of months after i stopped doing Chinese (because it was too hard and I got discoureged in a year, barely keeping up with a learning routine). my routine with russian was also very unstable, there were days when i wouldn't do anything, but i had significant progress during this time. however it has been 2 months since I've last practiced, and I decided to go back to russian with a different approach. i'll first memorize the alphabet, learn it's letters' sounds, words, so I can learn sentences and gramma later, like a child, because i've kinda skipped that meaningful process (oops). i will officialy start it today. learning a language is soooo cool! we're cool as hell 😊
Really interesting video and you make a lot of good points. I’ll also add some of my experience with taking breaks from languages… I had dropped active study of Japanese in 2018 and couldn’t really piece together sentences anymore. But I was recently in Japan and I was surprised at how much I was able to understand and talk. Not perfect and certainly not as well as before, but good enough to travel, and that’s all I need. With Korean, I’ve never abandoned it because my partner is Korean and we keep traveling there, but since I had last studied it formally in 2019 I felt like I didn’t know how to ramp it back up. Reevaluating the changes in my life plans since then, and reflecting about the situations where I really struggle speaking Korean, I realized that I have already “enough” grammar and vocabulary for most situations I care about, and I’m just lacking confidence. So my new language goal is to improve my confidence and learn to show more of my personality in the language, rather than being able to produce advanced grammar or read the news or learning how to communicate in the workplace. I do think that there’s some coming to terms with a change of identity. When I was younger, learning Japanese was a huge part of who I was and that’s just not the case anymore. My motivations and life circumstances have changed, and that’s okay, but it took me a while to be able to articulate it and understand that’s a valid reason for quitting a language or setting smaller goals with it.
I needed to see this so thank you. I took a break from learning Korean and Spanish for a few years. Like you said they’re my hobbies but when life to feel overwhelming I stop because o don’t want something that I enjoy to be tainted. But now im ready to start again. I started watching kdramas again to help refresh my Korean and I’m going to go over the books I started. The Spanish I’ll wait a bit on
I'm also slowly introducing Korean studies back into my daily life but taking it slow and avoiding feeling like I'm behind. Just talking it one day at a time. So far, I'm happy with what I've remembered and new words I've learned passively by listening to music or watching shows. :) ps: Can you tell me the titles of the books with Korean titles you showed? There were like 4 (ellow/purple/green/blue).
it's quite interesting that you have an almost complete plan when it comes to returning to a language. I don't have a specific way of returning, and it mostly depends on the language itself. The languages I am most often taking a break from are the Romance languages (Spanish, French, Italian). Usually I will use an app (Babbel is my favorite) and then after a week or two I'll open up the textbook I was using before and start from the beginning. Except this time around I focus mainly on vocab and conversations, and only select a few exercises each chapter. Other than that, I kind of go with what feels right, whether it be watching UA-cam, listening to music, podcasts, etc. At the moment I am returning to Spanish, since this month I will be moving to the Southern US, where there will be a larger Spanish-speaking population than here in New York. As for a language that I may give up on completely, that might be French, unless I focus solely on reading.
Like yourself, when I'm trying to ease in back into a language I might start with listening to music or watch movies or shows in that language (or sometimes doing that is what get's me to start a new language to begin with!). Still struggle with the "is it time to let it go or do we [me and that TL] just need a break and sometime apart?" - still figuring that one out, but at least now I don't feel guilty about it, which I used to, specially with the whole time investment (or monetary) or just that at some point you saw it as a part of your identity and that might make it harder to let go, or let go of expectations.
tried going back to gáidhlig a couple months ago as it was the first language I did duolingo for and thought it would be fun. much like you, I had forgotten a lot of stuff and it was really upsetting. however for me this was super useful as it made me realise the magnitude of studying it and the fact that in reality I didn't really have the motivation. it was a fun hobby whilst it lasted, but going back helped me realise that at this current stage in my life I no longer had an interest in it. this video was super super useful tho as I'm hoping to go back to german and have been paranoid about it, but this has giving me the motivation to push through. thank you so much for all the content and advice you make!
I actually just got back into a language I haven't studied in years as part of my new job (I need to review a lot of technical documents in Spanish and English, which I'm very comfortable in, but also in French which I haven't taken in years ever since highschool. And the first day when I had to go over the French texts I died a bit, but now it is three days, and maybe it is because of the narrow domain but suddenly things started sorting back into my head and I could work better with French texts (it might also be because I'm a Romance native speaker, I don't think my superiors would expect me to know Russian for example) I was thinking about going back formally but I think I'll focus on other things since I'm getting a lot of exposure through work anyways, it is more than what I'd do as a hobby but it being a job makes it something different than just learning for fun obviously. If I keep working like this and any future tasks don't involve using French less I'll probably have done around 180 hours before 2024, I think I can just read books or watch a series or something at that point, if I do want to return outside of my job, might just sign up for official exams instead of Chinese like I was planning
Please make a specific video on how to learn English , I'm really tired hard to learn but how to start learning, what things I do what not to do is to much complicated for me because UA-cam full on the contant and I'm totally confused end of day only .so I requesting you please please make a one specific video on this topic .
I also switch languages throughout the year and it feels fine. The only language I feel bad about is french, cause I studied it for 15 years in school&uni but never got fluent, just pure academic. I don't know how to approach it cause I have a huge passive vocabulary and know all the grammar, but I can barely output anything
PS - do you recommend learning one language at a time, to achieve confidence at least, before moving on to another? I have never tried this before but I am thinking of taking a whole month and devote it JUST to one or two languages. I'm too afraid I'd lose my progress in all the other languages I have studied up to this point. But, I really think this may be the only way it works because trying to do so multiple languages at the same time, while it may work for others, I don't think it will help me so much =(
Hii Tanya! So I would really like your thoughts and advice,I'm feeling really stuck with language learning. I feel like there is just so much to learn, right now I'm taking an online class in Russian and maybe its my fault, I was so sure I'd be fine in this more intermediate class because I've studied the grammar before and I can read / write the Cyrillic although not as well as I want. But I don't know, sometimes I worry did I just become like dumber over this past year? Because I don't know how to structure my Russian learning and studying. I feel like I just stare at all this grammar and texts and it all feels like so much =( Do you have any thoughts, advice, for how to get started with a new language and to get some confidence with it?? Thank you so much Tanya.
Hi there. Greetings from Brazil 🇧🇷🇧🇷. So,I really need to know something about your language learning:. Do you go FULL MONOLINGUAL after a while (months,even years) ? Do you give up bilingual dictionary, for example? I've seen lots ov videos on UA-cam about "think only in your target language, stop using bilingual dic, etc etc. I'd really like to know where do you stand on that matter. . If possible, dona video about this subject, it's really important for language learners
Eu acho que é uma otima forma de se aprofundar num idioma (cortar as traduções e etc) mas acho também que isso só funciona se você já tiver um nível um pouquinho maior nesse idioma (tipo um B1 ou no maaaximo um A2 onde consiga compreender bem pelo menos os contextos dos diálogos e etc)
@@Lya-189 na verdade meu nível é avançado,leio novels e tudo. Mas parece um vício querer saber o significado de palavras, exemplo: date= tâmara. E se não fosse pelo dicionário bilíngue,como entender e conhecer palavras?
@@fersay777 ah, talvez pesquisar pelo significado através próprio idioma ajude também. ex) river: a natural wide flow of fresh water across the land into the sea. Ou, se você aprende ou já sabe um terceiro idioma, pode pesquisar o significado da palavra através desse idioma (e vice versa entre os idiomas que você estuda). esse eu gosto bastante de fazer kk por exemplo, eu estudava coreano através do inglês há uns anos atrás (e isso melhorou absurdamente meu inglês, aprendi coisas que eu nem sabia que eu NÃO sabia KKKKK)
nesse exemplo, eu poderia usar um dicionário ingles-coreano, alemão/italiano, e etc, mas sempre focando nos outros idiomas que aprendo em vez de traduzir pro meu nativo acho que isso pede um pouco mais do nosso esforço né, deixa um pouquinho mais desafiador kk e também mantém os idiomas sempre frescos na cabeça (por exemplo, eu não estudo inglês porque já sou fluente, mas por ser fluente eu tenho fazer e/ou assistir o máximo de coisas através dele pra manter sempre ativo)
mas assim, acho que a questão de pensar no idioma é meio complicada (pelo menos pra mim), porque nunca consegui fazer isso naturalmente (se eu tento pensar, é por poucos minutos e estou sempre me forçando a pensar, etc, então acaba não sendo algo prazeroso pra mim e não tiro nenhum aprendizado disso) eu acho que isso vai de cada um mesmo, como você disse, você gosta de saber os significados das palavras e etc, então se isso não atrapalha o seu aprendizado, acho que não tem problema em continuar fazendo isso (mas se você quiser tentar mudar também não custa tentar :) o importante é se sentir bem e ver um progresso no aprendizado né)
✨ Learn a language by watching TV with Lingopie: learn.lingopie.com/tanyabenavente
you brought up a great point about starting with passively consuming the language (watching tv shows, youtube videos, etc) rather than actively consuming it (speaking to someone, writing it). actively learning can be really intimidating if you’re getting back into a language and could lead to those negative thoughts of “i’ve forgotten so much of the language” “i’m not where i used to be”. passively learning for a little bit could spark that motivation and interest in the language again. i’m going to try this with Spanish :)
I’m only able to focus on two languages at a time too. One main and one I’m maintaining or slowly learning. I feel so guilty about ignoring my other languages particularly because I have been focused on Japanese and Korean for over 10 years 😂. Poor German, French, and Spanish. They’ve truly been abandoned.
im trying to learn French again a I jsut moved to Paris to study and I can't wait to share my journey through my yt vlogs
Me too. I tried three but had to abandon Italian and Spanish( not learned at the same time) Continue French ( longtime) and German, my two favorites.
@@jenifferdavies1369 I’m trying to relearn French since I’ve just moved abroad to study to Paris and I am sharing my whole experience over on my UA-cam channel ☺️☺️☺️
Thank you for this! I just passed my French C1 and still have a hang up about it because after two years of picking it back up (not intensively but a big change for my lifestyle) I still feel like my level is not back to where it was before I “abandoned” it about 12 years ago. I started Arabic from scratch about three years ago and for the last six months had to abandon it a bit for my French exams and I’m not sure when I’ll be able to pick it up again and I keep worrying that I’ll lose it all - especially since I impulsively started almost daily Spanish classes immediately after my French exam. This video is a good reminder that taking breaks and switching focus languages can be part of the process and doesn’t have to be something to be ashamed of. Maybe for Romance languages it’s feasible for me to do a sprint like model and attain a B2/C1 efficiently, but for Arabic it can be a more gentle and ongoing vibe.
I always enjoy your videos and hope you’re doing ok!
I've recently thought about studying japanese again. I ended up stoping because my work became too much and studying japanese felt too much like a chour rather than a hobby. I regret not sticking to it, because the thought of re-learning seems a little overwhelming. I also still work at the same job, so i wonder if i'll feel its like a chour again. For now, i've been watching more japanese media just so i can hear the language. I love your videos! They give me motivation.
I feel the exact same way about studying Japanese again as I stopped a long time ago for the same reasons as you. After years of putting it on hold (with much regret), I now feel eager yet overwhelmed to relearn it. 頑張りましょう〜
I was studying Japanese for years over a decade ago (self-study and then college courses), but a bad study abroad experience soured me on the language, and I dropped it. I still wanted to learn a language, so I picked Spanish, but my heart wasn’t in it, and I eventually stopped. I decided to get back into Japanese in 2020, and instead of being discouraged by how much I forgot, I was surprised by how much I remembered. What’s made it a lot easier for me, mentally, is just how many resources there are now. It’s nothing like when I was studying it before, and having that variety really makes a difference. (Like if I’m not super motivated one day, I can at least listen to a podcast episode.) I’m going at a very slow pace, but that’s okay. I’ll get where I want to be eventually.
hi. brazilian here. i started the process of learning russian in june, 2023, a couple of months after i stopped doing Chinese (because it was too hard and I got discoureged in a year, barely keeping up with a learning routine). my routine with russian was also very unstable, there were days when i wouldn't do anything, but i had significant progress during this time. however it has been 2 months since I've last practiced, and I decided to go back to russian with a different approach. i'll first memorize the alphabet, learn it's letters' sounds, words, so I can learn sentences and gramma later, like a child, because i've kinda skipped that meaningful process (oops). i will officialy start it today. learning a language is soooo cool! we're cool as hell 😊
Really interesting video and you make a lot of good points. I’ll also add some of my experience with taking breaks from languages…
I had dropped active study of Japanese in 2018 and couldn’t really piece together sentences anymore. But I was recently in Japan and I was surprised at how much I was able to understand and talk. Not perfect and certainly not as well as before, but good enough to travel, and that’s all I need.
With Korean, I’ve never abandoned it because my partner is Korean and we keep traveling there, but since I had last studied it formally in 2019 I felt like I didn’t know how to ramp it back up. Reevaluating the changes in my life plans since then, and reflecting about the situations where I really struggle speaking Korean, I realized that I have already “enough” grammar and vocabulary for most situations I care about, and I’m just lacking confidence. So my new language goal is to improve my confidence and learn to show more of my personality in the language, rather than being able to produce advanced grammar or read the news or learning how to communicate in the workplace.
I do think that there’s some coming to terms with a change of identity. When I was younger, learning Japanese was a huge part of who I was and that’s just not the case anymore. My motivations and life circumstances have changed, and that’s okay, but it took me a while to be able to articulate it and understand that’s a valid reason for quitting a language or setting smaller goals with it.
I needed to see this so thank you. I took a break from learning Korean and Spanish for a few years. Like you said they’re my hobbies but when life to feel overwhelming I stop because o don’t want something that I enjoy to be tainted. But now im ready to start again. I started watching kdramas again to help refresh my Korean and I’m going to go over the books I started. The Spanish I’ll wait a bit on
I'm also slowly introducing Korean studies back into my daily life but taking it slow and avoiding feeling like I'm behind. Just talking it one day at a time. So far, I'm happy with what I've remembered and new words I've learned passively by listening to music or watching shows. :)
ps: Can you tell me the titles of the books with Korean titles you showed? There were like 4 (ellow/purple/green/blue).
it's quite interesting that you have an almost complete plan when it comes to returning to a language. I don't have a specific way of returning, and it mostly depends on the language itself. The languages I am most often taking a break from are the Romance languages (Spanish, French, Italian). Usually I will use an app (Babbel is my favorite) and then after a week or two I'll open up the textbook I was using before and start from the beginning. Except this time around I focus mainly on vocab and conversations, and only select a few exercises each chapter. Other than that, I kind of go with what feels right, whether it be watching UA-cam, listening to music, podcasts, etc. At the moment I am returning to Spanish, since this month I will be moving to the Southern US, where there will be a larger Spanish-speaking population than here in New York. As for a language that I may give up on completely, that might be French, unless I focus solely on reading.
Like yourself, when I'm trying to ease in back into a language I might start with listening to music or watch movies or shows in that language (or sometimes doing that is what get's me to start a new language to begin with!).
Still struggle with the "is it time to let it go or do we [me and that TL] just need a break and sometime apart?" - still figuring that one out, but at least now I don't feel guilty about it, which I used to, specially with the whole time investment (or monetary) or just that at some point you saw it as a part of your identity and that might make it harder to let go, or let go of expectations.
This is exactly the video I needed. Thank you,
tried going back to gáidhlig a couple months ago as it was the first language I did duolingo for and thought it would be fun. much like you, I had forgotten a lot of stuff and it was really upsetting. however for me this was super useful as it made me realise the magnitude of studying it and the fact that in reality I didn't really have the motivation. it was a fun hobby whilst it lasted, but going back helped me realise that at this current stage in my life I no longer had an interest in it. this video was super super useful tho as I'm hoping to go back to german and have been paranoid about it, but this has giving me the motivation to push through. thank you so much for all the content and advice you make!
I actually just got back into a language I haven't studied in years as part of my new job (I need to review a lot of technical documents in Spanish and English, which I'm very comfortable in, but also in French which I haven't taken in years ever since highschool. And the first day when I had to go over the French texts I died a bit, but now it is three days, and maybe it is because of the narrow domain but suddenly things started sorting back into my head and I could work better with French texts (it might also be because I'm a Romance native speaker, I don't think my superiors would expect me to know Russian for example)
I was thinking about going back formally but I think I'll focus on other things since I'm getting a lot of exposure through work anyways, it is more than what I'd do as a hobby but it being a job makes it something different than just learning for fun obviously.
If I keep working like this and any future tasks don't involve using French less I'll probably have done around 180 hours before 2024, I think I can just read books or watch a series or something at that point, if I do want to return outside of my job, might just sign up for official exams instead of Chinese like I was planning
ily girl❤
Your videos are amazing and you inspire girls like me💕
0:53 TOOO CUTE OMG I can’t handle it 🐶
Please make a specific video on how to learn English , I'm really tired hard to learn but how to start learning, what things I do what not to do is to much complicated for me because UA-cam full on the contant and I'm totally confused end of day only .so I requesting you please please make a one specific video on this topic .
I also switch languages throughout the year and it feels fine. The only language I feel bad about is french, cause I studied it for 15 years in school&uni but never got fluent, just pure academic.
I don't know how to approach it cause I have a huge passive vocabulary and know all the grammar, but I can barely output anything
Can you make a video talking about finding graded readers. I saw that you used that in Italian.
help i was just looking for a video like this
안녕 Tanya! Where is your planner/agenda from? It looks really nice :)
PS - do you recommend learning one language at a time, to achieve confidence at least, before moving on to another? I have never tried this before but I am thinking of taking a whole month and devote it JUST to one or two languages. I'm too afraid I'd lose my progress in all the other languages I have studied up to this point. But, I really think this may be the only way it works because trying to do so multiple languages at the same time, while it may work for others, I don't think it will help me so much =(
Hii Tanya! So I would really like your thoughts and advice,I'm feeling really stuck with language learning. I feel like there is just so much to learn, right now I'm taking an online class in Russian and maybe its my fault, I was so sure I'd be fine in this more intermediate class because I've studied the grammar before and I can read / write the Cyrillic although not as well as I want.
But I don't know, sometimes I worry did I just become like dumber over this past year? Because I don't know how to structure my Russian learning and studying. I feel like I just stare at all this grammar and texts and it all feels like so much =( Do you have any thoughts, advice, for how to get started with a new language and to get some confidence with it?? Thank you so much Tanya.
Шо за милое создание рядышком лежало? 🥰
한국어도 공부하시는군요. 반갑습니다.
Hi there. Greetings from Brazil 🇧🇷🇧🇷. So,I really need to know something about your language learning:. Do you go FULL MONOLINGUAL after a while (months,even years) ? Do you give up bilingual dictionary, for example? I've seen lots ov videos on UA-cam about "think only in your target language, stop using bilingual dic, etc etc. I'd really like to know where do you stand on that matter. . If possible, dona video about this subject, it's really important for language learners
Eu acho que é uma otima forma de se aprofundar num idioma (cortar as traduções e etc) mas acho também que isso só funciona se você já tiver um nível um pouquinho maior nesse idioma (tipo um B1 ou no maaaximo um A2 onde consiga compreender bem pelo menos os contextos dos diálogos e etc)
@@Lya-189 na verdade meu nível é avançado,leio novels e tudo. Mas parece um vício querer saber o significado de palavras, exemplo: date= tâmara. E se não fosse pelo dicionário bilíngue,como entender e conhecer palavras?
@@fersay777 ah, talvez pesquisar pelo significado através próprio idioma ajude também.
ex) river: a natural wide flow of fresh water across the land into the sea.
Ou, se você aprende ou já sabe um terceiro idioma, pode pesquisar o significado da palavra através desse idioma (e vice versa entre os idiomas que você estuda). esse eu gosto bastante de fazer kk
por exemplo, eu estudava coreano através do inglês há uns anos atrás (e isso melhorou absurdamente meu inglês, aprendi coisas que eu nem sabia que eu NÃO sabia KKKKK)
nesse exemplo, eu poderia usar um dicionário ingles-coreano, alemão/italiano, e etc, mas sempre focando nos outros idiomas que aprendo em vez de traduzir pro meu nativo
acho que isso pede um pouco mais do nosso esforço né, deixa um pouquinho mais desafiador kk e também mantém os idiomas sempre frescos na cabeça (por exemplo, eu não estudo inglês porque já sou fluente, mas por ser fluente eu tenho fazer e/ou assistir o máximo de coisas através dele pra manter sempre ativo)
mas assim, acho que a questão de pensar no idioma é meio complicada (pelo menos pra mim), porque nunca consegui fazer isso naturalmente (se eu tento pensar, é por poucos minutos e estou sempre me forçando a pensar, etc, então acaba não sendo algo prazeroso pra mim e não tiro nenhum aprendizado disso)
eu acho que isso vai de cada um mesmo, como você disse, você gosta de saber os significados das palavras e etc, então se isso não atrapalha o seu aprendizado, acho que não tem problema em continuar fazendo isso (mas se você quiser tentar mudar também não custa tentar :) o importante é se sentir bem e ver um progresso no aprendizado né)
❤❤
О боже, я вижу испанский Нуждина🤩
Could you use another language in the next video
Hey, why did you abandon your Russian channel a little?