If you have problems learning a language LOOK HERE!!!

Look at this list down below and if you have any of these problems then you can possibly find a solution that works, otherwise please feel free to comment below and I can recommend you a solution!

If you're the opposite and your PROBLEM cannot be found, please also feel free to leave a comment regarding your problem in detail and I will update this blog with your problem and possible solutions added!

Skip here for list!

1. You come from an immigrant family and can understand the language your parents speak but when you try speak it your mind goes blank and you forget your vocabulary.

This is very common within immigrant families especially if your parents never made an effort to make you talk back to them in your language. I have this problem too and it is called receptive bilingualism which means the ability to understand a language but not speak it. 

The "solution" to this would be hearing your parents or whoever speaks the language at home and writing down words, phrases, sentences and their meanings down on a notebook (write with a PEN!! Not on your phone or a device). This lets you retain vocabulary. For the speaking part you need to actively be using these words or phrases at home. It can be as simple as something like "Oh I need to drink some mizu today" (Mizu = water in Japanese). Start using vocabulary and phrases actively throughout your day, especially at home (your mind associates language with place). 

2. You can't get conversational, when you speak the most you can say are simple sentences like "I like apples" or "I am good at soccer," but you can't make longer sentences like "I like to eat apples and I often eat them before going to soccer".

I had this problem FOR AGES with Japanese. I could always say stuff like 私は音楽が得意です (I am good at music) but I could never attach another sentence onto that especially if the following sentence was going to be in a negative or past tense. If you have this problem you need to start looking at the technical side of things. You need to look at sentence structures-and I don't mean SOV or SVO or OSV, I mean simple sentences, compound sentences, complex sentences, and complex compound sentences. You may have learnt them in English during school or you may have not. This is literally the key to being able to make longer sentences. You also might need to pair learning these sentence structures with learning tenses (past, future, present) if you start using different tenses in the same sentence. 

Honestly sentence structure (like complex, compound) is a really important thing to learn in all languages so make sure you tick this off your list!

3. You aren't sounding natural enough. 

This becomes a problem later on once you've become conversational. Honestly the best advice I can give for this is find out what apps the people of that country/language use. For example Chinese people use xiaohongshu (rednote), douyin (Chinese tiktok), Weibo. Telegram is widely used in Russia and Russian-speaking countries, LINE and Instagram are VERY popular in Japan. Naver, KakaoTalk, and KakaoStory are all popular in Korea. Honestly this list could go on for ages. What I'm saying is you need to get familiar with what they use in their country and learn slang or culture from what people in that country post (blogs, stories, posts etc)

If the problem is your accent is interfering with the language you're trying to speak then you're gonna need a friend! Its definitely easy to make friends online, whether you can trust them is the hard part. Thankfully all you need is your voice. Find a friend online or even in person if you're lucky and ask them to help you with pronunciation. Don't be afraid to ask and don't be afraid to make mistakes. 

4. You forget vocabulary as soon as you learn it and flashcards/active recall isn't working.

Flashcards are great for learning alphabet but when you have to start memorizing hell of a lotta words then flashcards may start to stop working. In this case you need repetition. Write the word and it's meaning down over and over again until you can remember it without looking. In this way you are using motor memory. 

Another solution to this is to see what phrases or when the word is used. By doing this you are utilizing contextual memory and are associating the word to context. You SHOULD be doing this is general with new words that you learn though. It's good to know how the word can be used in context and when. 

5. You understand grammar but can't use it in conversation

This is lowk also another common problem especially with grammar heavy languages such as Japanese and Korean. The best solution to this would be to take the grammar point and write 5-10 or as many sentences with it as you can (bonus points if you do it WITHOUT looking at your notes). You are training yourself and your mouth to remember these patterns rather then them being rules!

6. You know formal language but don't know how people actually talk

Refer to point 3!

7. You don't even know WHERE to start!!

This is common for beginners and don't worry I've got you. Now if you go onto ytube and look videos like "How to start learning (language)" people will mainly give you textbooks and dramas and courses and honestly I hate those videos because they're never useful. Resources yeah but I'm trying to self study with no money, give me what works! If people ask for it I can post a full list or roadmap that works for most languages, I CAN do language specific ones as well if its in my expertise. 

Otherwise, start off with the alphabet obviously, learn it's rules and if your alphabet has a stroke order then learn that. Next is vocabulary (DO NOT be like me and do grammar before even learning any simple grammar), learn simple numbers and words (use one of those 100-500 common words!). Learn the basic sentence structure next (such as SOV and SVO type stuff) and simple sentences. Learn verbs (verbs are VERY important in many languages as they control the sentence and tense). Start learning basic grammar. Connectors (and, but, because). Tenses such as present and past. Compound and complex sentences. etc (again I can do a separate post on this).

8. You know a lot of words but you can't or don't know how to connect them. 

This becomes a problem when you kind of start avoiding grammar or you just can't understand it and it's completely fine, this is another common problem. Best solution to this one would be to start learning in chunks rather then single words. Learn common sentence starters, connectors (and, but, because), and auxliary verbs. Think like building blocks yk.

9. You avoid speaking because you're scared of sounding afraid.

This is common and I had this problem hahah. Best way to get over this is LOWER the stakes! Essentially practice speaking with people who are ALSO learning like you! While it's better to learn to speak and pronounce from a native or someone who is better then you in that language, it's scary and fear of judgement is very real. Set goals that rather then being for accuracy, set them for mistakes. Set goals to make less mistakes when you pronounce this or that rather then pronounce this 100% correctly. It's way less harsher on expectations and your mind.

10. You can't remember genders, classifiers, or counters.

This is common if you are trying to learn a language that is dependent on these such as Spanish, German, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, French, mostly any East Asian or European language. I like to think of learning these as your brain remembers relationships and not rules. This means you should always attach the genders/classifiers/counters with their nouns when you learn nouns. Don't only learn the rules. You can also learn them in phrases or visualize and associate with images! 

It's 1am and I cannot be asked trying to do more sob...I will revisit this later and fix any mistakes I make.