Learning Languages

in/learning-languages 1.3K members

264

Eight months of Spanish on an app and I still freeze when a real person talks to me Plateau

I've built a streak I'm genuinely proud of, I can read a menu and mostly follow subtitles, and then a waiter asked me something unscripted and my brain went completely blank. I have about 30 minutes a day and roughly…

8 answers Share

173

@mat_mira · last wk.

Japanese from zero: apps got me kana in a month, then kanji ate me alive Specific Language

Six months in. Hiragana and katakana are solid, I know maybe 400 words, grammar is going fine from a textbook. Kanji is where it falls apart — I'll learn twenty, come back a week later, and half are gone. About 40…

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134

@mature_student_j · 4w ago

German cases are killing me at A2 — did an app ever teach you these, or did it take a grammar book? Plateau

A2, six months in, 30 minutes a day. I can order things and hold a simple conversation, and then a sentence needs dative and I stall and guess. The app I use marks the cases with a colour on the word and never explains…

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198

@index_and_chill · last mo.

What's actually free for language learning once you stop paying for streaks? App Question

My annual subscription renews at just under $100 and I've been looking at what I got for last year's: a lot of matching exercises and a number that went up. I'm B1 ish in French, about 25 minutes a day, and I'd rather…

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141

@layover_lucy · 2mo ago

Language exchange partners — how do you get past 'hi, how are you' and into an actual habit? Tutors & Exchange

I've matched with maybe fifteen people for Italian on exchange apps. Four replied, two had a good first chat, and then both fizzled inside a fortnight. I can do two evenings a week, I'm B1, and every partner so far has…

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119

@clinicfloor_amy · 4mo ago

Can you learn ASL from an app, or does that only work with a Deaf teacher? Specific Language

I work front desk at a clinic and we see Deaf patients regularly. Right now everything happens through writing, which is slow and impersonal. I have about 20 minutes a day and my employer will cover something modest.…

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@niacinamide_jo · 6mo ago

Swapped my paid subscription for the language platform my library gives away — did anyone regret this? App Question

My city library card gets me Mango for free and I'd been paying about $8 a month for something else. Two weeks in, the free one feels more conversational and less gamified, which I like, but there's no streak and I've…

7 answers Share

For adults grinding a second (or fifth) language on their own time — app users, tutor users, and anyone stuck against the intermediate wall.

Where people who are actually mid-language talk about what is working.

Belongs here: what you tried and how far it got you, study routines you kept for more than a month, app-versus-tutor cost comparisons, plateau problems, resources for a specific language, and honest "I stopped and here is why" posts.

Removed on sight: affiliate links and referral codes, "just use Anki" or "just move there" one-liners with nothing attached, streak screenshots with no content, and app founders posting as delighted users.

How to ask well here: tell us your target language and rough level, how many minutes a day you will realistically do, what you are paying now, and what you already tried and dropped. "Best app for Spanish" gets you a list. "A2 Spanish, 20 minutes a day on the train, $15/month ceiling, bounced off two apps because it was all reading and no talking" gets you an answer.

1.3K members
7 posts

Created December 8, 2025

Ask in this room

1
State your language and your level

Target language plus a rough level. 'Beginner' and 'B1' lead to completely different advice.
2
State your language and your level

Target language plus a rough level. 'Beginner' and 'B1' lead to completely different advice.
3
No affiliate or referral links

Including your own app's signup link. Removed, no exceptions, no appeals thread.
4
No affiliate or referral links

Including your own app's signup link. Removed, no exceptions, no appeals thread.
5
No 'just use X' answers

Say why it worked for you, how long you used it, and what it did not fix.
6
No 'just use X' answers

Say why it worked for you, how long you used it, and what it did not fix.
7
Self-promotion is disclosed and rare

If you built it, say so in the first line, and do not post it in every thread.
8
Self-promotion is disclosed and rare

If you built it, say so in the first line, and do not post it in every thread.
9
Keep exam and visa talk practical

Share your experience of sitting a test. Do not tell strangers what an immigration body or employer will accept — that changes, and it is not ours to promise.
10
Keep exam and visa talk practical

Share your experience of sitting a test. Do not tell strangers what an immigration body or employer will accept — that changes, and it is not ours to promise.