How to LEARN A LANGUAGE on your own in 2025

[Music] imagine how it would feel if you were completely fluent in another language but if you're like me you might have struggled to learn a language in the [Music] past maybe you got nowhere in classes at school or despite downloading various apps you still can't understand people when they speak to you I used to be in exactly the same position but after years of trial and error I realized that anyone can learn a language without needing to move abroad and through my experience of learning Spanish and Mandarin to different levels I picked up what I

think are some of the fundamental truths that we need to focus on so in this video I'm going to share eight simple changes which finally turn me into a successful language learner and they could do the same for you before we get started though right up front I want to make it clear that I'm going to cover the things that I think most people Overlook when it comes to First learning a new language as soon as you type in anything to do with learning a language online you are bombarded with companies and apps and methods

and now ai but if you've struggled to learn a language in the past just Googling best apps to learn a language might not solve the issues that you could have so we're going to delve deeper today rather than just look at the resources you could quite easily Google we're going to build the foundations that will turn you into a successful language learner oh and if you're just getting started with learning a new language that's what we talk about around here so if that sounds your sort of thing then consider hitting the Subscribe button down below

I've also created a document summarizing this video so if you think that would be helpful that will also be linked down in the description if you want to download it now that's out of the way let's look at the first problem imagine a builder going to make a large build of some sort by starting to pile bricks on top of one another with no real idea what the building is supposed to look like or even what it's for versus an architect who has a clear idea of who the structure is being built for and why

it's being built they drew up clear plans before anyone even touches a brick so it sort of makes sense before you rush off and download a gazillion apps to think about what you want from the language you're trying to learn you probably don't need to get your point when you're writing academic papers and so what you want to do in the future might affect the activities that you should be doing right now not only that but having a strong image in your mind of the sorts of experiences you want to have can be a really

powerful motivator maybe you're backpacking across a country where the language is spoken having lifechanging experiences through the conversations you're having maybe it's to open up opportunities at work or even just connect with family or even make friends having a strong long-term vision for goals in the language will massively help you over the course of time and it keeps you going on the days when perhaps you don't have quite so much energy so I think it was Bill Gates who said something along the lines of most people overestimate what you can do in one year and

underestimate what they can do in 10 years now I'm not suggesting these are the time scales that we're talking about in language learning but certainly people can get frustrated in give up sooner than they should you definitely shouldn't expect to still be a beginner after years and years with the language but a long-term view can help you adjust your expectations so that you know that it's not something that's going to happen overnight and honestly if you put into practice the tips from this video you won't be a beginner forever I promise you also just to

help with managing your expectations around learning a language the better you get at a language the easier it is so first of all you limited to the sorts of things you can do and understand and even enjoy in the language before too long that will completely change once you get to a certain point it's just part of your daily life as you enjoy content creators music all related to the language that you're learning just remember is hardest at the beginning so keep that in mind and it will help you stay consistent now I want to

briefly explain something presumably you don't feel like you're yet at an advant level in the language you're learning at the moment that is cool that is part of the process of learning a new language so largely the language is out there in the real world it's not all in your head yet I always notice when I meet people in the real world that tell me that they're learning a language but from the description of what they're doing they're not getting a lot of exposure to the language they're learning they might be learning about the language

and that can have its place but it's going to be really hard to get enough of the language into your head and build the structures that you need without a lot of exposure it is amazing what the brain can do naturally so that could be immersion Mass sentences an input approach language Islands you're an adult just see what takes you pick the point is that when you're having a conversation it is a two-way thing you need to be able to understand a lot otherwise you're just talking at someone like a human fog horn so focus

on build your understanding through a lot of exposure to the language like easier podcasts for Learners or books or videos regardless of other methods you use this is a key part of the puzzle that you cannot miss out on now if you're a lifelong learner like me then I'm sure learning cool stuff interests you genuinely doing online courses has completely changed my life and so at skillshare they have a ton of curated courses by experts sharing their knowledge skillshare is a massive online platform with thousands of courses on pretty much everything so yes you can

find language learning courses on there too there are plenty of courses for a ton of languages including Spanish French Mandarin Korean Japanese and to be honest loads more and once you get better at a language you can do courses in that language like I did when I was learning about photography recently in Spanish but more than that they've got a load of different courses on so many other subjects from productivity Finance self-help and more basically if you want to level up your life in any way they probably have a course on it the first 500

people to join skillshare using my link get one month premium free so check out the link in the description thank you to skillshare for sponsoring this video so you know that feeling when you're watching a movie and not everything makes sense right away but you stick with it because you trust the story will come together and in the end all of those twists and turns are going to make sense learning a language is a little bit like that so you won't catch every word or understand every grammar rule immediately and that is perfectly normal instead

of getting hung up on all the small parts that don't click right away it's better to just enjoy the process and trust that understanding will come over time a little mystery can actually make The Learning Journey less stressful as you aren't obsessed with Minor Details right now it can can take some getting used to if you're newer but you have to learn to accept that you won't always understand everything you will make more progress than you thought you can't learn a language without accepting a bit of ambiguity just keep going and what used to seem

fuzzy will start to become clearer as you improve you know how sometimes you're in the zone you're fully focused on the task and at other times you just want to relax and take it easy well when we're learning a language we can use that to our advantage so in those times when you have more energy pushing yourself by using more challenging material can be incredibly productive and this is what most people think of when it comes to learning a language those moments sitting down and deliberately doing something and I've started doing what's called intensive readings

trying and push myself a little bit more and it's genuinely really interesting reading online articles about interesting things with my morning coffee so that deliberate approach is one option but I don't want you to sleep on how powerful it can be to take a lower energy approach there is a huge amount in value in less active activities like just listening to simple podcasts in the language perhaps when you're doing some chores or listening or reading something you've already seen it's like re-watching your favorite movie you might catch some new details that you missed the first

time round and it reinforces what you already know both high energy and low energy approaches have their place and over time even the more relaxed activities make a huge difference because they take less energy you can do a lot more of them over the course of the day it's all about finding a balance that suits your personality and keeps the learning process enjoyable my old job was really stressful and involved and so a more laid-back approach with lots of easy listening meant I still made progress and now I can speak Spanish had I not spent

so much time doing easy stuff there is no way I'll would be where I am now it needs to fit with your lifestyle and you can change your approach over time but find a balance that works for you now this is something that I talk about all of the time and I know not everybody who's watching this is a new viewer so I'm going to keep this one brief just to be clear this is a thing that will make or break your language learning I've got a load more videos about it if it interests you

the biggest epiphany I had when I was struggling to learn Chinese and then started to see the light was this you have to do something with the language you're learning every day I'm not going to tellar you off if you miss a day but one day off does not mean you fallen off the wagon if learning a language is genuinely a priority make time for it start small you don't have to be a hero increase what you're doing over time and that one simple change could be all you need to start seeing the progress that

you want there won't be one huge jump from not fluent to fluent it's a process through lots of small steps taken every day over time before worrying about the best method or app make sure that you've got a solid daily habit doing whatever appeals to you right now so you know how sometimes you can just figure out how a new Gadget Works without pouring over the entire manual you just start pushing buttons and before you know it you're getting the hang of it language learning can be a bit like that many new Learners get so

wrapped up in studying grammar rules that they forget that language is about communication not Perfection the funny thing is you can understand and convey so much without nailing every grammatical detail and often you can work out stuff as you go along by immersing yourself and picking up things naturally you often learn faster and enjoy the process more so don't obsess over learning every grammar rule it might have its place and I totally get that some people love it but if you don't I wouldn't worry you can always go back and polish up some of the

grammar at a later date if you really feel the urge for some people the biggest hurdle in learning a new language is not the vocabulary it's not the grammar despite what you might have heard if you're understanding this video you're already demonstrating your ability to pick up a language you've successfully learned one language so your brain totally has the capacity to learn another with enough exposure and practice for a lot of people it's their own self-doubt or negative thoughts that create obstacles just know that you can learn a language and if you apply the tips

that I'm showing here I really believe you can make progress and whilst we're here on the internet there are so many stories about these Wonder kids who learned a language in half the time it took you to drive to work but comparison is the thief of Joy so don't worry about them you probably have a job or other commitments which means you can't take the summer off and be a full-time language learner that's normal their learning has nothing to do with what you're up to so just focus on your goals and daily activities and you'll

have a much more enjoyable time of it I promise if all the points I'm making here were like levels on Super Mario this point would be the big boss at the end because if you can overcome this one you'll be set for life only one person is going to put the language you're learning into your head only you can do that take charge of your own learning and make decisions about the steps that you're going to take every day to get better at whatever language you want to learn the compounding effect suggest that even small

actions over time can make a difference I would add that as you get used used to what you're doing it becomes easier to add more stuff down the line because you don't think about what you do every day whatever app you download to learn a language it isn't in charge if it's not giving you the results you want you need to take responsibility and move on instead of blaming the app and just stopping all together you want to become your own boss and take charge of your learning including finding what works for you after all

you can't do everything right so what I find is I think people are often really obsessed with finding the best method especially if you think you've maybe not made the progress you wanted to in the past the method is always to blame for a lot of people people want things faster by Nature humans are impatient but honestly I believe it's more about the human factors when it comes to learning a language rather than the method if there are two people both using the best method and one person is super motivated compared to someone who finds

the whole thing pretty boring obviously the person bored out of their mind isn't going to make nearly the same progress as the person doing the things I've shared with you in this video and in fact I want to suggest to you that if you're motivated with a strong long-term goal solid daily habits and the right mindset to approach your learning then to be honest the method is less important than you might think though I will add that the language isn't in your brain yet yet so you do need to get a lot of exposure to

it just reading one vocabulary list won't make you fluent in French if this video has been helpful I'd appreciate it if you give it a like down below there's that download in the description as well if you want it for a summary and if you want to start your journey to build a solid daily Habit to get fluent then watch this video next where I can show you what to do