I've picked up learning Chinese again after a long break. Been watching many different videos about learning it. Most of what I will post is the same repeated knowledge that all of these language "gurus" tell people but were things I actually discovered on my own. So a lot of this comes from just my personal experience. I searched out all of the "cheating" ways long after I had started learning from zero. Here goes:

Many people study the wrong way. Studying is good and no matter what you expose your mind to you are "learning". But how effective is that learning? Hours on hours of different groups of words/phrases/sentences. All that information with no where to go. Well it needs to go out of your mind through your mouth. Here's my suggestion:

Actually use what you are learning. My Chinese skyrocketed when I only learned/memorized stuff I would immediately use. I tell that to everyone who asks me how to improve their speaking. Use what you'll do immediately. Example, my city had motorbike taxis. I had no idea how to say directions except for pointing. One night I spent 30 minutes looking up turn left/right, go straight, stop, etc.. The next day going to work I used them. Took me a day + some extra remembering to get it down. Now I can recall it instantly. Do that for EVERYTHING. You're hungry? Go look up food and restaurant vocabulary and then go eat. This is something language learners don't do. They learn, learn, learn but may never need to use it for days or weeks or however long afterwards. It sits without being used and is "useless". Use it.

Live the language. During my time in China I got too comfortable with what I knew and since it allowed me to stick to my routine and survive, it was good enough for me. I feel like I wasted so much of an opportunity there. How can you live the language?

The mind is amazingly powerful. You want to seriously learn a language. Change EVERYTHING to that language. Your phone, your computer, only get your news from that language, tv/movies, etc.. You need to basically "pretend" that you no longer live in your native country. If you see something in your native language, mentally block it out or look up the translation if you don't already know it to keep your mind away from it. If you see it and know it, always remind yourself mentally or say it out loud. You give your mind no choice.

Another thing is people want to learn a language and have good intentions with learning it. But.......you have to love it. How do you love learning the language?

The more open your mind is the more receptive and "spongy" your mind will be towards soaking that information up. Your attitude will make or break your learning. Is it a chore or is it a way for your to open doors, improve yourself as a person, and know you can instantly be connected to millions of people out there? This is by far one of the biggest issues learners face. It's fun for awhile until it isn't and then they get frustrated, bored, and quit. If you're living the language and constantly using new stuff and making progress, you'll never get burnt out. Progress equals = attitude.

That's all I got for now. Thanks everyone!

I've been learning Russian. Pretty much A1 level now. I use a few different apps. I am also working on Japanese slowly

Yea I downloaded the Russian keyboard on my phone. Japanese one feels strange tho. After Russian, I will try to learn Ukrainian. Shouldn't be too different.

lol yea I switched apps

immerse yourself in the language and dedicate urself to it

tried russian on duolingo.

it was too similar to polish and i don't think i actually learned anything

Their Russian course teaches you some chit, but it isn't as good as their Spanish or French ones.

Best advice I was ever given about learning languages was to make yourself think in that language. It helps reinforce anything you pick up

很好，兄弟

Correct. Similar to what I was saying about when you run across your own language, acknowledge it, but then say it mentally or out loud in the language you are learning. Will help keep that mentality and part of your mind constantly working. That's something you will have to train your mind to start doing automatically. Which then falls into actually living the language. So for me, sitting at the computer right now, I could look at several things in my room and see them and say them in my mind in Chinese. But for me to do that I have to actually think about doing that. So I myself am not at that level yet. Thanks for the reminder.

Mei wen ti. Jia huo!

Xiaomanyc 小马在纽约

chichi

ching chang chong!

Now this is Next Level ****.
Thank you for your service, brah.



OP’s immersion advice is Next Level Duh.
Tempted to Neg.

Op是个基佬

Well then you might as well start negging everyone. As evident as you may think this stuff is apparently it isn't. Same stuff about people who keep making the same threads asking about gaining muscle, losing weight, or if they've found a 10/10 HBB to rate, or asking about what to do about finance or bitcoin. Y u mad though? Least I'm bringing some personal experience to the table. Meanwhile you're....what? Acting like a neckbeard. You're no king of mine. So fuk right off.

Just spent the last hour watching native Chinese speakers critique his videos. He's not as good as he thinks and most of his vids are clickbait titles. He's good but not perfect or fluent as the consensus goes. I personally find it hard to see him as an authority when he floods his channel doing the same stuff in a gazillion other languages. If he stuck to just Chinese without repeating the same schtick for everything else it'd be a lot more impressive. One of his latest videos is of him hunting with an isolated village in the Amazon and "Speaking their language". Uh, huh. Does he plan on living there or ? Otherwise it's just for show. I respect his hustle but I think he's oversaturated himself to where it's not as interesting or unique as when he first started doing it.

I'm mad because I expected better from you.
You got my hopes up and then dashed them against the rocks.


You forgot to include the other basic advice: learn new language by diving into FOB pussy over and over again. Make her your gf and only speak the language.
You'll soak that sh!t up through your dik, like osmosis.

For me, self-teaching begins with discerning the best way to learn the subject.

Then finding the most useful and authoritative material on the subject, such as with textbooks.

This is how I taught myself financial economics, using graduate level textbooks, and it worked very well.

But then they wanted me to do war profiteering, zionist investments in Israel, commodifying Indigenous religion.

At the time, was dealing with home invasions, constant gang murders and shootings, and going without food.

That job got me out of the hood to the place I am today, but I still refused to sell my soul.

The result was nearly getting evicted twice and now getting my water turned off twice.

Could be worse, I've been through much much worse, exactly two times before.

Finances are still in shambles, barely getting by, but not in the hood anymore.

Promised me pre-IPO deals, millions, and a place in rich people society.

But I found out that the whole thing was heavily zionist and corrupt.

Cleared my conscience, at least I can suffer with a clean conscience.

But yeah, you can teach yourself anything within your mental capacity.

I'm not going to use this knowledge for investing or becoming rich.

I'd rather use this knowledge to seize and nationalize Wall Street.

This is actually legit good advice as well srs