How is everyone doing with their language learning?

To tell you the truth, I don't rightly know. I'm in a spot right now where I've been learning Russian for about 2 months. I tried Busuu in 2016 to learn some basic German and Italian and really liked the approach, so I went back and it's roughly the same (with some noticeable negative changes to user feedback). I learned quite a bit in a short period of time and I like how it explains things (though it could be better/more comprehensive).

However, now I'm in the position where the lessons are too long so I feel pulled more towards Duolingo due to its short lessons and gamification, but Duolingo's approach doesn't help me learn very well. I thought paying for Busuu premium would help, so I did that and got an 80% off discount for the new year, but it barely adds anything of value. I ended up refunding the purchase since they have a 14-day money back guarantee.

Things have stalled for me because I really dislike using Anki. I have a few different courses downloaded that each include a workbook and a ton of audio clips, but it's a lot harder for me to sit down and do that kind of thing (I have ADHD). I really need to mix things up a bit, so I think I'm going to pull the trigger on listening to podcasts or maybe trying some YouTube lessons.

Learning Japanese due to work and I made a habit of taking at least an hour or two after work to learn a few kanji symbols. It ain't easy but it sure feels satisfying to be able to understand what I'm reading every once in a while. I think I'm struggling more with grammar and sentence structuring due to how vastly different it is from English and Spanish. My goal is to pass the N5 test this year and I'm confident I'll be able to at this pace.

I'm trying to browse materials in the languages that I wish to learn, and use a translator when I don't understand them. Feels like cheating…

I really like C# so far. Im excited to avoid java and expand away from python at the same time.

I started learning German🌱

mostly just trying to remember basic phrases🤗

Feeling a drag. Like i have missed some concepts and need to go back. LearningFrench w/alexa is really good at explaining things in a way I can understand. Outling the rules (when applicable, it is french) and showing the conjugation’s. I get ads on YT for this “learn real french with french TV” and it looks like an interactive subtitle thing. They featured Lupin in the latest runs, which i enjoyed. I may have to look into the service. One foot forward everyday though.

I went on an international trip last year, to a Spanish speaking country. Felt incredibly good to be able to actually communicate with people who do not speak English! I didn't think I really could, as hard as it is to understand natural-speed speech. Turns out conversation w/ patient native speakers is much easier than just listening.

This year, I'm getting back into Japanese more. Caught up on my Anki and SRS stuff, getting back into the habit of watching videos, and starting to dig into the 2nd volume of the textbook.

I'd say it's going well!

I'm hesitant to say "it's going well".

I'm keeping up with duolingo but have completely ignored grammar and haven't studied properly in a long time.

Been learning Italian for over a year now and it’s going super well.

My strategy involves:

Daily Duolingo (335 day steak and I try to at least do the daily challenges and stay in their obsidian league), Anki for vocab and other things, Italian music (rap and their version of folk/americana), translating La Divina Commedia to English (slowly), Italian films, and my phone has been in Italian for a long time.

I also like to read SCPs in Italian because the format makes it easy to guess if I don’t know what’s going on.

I’m going on a trip to Italy in August as well!

I'm mostly off the wagon TBH. I get a bit of practice just because it comes up, but I haven't touched proper study materials in a while.

I don't feel like I'm making any progress despite the countless hours of studying.

Learning Esperanto. 9 days straight of studying so far!

I gave up lmao, though I still remember a surprising amount and can read and somewhat speak it still when a situation calls for it

I could do better but I procrastinate to update my method (stop relying on Duolingo and using other sources)

I checked out xiaohongshu ('rednote') since it was in the news, and reckon it might be good for re-learning chinese, since there are now bilingual comment threads (to facilitate this they added an option to translate each comment). I wish there were more multilingual threads here on Lemmy - language groups are too isolated.

I'm struggling.

Moved from Duolingo to Babbel, I like it a lot when it works. However, it's full of bugs and hangs, especially on the speaking part, which is the bit I'm weakest on.

I'm looking for an app which is an all rounder, but does a good speaking section.

My naive language wasn't well developed as a child and I've been playing catch up since. Babbel has been helping. I don't want to subscribe for a year and find that most of it is wasted because the app doesn't work.

The web page seems to work well, but much prefer doing my French learning on my phone.

Would appreciate any help. Not sure Pimsleur would be a good fit, as it misses the general language grammar I'm weak on. I've ordered a book recommended by a Redditor: English Grammar for Students of French https://amzn.eu/d/6O0BjWM