Tristan Labelle

How I Learn Languages

People often ask me how I learned 7 languages. Here I'll share the self-guided learning method that I developed over time, and that has worked great for my analytical mind. I find that everyone learn languages differently, so I recommend picking and choosing the tips that work for you.

I consider that classes are not necessary, but can be useful if you have specific objectives (pronunciation, exam preparation), or as a commitment device. If you do take classes, prefer 1-on-1 tutoring to maximize your speaking time time, and look for a teacher who can act as a language coach, helping you find your best way to learn.

I divide the process of learning a language into two phases: study and enjoyment. During the study phase, you're learning what you need to start interacting with the world that the language opens up. In the enjoyment phase, you're integrating using the language into your life and hobbies, such that you continue learning without it feeling like a study session. Each phase has different principles and activities that I describe below.

Phase 1: Study

When you start learning a language, it's unavoidable: you have to study the basics before you can start using it in the real world. This requires some discipline, and it helps if you're interested in the workings of the language and the process of learning it, as there are few extrinsic motivations like enjoying a movie in that language yet. During this phase, keep those two principles in mind:

Listen to an audio course

Audio courses are a great way to break the ice with a language. They start from zero and get you speaking basic sentences very fast, giving you early confidence in your ability. My go-to is the Michel Thomas series, where a recorded teacher leads you through building basic, then progressively more complex sentences. For example, the recording might say "if the door is la puerta and open is abrir, how would you say open the door?", followed by a pause to let you answer before giving and explaining the answer. The downside of audio courses is that they are dissociated from the written language and often explain little to no grammar.

Learn the alphabet and its pronunciation

Languages like Russian or Greek use non-Latin alphabets, so learning those is a prerequisite to any interaction with the written language, but even languages that use a familiar alphabet will have their own pronunciation rules, such as for the z in German or the ll in Spanish. Get familiar with how to pronounce every vowel, consonant, and combinations thereof. It's easy to find charts online and YouTube videos explaining it. If the pronunciation sounds very foreign, this is one time where booking a few classes with an online teacher (e.g. on Italki) pays off.

If you're learning Chinese or Japanese, at this stage you should focus on learning Pinyin and the tones, or Hiragana/Katakana. There are so many Chinese characters and Japanese kanji that learning them requires a more structured, long-term approach.

Study basic grammar and vocabulary

Grammar and vocabulary are the building blocks for expressing your ideas. I suggest building your initial vocabulary through learning basic grammar, especially understanding how to use verbs and construct sentences. I'm a fan of McGraw Hill's Schaum's Outlines of Grammar and Grammar Drills series: they explain one concept at a time and include hundreds of exercises to practice along the way. I often gave myself the challenge of building a single-page cheat sheet that summarized my understanding of the language's grammar — an impossible task, but the exercise helps me mentally organize what I've learned.

I recommend focusing your vocabulary study on the minimum you need for your early conversations (small talk about your hobbies, profession, etc.) by finding learners' podcasts, YouTube channels, or even beginner storybooks about related topics. You can get a lot of mileage out of simple words like good/bad, small/big, and you'll develop more advanced vocabulary naturally from exposure to the language.

Read an easy e-book (stretch)

You can quickly pick up a ton of vocabulary by reading an easy book, but it can be grueling to look up words in your dictionary every sentence, so at this stage I only recommend this if the language you're learning is close to one you're familiar with (e.g. both are romance languages). Use an e-reader and set up a translation dictionary such that touching a word gives you its translation, it's less tedious than constantly switching between a paper book and the dictionary app on your phone.

⚠️ Choose your apps carefully

I don't generally use language learning apps, outside of reference apps like a translator or dictionary. If you use an app, choose one that emphasizes writing or speaking in the language over reading or listening. I recommend avoiding gamified learning apps like Duolingo, which are more incentivized to make you feel good than to make you learn. Everyone has met someone with a 500-day streak who still couldn't say a word. If you must use Duolingo, try these hacks:

  1. Use the web app, not the mobile app. A keyboard-centric interface provides better practice than tapping already-written words.
  2. Close your eyes before navigating to the next question, listen to the voice and try typing your answer without opening your eyes.
  3. Instead of taking the Spanish course in English, take the English course in Spanish. Duolingo often asks you to translate into your spoken language, which is not as useful as translating into the language you're learning.

Phase 2: Enjoyment

This phase begins once you are able to have simple conversations and read basic materials. In the European Framework, you're probably A2, approaching B1. At this point, new learning options open up that are more enjoyable and externally gratifying. The two principles of this phase are:

Do language exchanges

Exchanging languages just means speaking the language you're learning with people who understand that you're practicing, and may be practicing other languages of their own. It's not necessarily an equal time my-language-for-yours situation, but you should be willing to help others with your native language.

Every medium to large city has one or more language exchange meetups, which you can usually find on meetup.com. There are multilingual meetups as well as meetups that focus on a specific language. These events are often free or the cost of a drink. I find that the best meetups impose little structure beyond helping people find others that speak the same language. When there is an active host role, it tends to make all conversations between them and one participant at a time, while everyone else listens.

I recommend attending in-person meetups, but I learned much of my Spanish with online language exchanges. These are interesting because you can make friends with people whose background is very different from yours, and maybe one day visit them. Last I knew Tandem was a popular option, but whichever platform you choose, make sure to have conversations over video calls, not just text messages.

Listen to real podcasts

Podcasts that help you learn a language are useful but still feel like studying. At this point you can start transitioning to podcasts that cover topics you enjoy, while still helping you build your vocabulary. Many languages have podcasts of the sort "News in Slow German", which provide a good middle ground if podcasts for native speakers are still too difficult. I'll often slow podcasts down to 80% or 70% speed if I have trouble following.

Read a book

Reading a book may still be a lot of work, but you can make it more fun by choosing a genre you enjoy, or continuing a series you've started by picking up the next book in the language you're learning. You'll need to use a translation dictionary a lot, and switching to your phone every minute is tiresome, so I recommend getting an e-reader with an integrated translation dictionary (you might have to buy it), such that simply touching a word gives you its translation.

Watch movies and listen to music

I'm neither a cinephile nor do I pay attention to lyrics in music, but I'm weird. Most people will find watching movies in the language they're learning to be a great way to get their ears used to natural uses of the language. Use subtitles if you need them, but first try putting both the audio and subtitles in the language you're learning. If you keep the audio or subtitles in a language you know, make sure it's only for support and you're paying attention to the foreign language content first.

Travel!

Traveling is the ultimate way to put your language learning into practice, but make sure to structure your trip to maximize your opportunities of speaking with locals. Here's what I recommend: