Four Ways to Approach Learning a Language

If you’re like me, you’ve probably tried learning a language at some point but didn’t get the results you wanted. You may have hit a plateau or you may have lost motivation all together. If that’s you, don’t worry, this is a pretty common experience. While there are multiple possible reasons for this, a common one is using an approach or method that doesn’t work for you.

My goal with this article is to highlight a few general approaches I’ve come across, weigh some of the pros and cons of each, and hopefully give you some clarity on which one might be best for you.

With that, let’s take a look at the four approaches.

1. Language Learning Apps

Ah yes, the language learning app.

The rise of language learning apps like Duolingo and others has made trying to learn a language accessible to nearly anyone. In fact, I’m willing to bet you’ve tried one already.

Benefits

One benefit of language learning apps is that they’re highly approachable. To get started, you just need a smartphone, and maybe 10-20 minutes of time. Lessons are usually broken down into bite sized chunks, and all the material is preset for you. There’s very little, if any, planning required on your end. You just need to show up and do the lessons.

Another benefit is you can learn independently — it’s just you and the app. Sure, you’ll eventually want to use the language with other people, but it’s nice to not have to depend on someone else in order to learn. The same can’t be said for some of the other approaches we’ll look at.

Drawbacks

The biggest drawback of language learning apps is that they can only take you so far. Reading and translating sentences is helpful in building a foundation, but eventually, you’ll need to start engaging with more advanced activities like reading, writing, and speaking about whole topics.

That said, I think it’s totally possible for language learning apps to provide more advanced exercises, like reading short stories or talking about simple subjects. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if they add features like this in the future. Until they do, though, you’ll have to find opportunities to do that on your own.

Another downside is you’re generally at the mercy of the preset curriculum. You likely have to follow a learning path, and you may or may not be able to add custom material that’s relevant to you. In other words, you might be stuck learning about things you may not need.

Recommendation

Language learning apps are a great way to get started, especially if you’re new to language learning or have limited time during the day. For the time being, just know that you’ll need to find other outlets to engage in key activities of reading, listening, and speaking. Otherwise, you’ll forever be translating bite-sized pieces.

If you’re looking for ones to try, I’ve mostly used Duolingo and Memrise, but have also tried Mondly, Busuu, Babbel, and Drops (there are also plenty of others not mentioned here).

If you're curious, just try them for yourself and see which one you like the most.

2. Language Hacking

The second approach we’ll look at is what I’ll refer to as language hacking. This is kind of a catch all for any kind of self-made approach, but the common values seems to be speed, efficiency, and experimentation.

Common activities typically include using memorization tools like Anki or ruthlessly prioritizing material deemed relevant to the learner.

You’ll generally see people promoting these self-made approaches online (including here 😁). Two examples that I encountered early on were Gabriel Wyner of Fluent Forever and Benny Lewis of Fluent in 3 Months.

Benefits

The main benefit of language hacking is customization and personalization. You get to learn what you want to learn, how you want to learn.

Like language learning apps, the techniques involved often don’t require having native speakers, so you’re not necessarily dependent on someone else for your learning.

In that sense, this approach is highly independent.

Drawbacks

In terms of drawback, you may ironically find yourself wasting more time than you would otherwise. It’s very easy to go down the rabbit hole of refining your system that you spend more time tinkering, strategizing, and organizing than you do actually learning.

An example from my own journey is my experience making flashcards. Early on I spent a lot of time making really thorough flash cards that included things like audio, images, and example sentences. Over time, I realized most of my available time was spent creating and reviewing cards, and trying to find faster ways to make them.

These days, I try to make my flashcards as simple as possible, and try to treat them as a refresher. They’re helpful, but they come second to other activities like writing or language exchanges with native speakers.

All that to say, in the pursuit of maximum impact, you may end up spending time more time strategizing than you do actually learning.

Recommendation

If you’re someone who likes productivity, experimentation, and independent study, this is like the approach for you. It offers the freedom to pick and choose from any of these approaches, but just be careful you don’t waste too much time trying to create the “perfect” system.

3. TPRS

Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling (TPRS) is an approach that has been around since the 1980s, and the focus is on what you might expect — reading and storytelling.

This approach is endorsed by people like linguistic researcher Stephen Krashen, so there's some research behind it. You can actually see Krashen demonstrating it in the video below.

The idea is that, among all the different language learning activities you can do, reading and storytelling (a mixture of listening, speaking, and answering simple questions about a story) are the most beneficial.

A caveat though, is that the material must be what is referred to as comprehensible input, or input that you can reasonable understand. In other words, it’s not simply about reading or engaging with anything you can find. You need material that’s on your level.

Finding reading material can vary depending on the language you’re learning (more popular languages have more material), but this can be done pretty independently.

For the storytelling part of TPRS, it’s typically done in a classroom setting with an instructor. However, there is a way you can do this without being a part of a class. Instead of an instructor, you’ll need to get yourself a language partner who natively speaks your target language.

If you want to try it on your own, I’d suggest watching this video by Jeff Brown, a Spanish teacher in California. The video is kind of long (and kind of cheesy at times), but it shows how you can use this approach on your own.

In addition to that, it also highlights some interesting points about this approach, which I’ve listed below.

1. Learn with a language partner. The comprehensible input comes from a native speaker, so you know it’s going to be authentic.
2. Lessons should be 90% in your target language. This helps create an immersive experience and get’s you using what you know as soon as possible.
3. Don’t worry about grammar. In the video Dr. Krashen says that studying grammar is unhelpful. The reasoning is that your brain goes into translation mode instead of comprehension mode.
4. Don’t worry about mistakes. The reasoning is you can’t remember corrections to your mistakes, but over time, with enough comprehensible input, you’ll overcome them naturally.

Benefits

With all of this in mind, to me, the biggest benefit of this approach is how simple it is. To be sure, it requires some understanding of how to utilize storytelling with a language partner, but not having to worry about grammar, making mistakes, or a sophisticated review structure is a huge win.

Another benefit is all the time you’re spending with a native speaker. You’re able to have dynamic interactions on a regular basis, which will help put you far ahead of other approaches.

Drawbacks

That said, the main drawback is the time and scheduling required to meet with language partners. You’re more or less dependent on someone else, so that can make things difficult, especially if you wanted to practice everyday.

Recommendation

I would recommend this approach to anyone who loves spending time with people and doesn’t want to be bothered with tedious activities like study and review. If you learn best by doing, this is the way to go.

If you do choose this approach, you can find native speakers to partner with on apps like iTalki, HelloTalk, or Tandem. You can also find beginner friendly reading material on the app, LingQ.

4. GPA

The last approach is what’s called the Growing Participator Approach (GPA), and it’s the most comprehensive of all the approaches listed here. It’s designed for people who want to go all-in on not just speaking a new language, but also living in a new culture.

The creators of GPA suggest that the approach is not just about language, but about human interaction and culture. They suggest that you’re not just learning a language, but you’re growing as a participator in another culture — hence the name.

There are 6 phases to the approach, and each phase has suggested activities and milestones. A key feature is the use of a language nurturer (their term for a native language partner). Your language nurturer serves as your guide through not only the language, but daily activities and experiences in your new culture. So the goal is not just to speak the language, but to understand and enter into the world of another culture.

Practically, the phases try to simulate what it’s like to grow up learning a language. For example, at the very beginning your language nurturer will point to objects and name them in your target language. However, you don’t say or repeat back anything. Your job is just to listen. This is supposed to simulate how parents talk to their babies. You’re learning to hear the sounds before you start trying to replicate them.

Benefits

You can look more into the details on their site, but to me, the biggest benefit is how immersive it is. By going deep into the language and the culture, you’re getting a much richer experience than if you focus just on the language.

You’re also given a wide variety of exercises and materials to work with, as well as a progression of phases and milestones to see where you’re at.

Drawbacks

The drawbacks for this approach are that it is pretty intensive. It seems to be made for people who are already living in their target culture and are committing a significant amount of their time to learning. In other words, it’s not for casual learners.

Like TPRS, it’s heavily dependent on finding a good language nurturer. This needs to be someone who’s willing to teach you according to the approach, and is willing to help you discover the culture as well as the language.

Finally, completing the 6 phases can take a lot of time (anywhere from 18-24 months). However, I would argue that this amount of time is necessary to become highly functional in a new language, and it lines up with the Foreign Service Institute’s estimates for learning a new language.

Recommendation

That said, I’d recommend this for anyone who is serious about learning a new language, intends to live and work in a new country for several years, and doesn’t want to risk taking any shortcuts.

Conclusion

Hopefully it was helpful to see a variety of approaches and methods. In my opinion, all of these approaches can work given an adequate amount of time and consistency. Just find the one that's best for you, and keep moving forward!