For me the best way to learn any language is to use. This includes both input (movies, TV, books, etc.) and output (written and spoken communication). Grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary are useless knowledge if you don’t have some way to use them and people tend to forget knowledge they don’t need.
Learning English this way has been made fairly easy for anyone with access to the internet. In our field the vast majority of material is in English. According to Statista as of February 2025 49.5% of the language used on the internet was in English. This is followed by Spanish at 6%!
By learning the basics and filling in the gaps when you run into a word you don’t know or grammar you don’t understand is probably the best way to learn a language.
For learning new vocabulary and grammar I can recommend sentence mining. Essentially it involves extracting sentences you don’t understand from the material you consume, making it into a flashcard and regularly studying that specific sentence. Anki is probably the most popular program for this purpose.
A pothole that I’ve noticed when consuming native material is that I tend to translate the native language into my own native tongue. While this is useful to start out with, my native language and the language I’m trying to learn are almost always radically different. Making the leap from translating the language to taking the language in as it is is sure to boost both your learning and enjoyment of learning that language.
As for my language learning journey going forward, I’m very interested in studying German and Russian as well as continuing my Japanese studies and getting my Swedish to an acceptable level.
I read a lot Russian literature and I want to read it in its native form (although I am almost definitely underestimating how difficult it will be).
As for German and especially Japanese, I believe it would open a lot of new career options for me in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Japan, where the tech industry is more in Japanese than in English.
In general I enjoy learning new languages since they give me new ways to express myself that I can’t do in other languages. I also enjoy reading, so learning a new language can also give me access to the native texts of books I like or am interested in, granted that I’m fluent enough.
Besides these
practical reasons, I just find becoming more adapt at a language a
lot of fun and think languages are very beautiful.
Really enjoyed reading this! Good luck with your language-learning goals—it sounds like you're on a really cool multilingual journey!
VastaaPoistaIt is great that you have set clear goals for your language learning journey :)! You mentioned that you have learned languages mostly by using them, and I agree with that. When you actively listen and make an effort to speak the language, the words and phrases will eventually stick to you.
VastaaPoistaI have never heard about the term "Sentence mining". I find it to be oneof the best ways to learn but I didn't know it was called that. I wish you well in all of your language endeavors!
VastaaPoistaYou’ve written a thoughtful and practical reflection. I like how you focus on using the language actively and share useful tips like sentence mining. Your motivation to learn several languages for both personal and career reasons is clear and inspiring. Keep up the good work!
VastaaPoistaSentence mining sounds like a smart and efficient way to learn vocabulary in context, and I appreciate the tip about Anki.
VastaaPoista