Well, I actually majored in Japanese for mt A.A. but have since forgotten most of it due to lack of use. I keep meaning to try and get back into it but it's tough really focusing on self-studying a language. I've also dabbled a bit in French and Esperanto (honestly more than a little upset that never took off), right now though I'm more focused on creating a language for my next comic.
I'm a native english speaker, and it took me about 4 years to go from no German to functionally fluent. I could hold any conversation no problem, deal with thing like opening a bank account, give a presentation etc... what they don't tell you is that if stop using that language, you'll lose it.
Over a decade later I'm not even sure I could even watch a movie now in German and follow along. Reading is still the easiest thing though.
But anyway, I'm now learning French, very slowly, and I find it much more difficult than German. And since my wife and daughter speak it to each other, there's no danger of me no longer coming in contact with the language.
What would you say pushed you through from no German to functionally fluent? I've read alot of things online about priorities but I work a full time job and also want to draw and work on comic projects. Even if it took me longer, I was wondering if you had any tips from your own experiences though?
I know theirs no quick way but the most fluent people I've met in a second language (from going from zero to 100 as an adult) are those who have taken intensive language courses or went to university for it.
Sherlock Holmes said "my mind rebels at stagnation," and I couldn't describe myself better than that.
In the Summer of 2001 I was on a 3 month break from university and I had nothing to do, so I pretty much just picked up my brother's old German high school textbook and started reading. Eventually I collected more books, and a dictionary. I bought a couple of computer programs but they were pretty useless. I focused only on reading at first. Eventually, I bought some proper German storybooks and after about 2 or so years, I started reading Harry Potter. I chose HP because I'd already read them in English, so at least I knew the basic story. It seemed impossible at first, but bit by bit, day by day, it started getting easier. By the end of the fourth book, I was reading through them at about 90% of my English reading speed and very rarely having to consult a dictionary.
This was back in the days of Microsoft messenger, so when I was brave enough, I logged onto the random chatrooms and just joined in conversations. Often when I slipped up and was forced to admit I was still learning, everyone jumped on me and wanted to chat. Germans are very happy when English speakers learn their language. I guess it's usually always the other way around for them. I met friends on those chatrooms that I'd later meet up with in Germany and hang out.
After 3 and a half years of that, I went to study in German for 6 months. My big moment had finally come. Mind you, I hadn't spoken a word of German to anyone at that point, but by the time I left, I had two and a half hour long conversation with a business man sitting next to me on a flight to Frankfurt, and he told me halfway through that he had no idea I wasn't German. Him telling me that was like a dream come true, four years in the making.
I guess you just have to really want it, and you have to put the time in. I mean, lunch breaks, during your commute, after work. You have to do it every day. Play to your strengths. I'm a visual learner, so I put post-its up on my wall next to my bed with verbs and articles and conjugations that I wouldn't take down until I'd memorised them front and back. But some people learn better orally, or by memorising grammar rules.
It has to become a passion and a challenge. A bit like a hobby really. Even in the darkest moments, when I'd realise how little I actually knew, despite putting years into it, I never entertained the thought of giving up on it.
Problem is, I very naively thought that once you'd learned something, it would just sit there in your brain, like books on a shelf you could access anytime you want. I made the same mistake again when I stopped playing piano regularly.
Oh, I forgot to mention that one month of good immersion is more valuable than years of learning out of a book.
I could learn and retain up to 100 new words a day while I was in Germany, and of course, you get the accent down, and the cadence, and you learn all the slang, you know, how people actually speak.
Only by being immersed in a language and a culture can you understand how the natives structure their thoughts using their language. It's very difficult to explain to someone who's only ever spoken one language, that how you think about things, and organise them in your head depends very much on the language you're 'speaking' in your mind.
Late into my stay in Germany, I was very much immersed. I spoke German, yes, but I also thought in German, and dreamt in it as well.
I think you'd have to be one of those polyglot geniuses to get to that state without surrounding yourself with speakers of the language you're trying to learn.
English is my first language (although I often fail at speaking it oops). I'm learning Japanese at school so I know enough to be able to survive in Japan but not really enough to be able to understand a conversation. I'm also learning Latin using a website that I use in my Japanese class.
Also does Auslan (Australian Sign Language) count cause I'm learning that as well.
I live in South Korea and I've been studying Korean for 2 years. I'm a bit introverted though, that and my job requires english and not korean. So recently I've started looking up ways that will allow me to immerse myself in my day to day life that doesn't require me to be super extroverted.
My native language is Tagalog. Learned English from TV and internet(also at school, but I learned more online since no one wanted to speak English at school). Currently self-learning Japanese, but I stopped with my daily vocabs since I always forget some words. My friends recently took Japanese class so I feel like studying again since it feels great to learn a new language with friends C:
You central Europeans know so many languages. My friends here are all like, "Oh I can only speak Slovak, English, Hungarian and Russian."
ONLY?
I'm learning Slovak and I'm about B2 now. It's handy because basic phrases also work in the Czech Republic. I also could speak decent French but I haven't practiced so I can still understand but I can't speak.
When I lived in Lacoste, France for a couple months and went to several cities in the south of France I saw that alot. One of my first nights in France in Marseille I was eating at a restaurant near the airport and the waiters were so nice to me. They went through an entire list of languages asking me if I spoke anything other then English, I apologized and said I didn't. They changed my waiter to someone who spoke alittle english and I picked my meal off the menu through pictures. They were so kind! That was one of the first moments when I really felt like I needed a second language.
my first language is Indonesian also some local languages, yeah.. aparently Indonesia has more than 1000 local languages beside national language, it's pretty hard sometime, creating comic there and expect everyone gets the joke/reference.
english feel pretty easy, althought i believe i always made mistakes in grammar, even right now LOL
I've tried to study a number of languages, but I always lose interest after a while. I took Latin for 6 years (I regret not taking French in high school to this day), but I only remember fragments of it.
I took two Greek classes in college, but I quickly grew tired of it.
I tried learning French, Spanish, and Italian through some online study application, but I lost interest once real life decided to catch up with me.
I'm learning Japanese. I have been learning it for several months now, but I can hardly read yotsuba. However I bought a bunch of Japanese books from grammar to drawing so I could constantly be seeing Japanese. Just studying from textbooks is rather boring.
I want to become a mangaka so, I can't really skip out on learning Japanese to my best. This dream is super unrealistic but even if I don't make it I can just go back to making comics in the USA. I even started making 4panel manga in Japanese to practice it along with entering competitions. I learned most of my Japanese by using online tutors, wanikani, and various textbooks. I hope to be somewhat competent in Japanese in 2 years. I don't really have any tips.
Good luck on your language learning...I talk too much.
I'm learning german, spanish and esperanto on duolingo and I'm wondering if I'm already ready to add italian and or portugese
Lately I've started incorporating korean into my comic Terre et Mer, and it seems to be working pretty well, especially for key vocabulary like verbs and grammar points. Granted its much slower but the material sticks alot better.
I've also been using smaller flashcards so I don't overthink them too much, and I also recently got a workbook for Hanja (Korean using Chinese characters), as although many people don't really use it anymore I think its still really important. It might help me with the root understanding of Korean too. 
I really want Duolingo to get Korean.
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