how to learn a language on your own | study tips 📚🌎

Hi guys, what's up? It's me, Dudy.

Today, we're gonna talk about how to learn any language on your own, and I'm gonna give you some study tips and also the methods that I'm gonna use for learning Italian because I moved to Italy and I don't know Italian yet. I am on my way to learn Italian, and I'll become fluent one day.

If you are new to this channel, you might be thinking, "Who the heck are you to give me self-study methods for language learning?" I am a so-called polyglot because I can speak four languages fluently. It's not like I can do a bit of basic conversation, but I'm fluent in all of these languages, which are Japanese, Turkish, English, and German.

Anyway, so when it comes to learning languages, I have five main tips. The first one is picking a language, obviously, that you're motivated to, that you want to learn. It's actually more important than you think because sometimes, you know, people pick a language because it's widely spoken, but it's really important that you're really motivated to learn that language. Because if you don't have fun when learning a language, I'm sorry, but it's gonna be really hard for you.

So pick a language that you're motivated to. Sometimes we don't have the privilege to pick a language that we truly motivated to; you know, sometimes you're in a situation where you have to learn a language, which really happened with me, to be honest. Other than English, I had to learn these languages in order to basically live my life in a peaceful way.

So if you don't have the privilege to pick a language that you want to learn but you still have to learn it, then make it motivating. Make it enjoyable; make the process enjoyable for you so that it won't feel like work. Because everything in life, you know, no matter what, if it's fun, it doesn't feel like work. Yes, maybe partially it will feel like work, but when you compare it to the things that you don't enjoy, if you enjoy something, it's gonna be much easier, believe me.

Let's move to step two. Step two is basically setting a goal, then forgetting it. You might think, "What? We're setting a goal and then we're forgetting it?" Why? Let me explain.

So firstly, let's talk about why is it a good idea to set a goal in the first place if we're gonna forget it. It is important to set a goal. Let's say you want to become a daily conversational level in one month, and then you think retrospectively, "How much do I need to study in order to come to that place? Is it realistic for me?" So in that way, after setting a goal and after thinking retrospectively, you can understand whether it's realistic or not for you.

So for that case, setting a goal is important. I also think for motivational purposes, setting a goal is important too because when you have a milestone, when you have a point that you want to reach, I think you can see the growth more clearly, in my opinion.

So setting a goal is important, and for that, you can use today's sponsor, Busuu's study planner. Busuu is a language learning platform which you can download for free and also purchase the premium version for additional features, but basically, you can download it for free, and there is a link down in the description below.

There is a study planner where you can set your goal and set the amount of time you're going to spend each day, and it will show you when you can reach that level of fluency. It's really important so that you won't set unrealistic goals. I'll talk about Busuu later on in more detail.

Now you're maybe thinking, "Okay, okay, it makes sense that we set goals, but then why are we forgetting about it?" Because system matters more than the goal itself. Oftentimes, we focus too much on output, but we don't really focus enough on inputs.

We can't really control the outcome that much. Yes, you might like study really hard and you gave all of your thinking, but you might still not be able to become fluent in that short amount of time, which is completely normal because everybody learns at a different pace, and some people learn it really fast, and some people learn it really slowly. So it shouldn't discourage you at all.

Therefore, after setting a goal, let's say in order to become like this level of fluency, "Oh, I see I need to study like 10 minutes or I don't know, 30 minutes a day.” Now you have the system, right? You know that you need to study 30 minutes, but you're going to forget about the fluency level that you want to reach.

The only thing you're going to focus on is that the 30 minutes of studying that you need to do each day because it's the thing that we can control. We cannot control the level of fluency that we're going to reach, but we can control how much we're gonna study each day. So we're gonna focus on that part.

But in order to know how much you're gonna study each day, you have to have this goal. Does it make sense? And when setting a goal, it's important that everybody has a different aim for learning a language. You might want to become really, you know, fluent like a native speaker or something, or you might only want to learn a language at a daily conversation level, and both of them are totally fine.

Oftentimes, when we learn a language, it kind of seems like the whole point is becoming really fluent, speaking like a native speaker, without making mistakes and stuff, but it's not everybody's goal, and that's totally fine. All of us are pretty busy, you know, so it's important how much you can fit into your schedule and how important it is for you to learn that language.

So according to those things, you can set your goal and set your inputs to reach your goal. So let's talk about my goal.

I want to reach a daily conversation level by the end of the year so that I can talk with attractive Italians, you know, I can flirt with them and stuff. So just kidding, maybe not. In order to change those situations and flirt back, maybe we should learn a bit of Italian, you know.

So the third step for learning a language on your own is to set a system that works for you. This thing actually doesn't only happen about language learning; it can happen about everything, like weight loss, studying, I don't know, financial goals. Whatever, there is no perfect study plan or there is no perfect way to do it.

There are ways that you can try, and that might work for you. The best way to figure out is to try a bunch of different ways out there, try a bunch of different study methods, and then find the one that works for you. You are a lazy ass, I know that, but don't forget to do that, okay, honey?

Okay, so the fourth step, it's actually not a fourth step; it's a fourth category, or I don't know, fourth part of the video, whatever. Let's talk about my language learning system, if you are even curious.

So when it comes to my method of learning language, I hate studying grammar. It just, it's not fun to me; I just don't love it. You know, opening a textbook, learning grammar rules, and doing practices and stuff is like a really traditional way of language learning, and I just don't like it. It's too boring for me.

So if you haven't watched one of my most popular videos, "How I Learned English by Myself for Free at Home," blah blah blah, it's like a really long title video. Basically, I learned English by watching YouTube videos and basically talking to myself.

So again, for Italian, I'm gonna use a lot of YouTube videos, movies, TV shows, podcasts, and music in order to make a great amount of input. I have also a video called "Why You Can Understand English but Can't Speak Fluently," where I was basically saying that you do too much input but don't do enough output.

So you consume a lot of stuff, but you don't really talk much. But in the beginning, when learning a language, input is crucial because if you don't have enough input, you don't have like a bank of information that you can pick words and grammar from to speak fluently, you know? So it is important to consume enough amount of your target language media.

And these days, it's like super easy, you know? You can like have a YouTube account and subscribe to your bunch of, I don't know, Italian YouTubers, and I'll watch them and pick a topic that you're interested in so that at least it will be fun.

And also, you can listen to podcasts using Spotify, or Apple Music, or whatever, the TV shows, movies, you know, Netflix, so that that language will become a part of your life. So let's say you thought about something like, "Oh, I want to drink coffee. How can I say this in Italian?" If you don't know, look it up and note it to your Notion page, like make a language Notion page or maybe a notebook, whatever.

And then write it down. You are not a techy, just buy like a paper and pen and write it down. I don't know who uses paper and pen these days other than my mom. But another thing that people often overlook is that Pinterest boards.

Actually, on Pinterest, there are so many good language boards that you can use. When I was learning German, I was crying every day. But other than that, German grammar is pretty hard in my opinion. For learning, there are so many great language boards like grammar, vocabulary, and language rule boards can be found on Pinterest. So don't forget to look on Pinterest because it's free, and you can basically download them and maybe make a wallpaper for your phone so that you will always see it.

It actually works, and I would highly, highly recommend it. You might think like, "Okay, okay, so you're gonna watch a lot of things, you're gonna listen to a lot of things, you're going to talk to yourself, and you're likely going to use a journal, but how the heck are you going to study grammar?"

It's a great question; it's such a boring process in my opinion. If you like studying grammar, I'm sorry, I'm sorry for offending you. But I don't like it. What can I do? I don't like the traditional method of learning.

So for that, I am gonna be using Busuu for learning Italian. On Busuu, there are more than ten languages where you can pick from, and there are fun grammar activities that you can choose. So rather than like opening a textbook, studying it in a boring way, I will open like the Busuu app on my phone, or my PC, or my tablet, whatever, and in my spare time, I would do a little bit of grammar activities here and there.

And since you can do it whenever—maybe you're waiting for a bus, or maybe when you're on your loo or something—you don't have an excuse to say, "I don't have time," because we always have spare time. If you're making coffee, you have three minutes, do like a Busuu grammar activity to improve your grammar.

And not only grammar, Busuu also has another feature like, you know, learning vocabularies or checking your pronunciation. Or you can even do lessons with native speakers, and after doing like homework assignments in Busuu, other people can check your homework, and you can get help with that, which is a really cool function in my opinion.

So for the grammar part, I am not going to buy any textbooks because I know that I'm not going to use it. But instead of that, I'm going to use Busuu to learn grammar. Everything you need to know about Busuu will be down in the description below, and also in the comments section.

So if you want to download the app or apps that I'm gonna include in my system, it is Notion and Anki. Let's talk about Notion first. Notion is a note-taking app, but it's more than a note-taking app. You can basically do whatever you want with Notion.

I have a couple of videos about Notion where you can watch here probably. So basically, in Notion, I will create a language learning page, and I will take notes, and I will do my journaling there too. I will also write new phrases that I learned because rather than like maybe vocabulary, there are phrases that are special to that language, you know?

It doesn't make sense when you break it down, but you just say it in that way. So those phrases and also my journaling will go to my Notion page. I will add like maybe grammar mistakes that I constantly do or homework assignments or anything I want to note about that language. I will write it down to my Notion language page.

So another app that I'm going to use is Anki. I'm going to use Anki only for learning new vocabularies. Anki is an app where you can create new flash cards. Anki will create you some sort of study routine, a spaced repetition cycle for you to learn new vocabularies.

I will use Busuu to see new vocabularies, and I will add those vocabularies to my Anki and do like a bit of flashcards every day so that I will learn new vocabularies.

Okay, so when it comes to learning a new language, the last step, the last step is creating a routine. You can maybe use all of the tools in the world, you can do all the tips, but if you don't have a routine, if you don't consistently study, you cannot really learn that language, I'm sorry.

So in order to create a routine, I already made a video about it, which I will link somewhere else. It's called "How to Get Your Life Back Together Plus Exact Action Plan." Let's talk about like three main tips from that video that can be useful for building a routine.

If you don't want to hear me talking about it, you can basically purchase a book called "Atomic Habits," which is one of my favorite books about building habits and routines, where you can purchase it and read it. I highly recommend it. There are a couple of tips that I learned from that book, and one of them is habit binding and habit stacking.

So in order to build the routine, it might be sometimes a bit hard for us to start a new thing, so you connect your desired habit with your current habit. Let's say you want to learn a language, you want to study every day, then combine it with your current habit. Let's say you drink coffee every morning, so you say, "After drinking my coffee, I'll study 10 to 30 minutes of language every day."

So you know you bind them with your current habit. Another thing important is that scheduling ahead. If you don't actively make time for your desired habits, you will end up not having time and will say, "I don't have time for learning a new language; I'm too busy."

But in reality, we procrastinate quite a lot, especially this girl. I procrastinate quite often. So if you plan ahead on Google Calendar or whatever calendar you use, you will be able to see, "Okay, from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. I need to study that language."

Just planning it even helps a bit more, in my opinion. So it's important to plan it ahead. I am gonna make a planning scheduling video; stay tuned. I know I've been saying that for over a month, but I'll make it, you guys.

I'll make it, and it's going to be a banger, so stay tuned. If you want to learn more about building habits, you can read "Atomic Habits." I'll link it down in the description below.

And thank you, Busuu, for sponsoring this video. Busuu is an amazing app; we collaborated twice before, and in the comment section, people really loved it. So don't forget to check them out; they're amazing, I'm amazing, you're amazing, and see you guys soon. Bye!

Interpreter interpreted, interpret... I can't say interpreter anyway. You are a lazy ass, I know that, but don't forget to do that, okay, honey? [Music]