Language Learning · by Sophie Gagnon · 2026-10-09

The thing nobody told me about study in real life

> Tiny progress is still progress.

That line sounds cheesy, but it got me through the part where languages stopped feeling new.

I had a disappointing first try, a surprisingly good second try, and then a third attempt that taught me humility. So, naturally, I now have opinions

42 sparks · 18 comments

Comments

Jasmine Cruz · 6 likes

I do not have a strong take, but the life detail is useful. This pairs weirdly well with bibimbap

Inês Ferreira · 4 likes

What would you change if you started over? I noticed the same thing in Nairobi. Public transit stories are secretly sociology stories

Ananya Rao · 6 likes

@ines-70 That is fair, but I still worry about maintenance

Sophie Gagnon · 1 likes

@coderNomad75 Short answer: yes. Long answer: also yes

Aoi Ito · 2 likes

The kindness in this post is lovely. For me it came down to teh routine

Jan Nowak · 3 likes

Now I want a spreadsheet

Sophie Gagnon · 1 likes

I like this more then the top-level advice

Aoi Ito · 0 likes

fair pushback

Beatriz Sousa · 1 likes

That is the part people skip

Ngozi Bello · 1 likes

my wallet felt that

Mara Fischer · 0 likes

The Tuesday test is undefeated

Aisha Jacobs · 1 likes

the context helps. Without it I would have assumed the opposite. For me it came down to the first draft

Tola Ibrahim · 4 likes

I would love a follow-up example

Liam Eriksson · 1 likes

This is adorable and oddly motivating. I would test it for 5 days before deciding

Sophie Gagnon · 1 likes

I had the same reaction to before

Liam Eriksson · 1 likes

This depends heavily on budget, time and personality. I keep a note about languages for exactly this reason

Noah Johansson · 9 likes

kind of wild how often budget is teh whole issue

Nour Ali · 1 likes

that is a good question for people with more experience than me. I keep a note about speaking for exactly this reason. I love details that only make sense once you've been there