Wow, that is very impressive! I’ve got a long way to go … Only 2 at C2 and one at around B2. Also a bit of French, I’d say A1+. Did you use Babbel for all of them? I’m really curious what it does that makes it work so much better than the other apps I’ve come in contact with. I might have to try it. :D
Fair enough. I’m happy that it works for you. I suppose maybe Babbel is the exception. My friends mostly use Duolingo and Lingoda and those are awful, judging by their progress.
Do you speak those 8 languages to a high level? C1 or C2? It’s not that I don’t believe you and I don’t mean to sound condescending, but I’ve met a lot of people who say they speak 4+ languages and then really only speak them at a A2-B1 level. That’s not nothing, but that’s not what I’m aiming for and I think not what most people are aiming for.
I want to start learning Japanese this year and I might give Babbel a try, but I’ll probably end up sticking to textbooks for grammar + Anki for vocab + podcasts/tv/games and later on books for immersion. But I think part of that is also that I don’t really want to study on my phone. Even doing Anki on it is annoying.
I know a lot of people love language learning apps, but I’d argue for a different approach: Don’t use them at all. I like learning languages a lot, and focus on fluency in one language at a time over learning just the basics in many (nothing wrong with that, just not my approach). And what really works for me has always been a mixture of textbooks, dedicated vocab studying and tons of immersion. Language learning apps are fun, but they don’t make you do the boring, hard work that actually sees results.
From my own experience: I know many people who have years-long streaks on DuoLingo and others, but actually speak very little of their target language. Meanwhile I’ve never used a language for learning Korean (Self-taught. I’ve been at it for nearly 5 years now) and I can speak to my Korean friends for hours while only having to look up words very occasionally or having them explained to me in Korean.
By all means, use Babbel or another European alternative if you are going to use them. But maybe also consider changing your approach, you might see much better results.
Well, didn’t know this. I guess I’m uninstalling EGS. I’m not using it much anyway.
Well, with such a glowing endorsement I’ll have to give it a try. I checked yesterday, though, and they don’t have Japanese, which I want to learn, and Korean, which I am almost “done” learning. So I guess it’ll have to wait until I start learning a different language.