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Struggled with this a lot when I started studying foreign language. I spent way too much time deciding between Turkish, Russian or Japanese and trying to justi

Struggled with this a lot when I started studying foreign language. I spent way too much time deciding between Turkish, Russian or Japanese and trying to justify my decision with arbitrary metrics of usefulness. In the end I went with Japanese as I had the most interest in the culture, but then ran into another phase of paralysis by analysis in determining the most efficient study methods. Finally bought a "recommended" textbook, instead of endlessly searching for the perfect learning resource and just got to it

downvoted 7y ago
You don't really want to waste your time trying to understand why you made a choice. If you're like me and like learning through trial and error, then try to think of it this way. When you are trying to choose between several different methods to learn something, you're probably going to pick the most efficient method that you could understand. If you've decided to study with "free" study tools or a free textbook, then you're probably going to pick the one that you have the least knowledge about.
tombert 7y ago
I'm going through this now; I've wanted to learn Esperanto for awhile now, had similar experience going through YouTube trying to find the most optimal way of learning it, looking at reviews of different methods, when in reality I would have been better off choosing virtually any of the tutorials out there and just going with it. To those curious, I've settled on Duolingo just because I realized I should just choose something, and it's free.
- jodrellblank 7y ago
  Felicxajn studojn! Check out the KernPunkto podcast for themed audio, "Esperanto Variety Show" Youtube channel for vlog audio, and Reddit /r/Esperante for text shorter than a book, and the /r/Esperanto [1] Discord ("Diskordo" in the sidebar) for text chat, and very occasional voice chat, but I suspect other tools are better for that (Amikumu?). [1] /r/Esperanto is about Esperanto the language, meta-commentary or learning, often discussed in English. /r/Esperante is any topic, where the content is in Esperanto.
  - tombert 7y ago
    I will definitely check out the podcast; at what level do you feel I'll be able to listen to it and understand a reasonable percentage of what they're saying? I've only been doing the Duolingo course for a little more than a week, and while I have enough grammar to do some very basic sentences, I'm far from fluent.
    - jodrellblank 7y ago
      I don't know how to guess, I'd been learning on and off for a long time before I started listening, and I still can't understand all of it fluently. The things I like about their podcast particularly to recommend it is that it's a lot of content - 30 minutes or more at a time and loads of episodes, of consistently good recording quality, it's two people and sometimes a guest talking quite clearly so it's very regular speed and accents to get used to, and they talk about a topic each time so there's quite a lot of repeated vocabulary during one episode, and it's all talking no cuts to music.
- agumonkey 7y ago
  Modern life distorted the notion of "most optimal", in older times I'm sure you had a much sharper sense of recognizing an opportunity and seizing every one that came.

downvoted 7y ago

You don't really want to waste your time trying to understand why you made a choice. If you're like me and like learning through trial and error, then try to think of it this way. When you are trying to choose between several different methods to learn something, you're probably going to pick the most efficient method that you could understand. If you've decided to study with "free" study tools or a free textbook, then you're probably going to pick the one that you have the least knowledge about.

tombert 7y ago

I'm going through this now; I've wanted to learn Esperanto for awhile now, had similar experience going through YouTube trying to find the most optimal way of learning it, looking at reviews of different methods, when in reality I would have been better off choosing virtually any of the tutorials out there and just going with it. To those curious, I've settled on Duolingo just because I realized I should just choose something, and it's free.

jodrellblank 7y ago
Felicxajn studojn! Check out the KernPunkto podcast for themed audio, "Esperanto Variety Show" Youtube channel for vlog audio, and Reddit /r/Esperante for text shorter than a book, and the /r/Esperanto [1] Discord ("Diskordo" in the sidebar) for text chat, and very occasional voice chat, but I suspect other tools are better for that (Amikumu?). [1] /r/Esperanto is about Esperanto the language, meta-commentary or learning, often discussed in English. /r/Esperante is any topic, where the content is in Esperanto.
- tombert 7y ago
  I will definitely check out the podcast; at what level do you feel I'll be able to listen to it and understand a reasonable percentage of what they're saying? I've only been doing the Duolingo course for a little more than a week, and while I have enough grammar to do some very basic sentences, I'm far from fluent.
  - jodrellblank 7y ago
    I don't know how to guess, I'd been learning on and off for a long time before I started listening, and I still can't understand all of it fluently. The things I like about their podcast particularly to recommend it is that it's a lot of content - 30 minutes or more at a time and loads of episodes, of consistently good recording quality, it's two people and sometimes a guest talking quite clearly so it's very regular speed and accents to get used to, and they talk about a topic each time so there's quite a lot of repeated vocabulary during one episode, and it's all talking no cuts to music.
agumonkey 7y ago
Modern life distorted the notion of "most optimal", in older times I'm sure you had a much sharper sense of recognizing an opportunity and seizing every one that came.