5 things I do to overcome the intermediate plateau

[@tbenavente]

✨ Try out Soundbites and start learning REAL, natural-spoken Spanish on Jiveworld: go.jw.app/tbenavente

[@alexandrah535]

Love topic by topic fluency! For Japanese, I’ve prioritized cooking, knitting, and interior design (in that order). My grammar is an early N3 level, but I feel very confident picking up a cookbook or listening to a knitting podcast. Getting to engage in actual native content on topics I love makes it feel super worth it, as well as giving me confidence with listening or using the grammar I know so far. 😊 With this motivation, I’m confident I’ll continue to “grind” on grammar and general vocabulary because I’m bolstered by seeing my progress.

[@ducklingscap897]

I‘m also learning Japanese and somewhat around N3. Can you recommend a few resources on interior design and cooking you are consuming?

[@alexandrah535]

⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠@@ducklingscap897 Happy to! Mine are all books bought from Kinokuniya USA, which has a web store. For context, I have ~1500 words in my vocabulary, ~1000 of which are from sentence mining from books and videos, so you will need to just slog at the beginning of each new book to pick up topic specific vocabulary. I’d say it takes about 20 pages to get to the point where I can comfortably enjoy reading 2-3 pages per night (still looking up vocab). 1. 小さな部屋で広く暮らす, How to create a comfortable room and life, by Make my Room. Skip the prologue and read long sentences lightly until you can tolerate them. Lots of pictures, katakana, and repeating vocab so it is a great motivator. 2. 350g of Vegetables a day by エダジュン, easy vegetable vocab and simple instructions. 3. まちどおしくなるごはん, by まいのおやつ. Tricky vocab but not grammar (e.g. “simmer to a dripping consistency) and has illustrations for every step! A good vocab item with fun modern recipes. 4. わたしのいつものごはん by 栗原はるみ, a very well known celebrity chef in Japan. I have 3 of her books and they’re stellar. It’s fun to talk with Japanese on Tandem about and her books have taught me so much about the way modern Japanese home cooking is done. 4. 塩の料理帖, by 角田真秀. Delicious western style cooking for when your partner needs a break from Japanese food 😂 My husband’s favorite dish is the clam pasta from this!

[@lotus-dx2eq]

I'm trying to learn Japanese too, but I have to admit that after katakana and hiragana I'm stucked, I know some Kanji but grammar is a way to difficult to me at this moment. How did you study?

[@alexandrah535]

@@lotus-dx2eqI’m happy to share my experience, but I’m not very far along in the journey and you’re probably best getting advice from someone more experienced 😊 A big part of it was getting to the point where I was willing to make the commitment. I tried learning Japanese on and off since I was 14, never getting past an N5 level. When I hit 29, I decided I was willing to put in the time and effort to potentially not see serious results until my 40s. That’s enabled me to try without expectations and I’ve been pleasantly surprised at my progress. I started again by downloading a deck of 500 N5 words with sentences and writing the sentences out every time a card came up. I looked up grammar structures I didn’t know and rewrote the sentence with other words from the deck using the same grammar structures until they “clicked” and felt natural. I currently: -do 1 hour of Anki flash cards every day (I did 500 basic vocab words in sentences, then sentence mined another 1k while also doing the 2k deck and an N4 grammar deck). Every card in any of these decks is a sentence, so this is effectively just out-of-context sentence reading. -I do 30 minutes of Kanji/vocab study using the Kanji app. I want to be able to comfortably produce/write Kanji, not just recognize, and I find encountering vocab again here helps it built out its neural network in my mind. -I read from a native level adult book for an hour every night. When I read, I write out the sentences as I go, which is motivating and interesting and makes me go slower so I don’t get frustrated. I currently have a 90-95% comprehension rate (I calculated it) on the above interior design book -I listen to native Japanese podcasts (not learning ones) for 2+ hours every day while I walk the dog, do dishes, go to the store, or drive anywhere. At first, I was only able to pick out a word here or there. Now, I can follow whole conversations or get the gist of more complex topics. -I watch ~1 hour of subtitled video content, either a native KZbin video or a dubbed tv show. I don’t stop to look up words unless it comes up multiple times and confusing me. I’m not a big anime fan. -Once a week, I read a chapter of Complete Japanese Grammar and upload all the example sentences into my Anki sentence mining deck. I’m almost done with this book and it gets you to a low N3 level. So that means I am passively or actively coming into contact with 4.5+ hours of Japanese every day, 1.5 of which is study. My goal is to be able to read academic or standard material in my preferred subjects fluently by the time I’m 40 (I turn 30 in a month). I’d say I’m on track of my goal to get to ~N1 by 35-38 and be able to tackle very difficult reading materials in my late 30s. My program has been focused on deeply learning words and grammar structures in a myriad of contexts from the beginning so I feel very confident with them before I move on. I haven’t worked on speaking at all. I’m sharing this because I think every learning plan has to work towards your goals, and I’ve been so excited to read native books (my eventual goal!!) from an early stage, so I look forward to sitting down with a book and a dictionary every night. Anime isn’t my goal, so I don’t watch anime. I have a high tolerance for sitting through months of unintelligible Japanese podcasts to pick out a word or two, but it’s paid off with being comfortable now listening to full speed Japanese. If I wanted to live or work in Japan anytime soon, I’d need to work on speaking much earlier, and that would be exciting for me. I hope this giant essay is helpful in some way to you. The reality is that there is no easy path to learning Japanese, just like there isn’t an easy path for Japanese folks learning English. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t fun along the way. 😊 Edit: I’ve learned Spanish, German, and Finnish (my father tongue) to a B1 level before, which may have affected my experience learning another language. I’m not currently studying any of them and have no plans to.

[@jsigns5899]

That's a great strategy, I've started trying it with Slovenian! Good studies to you

[@RachelB.BookReferences]

I really need to step up my Spanish game! I started my first full-length book (middle grade) and that has proven to be a bit above my reading level, which was discouraging at first. I've been taking way too long to get through it, and I don't want to start a new book until I finish, so that's my current goal: Finish the book by the end of the year!

[@jiveworldapp]

try one of our stories for free - our method might really help you brush up on your Spanish

[@alexandralucianabella]

Glad to see you back on KZbin 😊

[@insimplerussian]

Another amazing video! Radio Ambulante is what keeps my Spanish alive while I'm focusing on other languages. Love it!

[@jiveworldapp]

we love to hear it!

[@kejeso8736]

Your videos are so aesthetic, it makes me wanna study.

[@diederdas27]

I completely agree

[@ducklingscap897]

I‘m completely stuck in the intermediate pleateau in Japanese. Which unfortunately makes me demotivated to do more (because it feels like nothings gonna change) so I do less which means I see even less results… well it’s a spiral. So recently I just tried to focus on consuming content in Japanese in hopes of getting motivated again. Kanji is a real struggle for me though. I do consistently learn Kanji and I know over a thousand… and yet I can’t read a book without having to look up words constantly because I don’t know kanji because a thousand isn’t all that much unfortunately. Sometimes I wish I was learning a language with a familiar writing system. All this time I‘m investing in learning to read Kanji could be used to learn grammar 😅 but I do love Japanese and want to become better at it. Maybe I‘ll try one of those challenges.

[@Makino120]

Have you tried reading while listening to the audiobook? I've been doing this with 世界から猫が消えたなら, and it's been way more fun than just struggling with each kanji I don't know. Kanji is my biggest hurdle as well, but my vocab and grammar are pretty good, so this way I don't waste time by looking up kanji and just pick them up through context and audio because I usually know what the the word means, just not the kanji. It's also really satisfying to understand 90% of the book without wasting time on dictionaries and note taking haha

[@11Meirzhan]

Thank you so much for sharing tips on how to overcome the intermediate plateau. I find them very helpful. I will try to incorporate them in my daily routine. For now, my priority is English. Keep sharing, please! You are a source of inspiration to me. Focusing on culture, I think, is very beneficial. It makes us immerse in the target language even more.

[@Alex-th7xz]

Татьяна, вы вернулись! Отличное видео. Не пропадайте надолго.

[@peggychang4136]

I think I am also on the plateau in my Thai. I feel I have done everything about it and nothing interest me anymore. I think I am not in depression because I am still feel happy when I take French, painting class. So I back to my basic class in Thai which start with alphats. I feel I become happier. First of all, the classmates are new. Secondly, there can be more game activity in basic class, not just article reading, news listening. Even different topic, these topics are heavy. Even in my mother language, I am not interested in these more difficult topics either. I realized that I might be in the platau period too. It happened unplanned, I just tried to get rid of this unhappy feeling. I do not feel waste of time to back to the basic. Contrary I feel plateau is a hard time. And I plan not to go back to advanced class anymore, in stead of staying in basic. And I do not find that my degree declines, opposite, I take back some basic words that I forget because I take too much time on infrequent words. I hope what I think of work or anyone tried the some way who can give some advice.

[@yavoth5850]

I hope this is not the last we will ever see of you, but that you are coming back to making videos soon!

[@AndreThebobs]

Hello Tanya! I'm a Brazilian with a passion for culture and learning languages. I've just discovered your channel and I'll be following you from now on, as I love your tips and experiences. I don't speak any language apart from Portuguese. But I hope to reverse this scenario with your tips. Thank you so much!

[@sofiar611]

i’ve felt so stuck in the intermediate plateau for french for a while now, and i found this video so helpful! i really like the idea of focusing on different topics and following challenges as a way to feel like you’re making progress. thank you for the advice! also, i always love the editing in your videos :)

[@carolinebenforado]

Tanya, this is excellent. I love the idea of a language challenge, much better than just plugging along in the same book. You are such an inspiration!

[@Fulanito163]

Los libros de García Marquez a veces son difíciles de entender. Sobre todo El otoño del patriarca que no tiene muchos signos de puntuación y varía de primera a tercera persona constantemente. Además de que utiliza palabras que en la vida cotidiana jamás usamos.

[@antoniromerocosta5834]

Hola Tanya, ¿Qué tal? Me llamo Toni y soy de Valencia 🇪🇦 Solamente quería agradecerte por haber subido un contenido tan interesante que está ayudando a muchos de mis compañeros de intercambio de idiomas a aprender español por su cuenta. Eres increíble 🤝🏻

[@yukinieve1396]

Yo hablo español nativo y me conmueve qué quieras aprender mi idioma ❤

[@outlethorizon248]

great video! I like how you talked about how sometimes lack of progress is just perceived and about switching things up

[@zenbrandon]

Hey, I just wanted to say that last year you were my favorite language channel to watch. Every upload was a huge motivation, and I made so much progress in my Japanese from just being inspired by your videos. Whether you come back to KZbin or not, I just wanted to say thank you for all your hard work!

[@pinay_and_languages]

Thank you, Tanya, for these ideas!!

[@SzczeryPoliglota]

Podobała mi się twoja przemowa. Troszkę odświeżyła mi umysł i zainspirowała mnie do poznawania kultury (o czym mówiłaś w punkcie 1.) ;)

[@TheLaserPete]

I love these ideas and I am excited about the cool Spanish resources you shared. I am not ready to start yet because I am focusing on Italian and Japanese but in a couple of years I definitely want to start learning Spanish. Thank you!

[@annadeptua3225]

I have this Grammar book to Spanish too, is awesome! For me for the best at the moment is more focus on input - listening more as I can. English I have learning on KZbin also your channel, and Spanish I have been learning on Duolingo app. In my country have a bit difficulties to Spasnish book. I don't know this Spanish Radio. Maybe therefore becasue I 'm looking only free materials to learning. I hate the feeling when I read something on spanish and I don't know any vocabulary, but I think that I made a huge progress of it.

[@jiveworldapp]

try one of our free stories and see if the Jiveworld Method helps with your Spanish

[@kvcsnikol]

loving your ideas, they resonate with my learning ways very much! i learn japanese as the main language, and started learning chinese kind of as a refreshment/hobby. i also would like to deepen my english knowledge, because it has shrinked significantly since i only consume materials in the language without any output. thank you for the tips, and wishing success for your learning! :)

[@LeroyJenkinsya]

Идея для Patreon: добавлять туда подборки твоих любимых песен/плейлистов по разным языкам. Недавно очень удивилась, когда обнаружила у себя в плейлисте песню на греческом:) вспомнила, что взяла ее у тебя из инстаграма.

[@carolfsanisme]

I found your channel as I'm studying Italian, but then you made me realize that I'm always studying English. When I started to learn how to bake, I was using mostly English resources and for a while I couldn't tell or explain what I was doing in portuguese (my mother language) Now I struggle explaining about ADHD in portuguese as I rarely find new info about it in brasil, most are in american papers. I got too much time stuck in beginner to intermediate plateau in Italian, now I'm a bit more confident in exploring media. And I took too long to accept that I'm fluent in English, I'm just "rusted" on my speaking lol

[@sheeliekittie9298]

Hi Tanya, I wanted to ask you again I know its a silly question...but CAN we really still call ourselves a love of languages, can we STILL be so called linguaphiles or polyglots. EVEN if we don't talk to others. I wil be honest I don't really like people LOL but I love languages and reading ABOUT languages if it makes sense? would love your thoughts on this.

[@Jadita_byangels]

Your video came just on time! ❤ Thank you so much.

[@thebritishenglishteacher]

I feel like my spoken German has hardly improved this year, despite putting lots of effort in. My listening is definitely better, I can now watch KZbin videos on familiar topics and understand most of them, but I wouldn’t be able to speak about those topics by myself.

[@imtrying-_-3431]

Hey have you tried recording yourself speaking? Perhaps that could help. It’s worked really well for me at least.

[@thebritishenglishteacher]

That’s a good idea, thanks. I’ve recorded plenty of videos, but none where I speak German!

[@herpyderpy4366]

What app and tablet are you using at 5:33 to read an article and highlight directly onto the tablet (and seemingly for general notetaking later on, like 9:07)? Dumb question I feel, but I've always been a pen & paper kind of learner-that seems extremely useful though! Think I'll look into some sort of tablet like this to bolster my routine.

[@gaublys00100]

Thank you for the advice ! Really helpful ! :)

[@xhyejini]

this is my situation and funnily enough the perfect timing

[@dream_plaza]

Good to see a new video from you I'm not completely at the intermediate level for the languages I'm learning but I do agree about the value in learning vocab by topics that interest you or pertain to your life. I'm also learning Spanish very lightly on the side while I focus on other languages; the app you mentioned sounded really useful, I'll have to take a look. Wish some of the other languages I'm learning had that kind of app

[@jiveworldapp]

our method is best for intermediate and advanced Spanish learners who already have the basics of vocab. try one of our stories for free and see if it'll be useful as you side chat Spanish

[@HanaGabrielleBidon]

I feel the same way about my French. I really want to get to the point where I want to get as fluent in French as I am in my English.

[@elinahakelberg4208]

I relate to this sooo much!! How is your French studying going?

[@HanaGabrielleBidon]

@elinahakelberg4208 I'm at an intermediate level, and I've been struggling to make the jump from content intended for French language learners to content for native French speakers.

[@megangardner_science_and_art]

Looking forward to your next language video 😍

[@teresita.lozada]

That is what is happening with my French. Thank you for your tips!.

[@madvanbrussel871]

I have that for years with english and Dutch ! Now I have and I want to get that C1 level for pro reasons and personal reasons

[@jadwiga8759]

I love the idea of topical fluency

[@endouerick7519]

I'm stuck at listening and was wondering if watching stuff with subtitles improve listening ? I mean I watch KZbin without subtitles but when it comes to tv shows and movies I still need them. Do you think if I continue watching with subs I will eventually get my listening skills to a high level ? Btw could you make a video on how to better listening skills?

[@MarleyOnThaBluff]

Watch a video once on 0.75x speed with subtitles then rewatch again without subtitles on normal speed. Watch that same video over and over until the words become clear

[@LeafHuntress]

Do you mean subtitles in your native language or in your target language? Personally i use subtitles in my native language if i'm tired & just want to have some content in my target language without effort. I don't count this as learning time. Although it still could inform me of the cultural background of the country, especially with documentaries. For learning i first used subtitles in my target language under the film in that language. Or reading the transcripts along with their podcasts. I've since graduated to listening to podcasts without needing to have the text there. I mostly do this with whole films, utube videos & podcasts in areas that interest me, which probably means i have gaps in my knowledge that i'm not aware of yet. On the other hand, i'm much more likely to engage with these topics than with F1 racing for instance, so over al i think it's a win. Others advocate for the reverse method. First watch something without subtitles & see how much you get from it. Then watch it again with subtitles in the target language & see if you get more. Then watch it again with subtitles in your own language to check yourself if you got everything. This works extremely well with short & difficult/ above your level content. But you have to be able to let it be a bit repetitive. I hope my explanation was clear. Good luck.

[@endouerick7519]

@@LeafHuntress I mean target language subtitles

[@magicGerman]

Ask yourself: Why do I need the subtitles? Do people speak to fast? Decrease the speed and see, if that works. Don't you understand the accent? Subtitles might help. --- In any case: After watching the show or movie with help (slower / subtitle), also watch it without the help. Otherwise, you get stuck - at least for longer than necessary.

[@JuanMoreno-wo5yb]

@@endouerick7519 You can open up the transcript (subtitles) separate and just read the subtitles without watching the video; then play the video without the subtitles. Doing two things at the same time when you’re not familiar with all the terms (words) can be a challenge for some like me ❤

[@Disney-Esperanto_Revanto]

Great video! But I'd like to see how you study polish, so why don't you make a video for it?

[@МарияПолушина-ж7т]

Muchas gracias por tu video! Puedes decirme por favor que libros de cultura (he notado Machado y tenistas) has mostrado en este vídeo?

[@Shiggysho]

solid advice!

[@FedericaPignataro]

Is there something similar for English?

[@yowww8193]

muchísimas gracias 😊

[@jenniferalmodovar2500]

I feel the same with the English language.

[@mozart0727]

Saludos de Colombia

[@davidpardocossio8995]

Me encantan tus videos :) Acabo de descubrirte. ¿Qué materiales usas/has usado para coreano y japonés? ¿Tienes algún sitio web en el que hayas listado todos tus materiales? ¿Estudias todas tus lenguas a la vez? Por cierto: existen en el mundo del ELE algunos libros introductorios, diseñados para estudiantes, sobre las culturas (muy en general) de España e Hispanoamérica. Dime si quieres que te dé las referencias :) También pueden servirte como guía las preguntas (para España, no sé si existen para otros países) del examen socio-cultural para obtener la nacionalidad.

[@AlatarielMeneldur]

Te admiro! ❤ Mi español sólo se deteriora, visto que ya no lo uso desde mis estudios en la universidad. :-( Busco contenido español! Algunas recomendaciones de canales interesantes en KZbin?

[@Fulanito163]

Eso depende de qué tipo de cosas te gustan. Hay mucho contenido en español.

[@AlatarielMeneldur]

@@Fulanito163 Me gustan diferentes tipos de videos. Vídeos sobre el desarrollo personal, la neurodivergencia, el arte visual,...

[@imtrying-_-3431]

Tengo un chingón de canales para recomendar. Me gustaría compartir todos pero aquí están algunos: * El Mundo de Andi - mexicana que habla de chismes * Hablamos de la vida - animación del salud mental * Alejandra pls - arte * Andymation en Español - arte de los flipbooks * Conversaciones con el Reflejo Podcast - desarrollo personal * Casi Creativo - animación de comedia * JuegaGerman - si te gusta gaming, es de Perú (creo) * Luisito Comunica - vlogs sobre lugares del mundo * Ricardo Alcatraz - mexicano que habla de los tontos del internet, mucho slang

[@lilacfields]

what is the textbook you were using for spanish on your ipad?

[@zoology6572]

Hello! Can you please post a video based on Greek resources that you use?

[@tbenavente]

Hi, I already have one, it's one of my most recent uploads

[@ginsan3475]

lately i have been thinking the same about my english ,i really feel stuck at intermediate level .

[@isaacmonterrosa4657]

Which is your favorite language?

[@czaronero]

do you still have a speakly 1 month free link?

[@tbenavente]

I think they disabled affiliate links :(

[@ambarosaky4916]

tu vida sera distinta ahora que conoces a chayanne

[@greyf4636]

I have that problem with English. 😊Right now.