Just going to study some Swedish...

OK I'm always studying Swedish but now I'll be doing some more. Like a lot more. I've already read 5 Swedish books in the last 18 days and I plan to read another 5 in the next 13 days.
I am taking a whole month off everything that I call social media (month starts on the 3rd, ends on the 2nd of March).
Ways to help me make better language learning videos:
PATREON: Get extra videos which explain my thoughts on specific things (you ask the questions), articles and interviews with successful language learners:
www.patreon.com/user?u=383206...
I recently reviewed an app that I reeeeeally like called Speakly. Get 40% off any premium membership and help me make better videos by using the appropriate code (6 months or more include all languages no matter which you choose, though you still need to use the appropriate code to the language you click on):
ENGLISH: FNS1
SPANISH: FNS2
FRENCH: FNS3
GERMAN: FNS4
ITALIAN: FNS5
RUSSIAN: FNS6
ESTONIAN: FNS7
FINNISH: FNS8
Find Speakly for ANDROID here:
play.google.com/store/apps/de...
Speakly for APPLE here:
apps.apple.com/ee/app/speakly...
The native speaker tutoring shown in my videos is through iTalki. You can get $10 credit applied to your account when you make your first purchase, or you can just check it out for free using this link, which also helps me out by allowing me to take more language lessons:
www.italki.com/i/CHfEEb?hl=en-us
Do you like foreign language TV shows and movies? Check out the channel on which I review ONLY those shows:
/ @lamontmcleod2
Subscribe for more awesome language learning content: / @daysandwords
Language learning videos, tips and techniques!
• How To Learn Languages
OK if you've reached the end of the description then you obviously need something to do. Trivia: What was the first foreign language I ever studied? (You might want to say "answer to the trivia in the description:___" because otherwise you'll just look like you're randomly naming a language.)

[@blankb.2277]

been thinking abt doing a "only use my german KZbin acct for a week" challange and then you come out with this lol. Thanks for the video. You're always very inspirational.

[@Flauschbally]

That is a great idea 🤩I have to try this - maybe in March.

[@francisrommelligsay8218]

ohh samee haha. Though i got my inspiration from a fellow language learner too who wanted to learn korean and he has his games and laptop all in korean. Since i had a personal downside with doing that in german where i wasnt really giving it my all im not in a stage where i wanted to be right now, so idk. somehow i found the resolution to promise myself that in korean this time i would go all the way. Short story sum. Haha everythings in korean now yey. Not really related just wanted to share and remind myself as well, To find new ways to get closer to my targets. i hope yourable to do it as well with german, viele spaß ^-^ (language progress would be like 11 months by this month now, I tried doing it as well in the beginning but it didnt really help me out or anything. way better in like intermediate level hayst)

[@ghenulo]

You have a separate German KZbin account? I only have one account and I get a mixture of recommendations (some in English, some in German, a few here and there in other languages). I get some videos about learning English; eh, my English might be terrible (I am Appalachian, after all), but I'm not interested in improving it.

[@ghenulo]

@@francisrommelligsay8218 It shouldn't be difficult. I have German, Esperanto, and Spanish locales installed, and have the gettext environment variables set up appropriately. It might be interesting to learn how to hack ROMs to translate them; I saw a Hungarian translation of Super Mario Bros 2 once, but I don't understand Hungarian. (Though, I always played the English versions, so it might break the nostalgia to play in other languages.)

[@francisrommelligsay8218]

@@ghenulo haha thats easy for you to say bro xD literally european languages. But yeah im playing genshin, and lkke brawl stars in it

[@Evan12346]

I am sitting here agreeing with you... then realizing I'm not studying French. Damn. Another great post Lamont.

[@Flauschbally]

Soooooo true. Honestly. We have so little time and even the little time we waste still too much on social media. I love your statement. Enjoy your extra input of Swedish. Looking forward to seeing you again.... 🙋🏼‍♀️

[@ghenulo]

I used to friend people who spoke my target languages on Facebook, but I realized it was a mistake and unfriended everyone I don't know IRL. Unfortunately, that means my brother is the only one who ever says anything remotely interesting.

[@haseo700]

I hear you on the distraction / procrastination. I have an app (FocusMe) on my computer and phone that blocks me and puts time limits on certain apps or websites. When I put a full block I learn a lot! Btw, I respect your Matrix screen saver 👍🏽

[@alveek]

So Speakly sponsored you enough to make a one month break? すごい！

[@_Astrogirl_]

それね。^_^

[@retrolearnskorean3553]

I hope it helps, I dont really think about social media that much I usually just check them when I wake up and then do stuff, so it's hard for me to relate. Can't wait to see the high quality content you come up with while in your zen state.

[@DepoverS]

Good plan. I will do this with facebook (you tube is still very usefull to hear more languages).

[@run2fire]

KZbin is the only social media I use now. And I use it for language learning

[@AmericanEnglishBrent]

All right, man. Have a good month off...not that you’ll see this until it’s over...if ever. 😉

[@FrenchwithMrInnes]

Making videos can be so fun and rewarding. But then the 'social media' side of it you address can be draining. Enjoy your well earned break - it'll be so refreshing (Lamont reads in March).

[@lunaris19]

Bravo. Good for you and keep on learning.

[@Iheartneonsparkles]

excited to hear about how the month went!

[@sharonoddlyenough]

Yeahh boi, get that self care

[@sharonoddlyenough]

For me, I am 90% down to only KZbin for my social media, and that is hard for me to prune down.

[@graemep7729]

Good for you. Best of luck with your studies. Read, read, read! I hope when you find this you have found yourself happy with your progress

[@adriankwok8093]

thanks for the update! Great to hear you're adopting digital minimalism for a month!

[@redcloud4741]

I started to watch you when I started to learn language and coming back after a while, this feels very nostalgic to listen to.

[@loveingbot]

Excited for March!

[@MarieHornung]

I'll miss your videos Lamont!! See you on the flip side :)

[@Stephanie-gv8rh]

Enjoy your break!

[@michaelkobylko2969]

I got a real shock the other day when I happened to watch a Norwegian video on Facebook. It was actually a football (soccer) interview and not aimed at learners in any way. They spoke so fast! I could barely understand a word. Made me realise how far I actually have to go with Norwegian. I'm not even sure I know what to do to improve anymore. I find listening frustrating because I don't understand, but everyone says you should listen.

[@rafael7547]

"it's better done than perfect"

[@sharonoddlyenough]

It's a game of slow wins after the initial steep beginner's curve.

[@user-abuser_i_ball_was_wrote]

U'd better listen to lots of stuff u can understand without much effort. I mean LOTS OF STUFF. (If u have access to it). One more thing to improve ur listening abilities: you find a text u can understand without much effort, the audio version of that text and do the following: u listen to a sentence/phrase being pronounced and look at this phrase at the same time. Than u try to repeat that phrase aloud and in a way similar to the original track (read it aloud). It really works, take my word for it.

[@sharonoddlyenough]

Did you understand any words at all? It's fine if you didn't, or only a few. Is there a way to save the vide, so you can see it again later? I have a small library of Swedish videos that I rewatch a lot. At first they were a blur, and as I studied other material and re-watched them, they became clearer. They've become a way that I guage my progress. It's easy to be dismayed when I can't understand something, but it really helps to have something that shows how far I have come.

[@ghenulo]

Deutsche Welle has news in German spoken slowly (www.dw.com/langsamenachrichten). Maybe there's something similar for Norwegian.

[@JayeCole]

Vi ses snart! Jag hoppas att du har en bra tid bort från datorn. 🤘

[@5ar_]

I haven't studied Swedish in 4 years and I understood all of that, I really have lust to learn it now. ☺

[@Sueci]

Coolt. Ska bli kul att se hur dina språkkunskaper utvecklas under de kommande veckorna.

[@andrewjgrimm]

Apologies if you’ve described how it went elsewhere, but how was it?

[@TelllusTheGuru]

Lycka till :)

[@from_space]

What is the best way to improve speaking in a foreign language (English) in a short period of time? My comprehension of written and spoken English is good enough (I understand about 95% of educational videos without using a dictionary), but when I have to speak I have big problems finding the right words and also problems with pronunciation. In a month I will apply at the trial month of an international programming school where we'll have to work in groups, with English being the main language. So I have to make best use of my time till then. My goal is not to have perfect grammar or to be able to always find the perfect words until the beginning of March, but just to speak sufficiently good, so it will be easy enough to understand what I am trying to say and not to be lost for words that often. In your last video you said Speakly is a lot about speaking. Is it more useful for my purpose than Busuu? Can I only take the speaking exercises, without wasting my time on the ones for vocabulary or grammar in those apps? What about shadowing and italki? If italki, will partners do the job, or do I have to pay for tutors? I hope you can take the time to help me. Every advice will help me A LOT!

[@ghenulo]

I don't know why you'd want to learn English. Maybe it's because I'm a native speaker, but I can't imagine anything interesting about it; the phonological and orthographic irregularities are more annoying than interesting.

[@NataliaNNS]

@@ghenulo speaking English brings you a ton of opportunities in terms of career and study, especially if you’re not from an English speaking country. I’d say it’s pretty obvious why anyone would want to learn it or would feel like they have to speak it (well) in order to get the life they want, and it’s kind of condescending to ask someone that.

[@NataliaNNS]

If you have the cash, go for the tutors or the professional teachers. If you have enough time, do both that and partners. No matter how well meaning your partner is, they’re not trained to identify mistakes and explain them to you in a way that makes sense. If you need to improve your speaking I think the best option is to go for someone who’s qualified for that. I also recommend recording yourself while you speak English, since most of the times you can notice your own mistakes afterwards, and it just makes it easier to make up sentences on the spot.

[@AnkitSingh-cd7tw]

Just came here to say that DARK is the best Netflix show ever made and definitely the top 5 of the best shows of all time

[@ThisIsNotInUseOkay]

Social media communities about being productive and learning, while very helpful, are also a bit of a paradox. Watch these videos to help learn more languages! Be in the community! Make comments! Make videos! Talk about whatever it is (productivity, books, language learning, playing piano, etc.). But all this social media time is taking away from the time you COULD be learning a language, reading books, etc. In the end, the answer is balance and there is always going to be a place online for discussing where you are at in whatever hobby/habit/thing and it’s a good thing to share our experiences online! But there is always the question... if you just dropped the online consumption/activity... how much better would you be in that habit/hobby, etc.? ... Good luck with your month away! Cuz KZbin addiction is a real thing. Haha. Not saying you are addicted, but I definitely feel like I am sometimes. I have also been thinking about quitting English KZbin for a while to focus on only watching KZbin in the languages I’m learning. But going cold turkey and quitting all of it is probably a better idea, just to see what life is like without KZbin... I’ll think about it. After I watch a few more videos 😂

[@EasyFinnish]

Vi ses!

[@_Astrogirl_]

Ok good bye have a nice break 😁❤️

[@questionsayer]

Vi ses någon annan gång

[@unicornsification]

ses sen!

[@monique4879]

If he'd worn all plain black this would have been aesthetics

[@Major_Winkee]

[@ghenulo]

Odd. Social media is the only place where I can produce anything in another language.

[@Driesipops]

same lol

[@tsarwojciech6063]

ByE

[@maniravandi5983]

Give yabla a try

[@Herodollus]

Is there any way to contact you outside of youtube? As someone who has learned languages to a fluent level, i will tell you the secret bro. Plus im swedish!

[@ghenulo]

It must be nice. The only one I've ever managed to learn to that degree is Esperanto. My German comprehension isn't half bad, but juggling with adjective declensions makes it really hard to produce.

[@ChristopherBonis]

Lamont responded to my comment 21 hours ago. 🤨

[@michaelevan9184]

Social media is a drug....and equivalent to being addictive to gambling...it’s...not..good

[@ghenulo]

I hope not. People say that people get addicted to the likes and replies, but personally, I get really nervous reading replies. I've got notifications disabled on KZbin. I've got tons of replies to read on GitHub, but my anxiety gets in the way of reading them (I have several PRs I'd like to make, but I should read the discussions of the ones I already made first; it would be nice if I could just send the PRs without having to deal with responses). I had some videos of me talking in my target languages, but I made them private (or I tried to at least), because I really don't want anyone to see or comment on them. If that's what drugs are like, I'm glad I've never done drugs.

[@pey5571]

german?

[@senorsmile]

I'm almost sure it's not French or Swedish.

[@pey5571]

@@senorsmile yeah, i remember him talking about how he learned german in high school so that’s my best guess lol

[@ghenulo]

Vielleicht ist Deutsch zu schwierig für ihn.