After 3 years of hard work, I wasn't able to learn a single language

After 3 years of hard work, I wasn't able to learn a single language. This is how I was tricked into believing that I can learn language and where I went wrong. I hope this will help beginners not to make the same mistakes.<br><br>It all started when I graduated from college and decided to work remotely. I wanted to move to Spain and live there, so I needed to learn to speak Spanish. I downloaded the popular app, Duolingo, and began learning.<br><br>Duolingo's colorful and easy-to-use interface made it fun to learn to speak any language. The app was actually really good at helping me learn vocabulary. I felt pretty good at it too. I thought that learning a language would be a cakewalk after finishing 128 Duolingo lessons over the period of 3 months. <br><br>I knew that in order to improve my speaking and listening skills, I needed to watch TV shows and listen to native speakers. This is how I was introduced to the concept of **"Input-Based" Learning**. There was this huge community online that suggested abandoning all language learning resources and just simply to watch a lot of TV shows and listen to a lot of native speakers. There was this huge Chambers community called r/LanguageLearning that suggested several techniques such as the "Input Method" by "Krashen" and "Shadowing" method by Alexander Arguelles. <br><br>I was very enthusiastic about these techniques and thought that I was just being lazy if I didn't put in the work, so I spent the next 3 months religiously following these techniques. There was a huge community and several influencers and content creators behind these methods that convinced me that the only way to become proficient is by watching TV shows and listening to native speakers for 8 hours a day. <br><br>After 6 months, I was nowhere near level B1. I couldn't have a single conversation with a native speaker. Chambers and other online communities kept suggesting more techniques such as reading out loud to improve pronunciation, listening to music to improve comprehension, and others that turned out to be of little help.<br><br>When the TV show and movie that I had been watching for so long ended, I just couldn't bring myself to start a new one. In September 2022, I decided to start taking lessons from **Italki tutors** who were also supposed to be the magic pill that would instantly resolve all my language barriers and make me perfectly fluent in no time. Unfortunately, after taking 84 lessons over a period of 4 months, I was nowhere near being able to talk about everyday topics of interest. I couldn't even hold a 30-minute conversation. <br><br>\*\*I was very disappointed and frustrated. My dream of moving to Spain and speaking the language like a native was being postponed over and over again.\*\* I lost a lot of money and valuable time. I was ready to give up on my dream of moving to Spain and speaking Spanish. Deep down, I knew that I couldn't be the only one having this problem. <br><br>I decided to take the problem into my own hands and find out what I was doing wrong. I read every single comment on Chambers and even signed up for some language learning chambers to see what people had to say about it. I also asked around what strategies other learners were using and what tips they can give me. I decided to take lessons from a tutor who could point me in the right direction. <br><br>I was very lucky that my tutor was the only person who was brutally honest with me about what I was doing wrong. He suggested to stop watching videos and taking lessons, and start speaking with native speakers as much as possible. He said that I was doing it all wrong and that in order to become proficient, I just needed to **open my mouth and talk as much as possible**.<br><br>I decided to give it a try and sign up for language exchange apps such as Tandem and HelloTalk where I could practice speaking with native speakers. My tutor also started assigning me tasks on every lesson to go and talk about a specific topic with native speakers.<br><br>After 3 months of talking with native speakers, I can confidently say that I am now proficient in Spanish. I was able to have a 2-hour conversation with a native speaker and talk about everyday topics. I feel confident in speaking to anyone because I can see how much I improved and how far I came.<br><br>\*\*I wasn't able to learn Spanish after 3 years of watching TV shows listening to native speakers, reading books, and taking Italki lessons, but I was able to learn it in just 3 months of speaking with native speakers.\*\* For beginners, I would recommend starting to speak with native speakers as soon as possible. If you have a chance to speak with native speakers, do it even if you don't speak much. Don't wait until the "right time." With persistence, patience, and practice, anyone can achieve this goal. <br><br>I would love to hear your experience. What do you think?