How To Get Started From Zero: Comprehensible Input

Input is the king of language learning, you need to consume a massive amount of the language to acquire the language. Since this is such a daunting task, you need to be efficient, and find the right input for you. If the input isn't comprehensible, it's effectiveness is significantly reduced. So where do you start, how do you get a foothold in a language you know nothing about? This is actually pretty simple, any number of "self teach" books can do the job, or most any language learning program. Personally, I prefer online programs, they are easily accessible anywhere, and many teach the language with minimal English explanation getting in the way. So I'll list my favorites that cover a variety of languages, just in case people aren't aware of them.

https://www.duolingo.com/ - I chose Duolingo because I liked it's teaching style, the content it provided was informative and varied, and it didn't waste my time with English explanations.

https://www.lingq.com/en/ - LingQ is an exceptionally versatile learning tool, not only does it contain a wealth of content on it's own, it also allows you to import basically any content from the internet into it. The beginners content on offer isn't the most compelling, but it's effective, and that import tool is exceptionally powerful at any stage of learning, as it can make nearly anything into learning material.

I used both of these programs simultaneously for a large portion of my learning, and had great results from this. In fact, Duolingo might not have been necessary, but I just liked it, and it was good to have some variety.



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