Answers
Direct, evidence-based answers to how to learn each language — what it is, how hard it really is, and the fastest research-backed path to start. Every difficulty figure is sourced.
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How to actually learn Japanese: read the kana first, learn high-frequency vocabulary and grammar with spaced repetition, add kanji in context, and build reading and listening through input. How hard it really is (FSI hours) and where to start, free.
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How to actually learn Korean: master Hangul first (a featural alphabet you can read in about a week), build vocabulary and grammar with spaced repetition, learn the honorific speech levels in context, then train listening and speaking. How hard it really is (FSI hours) and where to start, free.
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How to actually learn Spanish: lean on the cognates and regular spelling, build high-frequency vocabulary and verb conjugations with spaced repetition, then add listening and speaking. How easy it really is (FSI hours) and where to start, free.
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How to actually learn Mandarin Chinese: lock in pinyin and the four tones first, build high-frequency vocabulary with spaced repetition, learn characters in context, and lean on a grammar with no conjugation or gender. How hard it really is (FSI hours) and where to start, free.
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How to actually learn French: lean on the huge cognate head-start, treat pronunciation and listening as the real hurdle, drill verbs by tense and nouns by gender with spaced repetition, then add speaking. How easy it really is (FSI hours) and where to start, free.
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How to actually learn Italian: skip the script (it is phonetic), lean on the cognates, build high-frequency vocabulary and verb conjugations with spaced repetition, then add listening and speaking. How easy it really is (FSI hours) and where to start, free.
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How to actually learn German: lean on the Germanic cognates, build high-frequency vocabulary with spaced repetition, then master the four cases, gender, and word order. How hard it really is (FSI hours) and where to start, free.
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How to actually learn Portuguese: choose European or Brazilian, lean on the cognates, treat pronunciation (nasal vowels, vowel reduction) as the real hurdle, drill verbs by tense with spaced repetition. How easy it really is (FSI hours) and where to start, free.
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How to actually learn Arabic: master the right-to-left script first, choose between Modern Standard Arabic and a dialect, build root-based vocabulary with spaced repetition, then add listening and speaking. How hard it really is (FSI hours) and where to start, free.
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How to actually learn Russian: master Cyrillic in about a week, then tackle the six cases and verb aspect with spaced repetition and active recall, then add listening and speaking. How hard it really is (FSI hours) and where to start, free.
