Language Learning

🌸 how I learn languages (frequency)

I love learning languages and I don't spend a year without studying at least two. I don't write down languages I only studied for a month or two when I was younger. I have the ambition to have a B1-B2 level in each language.

If you want to discuss, I have this channel : Koccily's linguaville. ♥ (don't forget that I'm shy and have trouble with too friendly messages)

Current language(s) :

Languages Level :

French is my native language. I can communicate in this language but with difficulties (since I don't like to speak and dislike when I have to explain why I disagree with someone and everyone is looking at me, judging every word I say and don't let me the time to develop my idea so I have to shut up to listen to why they are right and not me). But otherwise, no problem. :)

German is the first language I wanted to choose because I was sad that people wanted to learn English and not German. I thought that it was because of the past history because I knew that some French didn't want to learn German because of the war, and I found that stupid. So I decided to learn German because today's people (German) are not responsible of it, therefore there is no reason to not learn this language.
I can't communicate but I can understand. I had a friend at the University that didn't want to share some personal stuff with other so she talked to me about it in German. I was able to understand the idea and her emotion but I don't think I would have been able to do the same (and today neither).

English is the second language I learned. And no, I'm not fluent. I still make mistakes. English was the language we had to learn. It was not a choice, I was forced to by high school (that's also another reason why I decided to learn German first). I'm literally writing this in English so I don't think I need to add more on this one.

Korean is the first Asian language I learned at the University. It wasn't my first. I tried Japanese when I was around 12 years old and also Chinese for one day and then tried again when I was 18 years old because I thought I was going to study Chinese at the University. But! I was accepted in Korean so I stopped Chinese. As for Korean, I started when I was 15 years old but I didn't know how to learn languages. My only experience with Japanese was bad, so first it was a "let's try". Weirdly(?) Korean was easier than Japanese and, thanks to TTMIK and other websites, I was able to follow a class and learn little by little. When I started Uni, I was at least A1 but maybe not A2. After the 3 years, my level increased by a lot. I was able to write text and in the last year my speaking skill was on fire. On the last oral exam I had a 16/20 which was something impossible before (before = 12/20 or 13/20). But the real reason is that, when you are a beginner, you can't say a lot of stuff and since I don't speak a lot, it was really hard for me. The last exam was about what I was going to do in the future and I knew (of course!) and could explain and she asked questions and I was able to explain more in details so, yes, beginner level for speaking is difficult and is maybe why people stop quickly. I would say I'm B1 because my understanding is better than my production

Chinese (or mandarin for you, my dear English speakers) is the language of my master. I was in the "BEGINNER CHINESE" class. They wanted us to obtain an A2 level in two years, which was HARD and... impossible? Because it wasn't actually 24 months, it was only 11 months in these 2 years because of internships. Soooo, it was hard. We had one teacher who was extremely viligent on tones. I don't hear tones. Well. I hear the 4th, mix the 2nd and the 3rd and the 1st is... I don't know. Meh? and the "5th"? Is it someone who want a "1" and do a "5"? // But, I like pronunciation. I can recognize : c,q,s,z,x ... So, can I speak it? No because I don't make the tones and tones are important.

Indonesian is the little bird in this list. I didn't especially want it but University said "you MUST learn Indonesian!". So I did. It was weird. The class was supposed to be only about the A1 level, talking about myself, my family, what I like and what I do but it became like the "BEGINNER INDONESIAN" class. Our class was exactly the same (and even faster) as the beginner one. Therefore, I was at the same time in the beginner chinese and indonesian. I don't "hate" Indonesian, but I think this is also a reason why I have struggle to learn it because it doesn't feel like something I wanted to do. But it was fun speaking with Indonesian students. Everybody loves when you're speaking their language and I love seeing other happy so that's why I tried to learn it again in 2026. It was fun at first and at the end hard. But I don't regret it. I like it. I never met weird Indonesian and yes, I can say that they are kind and maybe the best encounter I've made (/!\ only my opinion, kind people are everywhere! it's just my experience with people I have met!!). I love them. :)

Oh my Spanish! I hate you so much! I hate that I love you! I... AHHHHHHHHHHH! Real reason for me learning Spanish : I JUST CAN'T HANDLE FRENCH PEOPLE COMPLAINING ABOUT SPANISH BEING HARD! Bro, what?! French and Spanish have literally the SAME vocabulary!!! HOW is that difficult?!! More context: My nephew had to choose between English and English/German when he was 10 years old. They (parents) decided to make him learn English because they didn't speak German. Ok, I get it. 2 years later, the school added Spanish has the second language. They complained that Spanish was hard and not as easy as English. I was "???". May I beg your pardon? Since when English is easier than Spanish for a French. So my brain exploded. And I wanted to prove that it was NOT hard/impossible. And one last thing: back in high school, when I was learning German, if we dared to complain that it was difficult, the other students (the English-only at the time) would give us a hard time, saying we shouldn't have chosen that language in the first place. Then, two years later, when THEY were taking Spanish and complaining about mixing up Spanish and English or finding it too hard, we weren't allowed to say a word because, apparently, since we’d started German two years earlier, it was EASIER! Because, yes, after all, everyone knows German is easier than Spanish, hahaha! :D (jag hatar dem). For my Spanish I would say that I can understand since words/vocabulary are the same (lol), only pronunciation is different and I like speaking because I can speak fast. I like that!

My Swedish! My lovely-lovely Swedish. Jag älskar dig såååå mycket!!!! I never understood my love for Swedish (maybe because of the flag? I like blue flag like Kazakhstan, Ukrainia, Sweden, Somalia, Botswana ♥ love Uganda too, and Malawi, and many more!) and maybe because at one time I was watching Pewdiepie and in one video he said that " tack tack" was "thank you" in Swedish??? I don't know. But anyway, I wanted to learn the language but because of *Spanish* I had to wait a little. And then the biathlon season was BACK and one of my favorit is Swedish soooo I decided to learn Swedish before it starts again and that's why I tried a 3 month challenge :D Being able to understand is wonderful. I know, I have learned many languages before but for Swedish I was *O* !!!! JAG ÄLSKAR SVERIGE!!!! Can we just take two minutes to look at the text I made after only 30 days? Yes, for Spanish I was also able to do it and even more in less day but it's only because I'm French. BUT FOR SWEDISH.... wow. And when I watched skidskytte in Norway, I was able to understand some Norwegian words and follow the speech. And Dutch too, but only the written form. I know it's impossible to hug a country but that's exactly what I want when I think of Sweden. (I like complaining about stuff in Swedish, hehehe!) I think I'm weirdly between A2 and B1.

Look at this new cutie. Hello ESPERANTO ! I had never heard of this language before I was old enough to vote. That’s right. There was a time when we had to vote on an European stuff; I remember reading through the various options when, suddenly, a strange proposal regarding a universal language popped up. "What on earth is that?" I wondered as I looked at the paper. "Is this for real? A common language..." I thought the idea was brilliant! I mentioned it to my family and... well, it didn't go well. I tried bringing it up again years later, only to run into the "same" refusal. That’s why I’m learning the language in secret, only my mother knows about it. Hehehe (← I’m a magician).
To be completely honest, it wasn't my first choice when I decided to learn a new language, but when I told my mother which language I was going to learn, she expressed her disapproval, which I fully understand (besides, I already know how to say "I hate him," "He annoys me so much," "I’m going to kill him," "Why is he here?" and "I am NOT AT ALL happy!" in that language, so it’s not exactly a *new* language. ← Yes, I LOVE insulting specific men with this language. I'm cute, don't forget that).
And this is why I finally started Esperanto. I enjoy so much being able to read and understand every thing without trying. How many words are similar to French? That's crazy! I need to make a list of them.

Languages pages :

Spanish :

Swedish :

Indonesian :

Want to learn :

Japanese → first foreign language that interested me. (tried in 5ème = 12 years old)
Italian → similar to French (tried in M2 = 22 years old)
Thai → like to learn different alphabets (tried in Terminal = 17 years old)
Malay → similarity to Indonesian (few words that are different)
Greek → learned the alphabet in high school, would like to try
Afrikaan → heard it's quick to learn(?)
Hindi → Let me watch Bollywood movies peacefully (tried in L1)
Vietnamese → tried the language in L3 (by myself), but had to stop due to lack of time (cause: exams + internship + master's research)
Samoan → knew how to make sentences (in 2020 or 2021), but gave up due to lack of online resources
Khmer → tested in M2, but not EASY! AT! ALL!
Swahili → found the language interesting
Kazakh → learned the language with a friend in M1, but gave up

Update 2026: sometimes life decides to change your plan. So I discovered again "Calcio a 5 B1" (sorry, don't know the name in english: blind football?) in August and my life changed (for the better!). I watched it on French TV and I wasn't enable to say goodbye so I made research on the Italian team (it was my favorite) and since that day, I have the Italian website (FISPIC) open on my computer with the Facebook page (I don't even use facebook) and I read articles in Italian even though I don't speak Italian so I might real soon learn that language. But the week after, I discovered the blind tennis tournament in Lituania so... I heard the language and, guess what? I might also learn it. And also maybe Polish (the app was in Polish). But! But! But! not too fast. I need time to think about the order.

Little reminder: It's not because I don't mention a language that I hate it. Every language is beautiful and deserve to be loved.
I don't understand the reason why someone would hate on a language so easily. You can dislike it or not enjoy it but why "hate"? This is such a strong word and it can hurt.
So please, don't use this word. Thank you ♥