![3.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmbtCrgo1iWkF9ubdeis2g9Nbrn1hjKqVpUZpsFM6qZF2g/3.jpg)

Learning another language is one of those things that everyone says they want to do.  Most of us feel that we aren’t very good at languages.  We assume that some people are just born with a gift that we don't have.  While there may be a very select few who are born with a gift, the fact is that everyone is not only capable of learning a language, but under the right circumstances, they can learn relatively quickly and without many problems.  


### I am living proof.


Almost every day someone will tell me that I am gifted with languages and that they wish they were gifted in the same way.  But I know from my experiences that I'm not gifted, that I'm just like anyone else, and that actually, a long time ago, I thought the same way they did, that it's just too big a task or that I wasn't talented enough.  It took me years of trial and error to figure out just how to learn a language.

I used to be one of those people who thought it was impossible, that learning a language just wasn't something I was good at. I would even tell my teachers and classmates, half seriously, that I was “bilingually impaired”.  After all, I studied Spanish for six years and couldn’t speak a word.  I studied for hours at a time but nothing seemed to stick.  

I gave up after seeing no real results.  A few years went by, I graduated high school and in my second year of university I became interested in foreign cultures.  I set to prove to myself that I was not “impaired”, and that I could do anything I set my mind to. I started studying Japanese and worked tirelessly, studying between classes, after class, even during my major classes.  Not everything I did was efficient and a lot of time was wasted, but I was making progress through sheer will power.

After three years I could speak relatively fluently. I did it almost entirely on my own, essentially without a teacher.  I did enroll in Japanese courses but I did not take them very seriously because I wanted to learn faster than the curriculem.  I didn't always show up and when I did, I was usually studying my own material.  Most of the progress was made on my own.  

I actually managed to learn at a much faster rate than my classmates.  I skipped one year of class after 4 months of self-study, then I skipped another three semesters after a summer course and one semester of formal study.  I always stayed ahead of the class, something which surprised the hell out of my parents because I had been a B-/C+ student up until that point.  I managed to stay ahead because I put so much time and effort into it.

After university I worked as an English teacher and so not only had I tested a variety of study methods on myself, I also had the chance to test out these study methods,tips and tricks on my students to see what worked for who, what was consistent for everyone and what only worked for certain people. 

I met a few polyglots and picked up things from watching their progess.  One of my friends spoke 7 languages rather fluently, all of which he learned in less than six months.  He didn’t really know how he learned so quickly, he just did.  I watched him carefully and saw that he had a few habits that were very different from the way most people study languages.

After all that i had learned about language learning and self study, I set out to learn Mandarin using everything that I had picked up along the way.  I wanted to try something difficult and learn another language that had a writing system very different from English. 

### Guess how long it took me to become conversational?  

![pexels-photo-261909.jpeg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmaDjuVbKpTQN717Meh3kkCpp3yxf5gyNNRiddCZLcxmz3/pexels-photo-261909.jpeg)
[tired from studying?](https://www.pexels.com/photo/adult-blur-books-close-up-261909/)
### It only took 3 months to learn Mandarin.
#### 6 years and no results with Spanish, 3 years of trial and error to learn Japanese and only 3 months to learn Mandarin!  

If I can learn that quickly, anyone can.  I am not a natural at learning languages, in fact, it takes me much more time to memorize words than most of my friends.  I merely learned what it takes to learn a language and properly applied what I learned.  

I have yet to become fluent in any other languages due to having other priorities but I have dabbled in Cantonese, Spanish and French, and plan on working on them more seriously after finishing up some writing and music projects.

## What to expect from this series
In this series I’ll teach certain tips, stories, study methods, resources and ways to change the way you think about languages in order to help you learn as effectively as possible, so that you don't have to learn from trial and error like I did and can get the results you want.  Most of these posts will not be meant for specific languages but for students of all languages although we may go into some interesting aspects of certain languages.  I will gear these post towards those who are self studying but they should serve as great help to those in classes as well.

Feel free to share your progress or to contact me on discord @whatamidoing if you are interested in English, Mandarin (beginner) or Japnese (beginner) lessons.

Authored by @whatamidoing


<center>
## Click on the coin to join our Discord Chat ##
</center>
<center><a href="https://discord.gg/pBnxNgV">
<img src="https://steemitimages.com/DQmbjaMgp9TG7ZCasYVn2ATTzRPoWCeSkFjwhSUMvdkMJLA/FINAL-LOGO%20smallest.png" alt="Go Adsactly" width="200" height="200" border="0">
</a>
------
<center> **Vote @adsactly-witness for Steem witness!**
Witness proposal is here: 
<center><p>
<a href="https://steemit.com/witness-category/@adsactly-witness/adsactly-steemit-witness-proposal">Witness Proposal</a>
<a href="https://steemit.com/witness-category/@adsactly-witness/adsactly-witness-report-2018-02-07">Witness Proposal Update</a>
</p> </center>

<center>
<a href="https://steemit.com/~witnesses">Go To Steem Witness Page</a>
In the bottom of the page type: adsactly-witness and press vote.
![witness vote.gif](https://steemitimages.com/DQmbcCBNZZMzBANk1mJz94DHCawdaoBUBigR3Tk8FNr473L/witness%20vote.gif)
Use small letters and no "@" sign. Or, click [here](https://v2.steemconnect.com/sign/account-witness-vote?witness=adsactly-witness&approve=1) to vote directly!
Thank you!
 </center>
------