Learning German was a bit of a blur. It feels like one day I couldn't speak any German at all and then another day I could watch the news and hold hour-long conversations no problem.
Of course, there were probably some steps in there I glossed over. But as best I can remember, they weren't very focused or intentional steps. I learned German in the middle of a depression and don't recall doing anything other than binge Duolingo and consume boatloads of German TV and music until reaching something like a low B2 level.
It doesn't seem like a study "strategy" like that should work. But here I am, happily chatting away for hours with my German language exchange partners and reading German newspapers.
So, in the spirit of scientific inquiry, I've decided to test the limits of lazy language learning.
Starting today, I'll study Italian until the new year (so 4 months) in the laziest way I can possibly imagine that would still count as "studying. No textbooks, no courses, no organized plans or vocabulary lists or Anki—just Duolingo, Coffee Break Italian, and lots and lots of Netflix. Each month, I'll post a summary of my progress and any changes to my study "strategy" made along the awy.
Read more about the experiment and its rules on the main blog.
Check back here for short updates on the challenge and stream-of-consciousness mini posts related to learning Italian. You can, as always, get in touch by emailing [email protected] or leaving a comment here or on the main blog. And you can now tweet at me as well! I dragged my old #langtwt account out of the dirt and dusted it off, and will be doing my best to be at least somewhat present on Twitter @monoglotanxiety.