Self-Doubt? This Is Your Competition

[MTF]

I recently started learning French.

To build the basics, I started with Duolingo which is a very fun and effective gamified platform for learning languages.

It's so well-designed and addictive that learning feels like playing a game.

It takes very little effort to study. You look forward to it every day. It's hard to stop once you do one lesson because you get rewards and want to continue.

In the first week, despite traveling and having much less time than usual, I've been studying with Duolingo at least 30 minutes a day.

I just received my first weekly progress report. Take a look:



It completely blew my mind that 97% of people quit after less than 4 hours of studying. Of course, some may have decided to use another language learning software or work with a tutor or study in a different way. But most likely the majority quit because they just gave up.

They gave up despite using the easiest, most entertaining, game-like language learning software that makes it so easy that it feels like playing and not studying.

Learning a new language is infinitely easier than building a successful business. If you're not sure whether you can make it, remind yourself that this is your competition.

If you do the bare minimum, you're already ahead of 97% of people and your competition shrinks dramatically.

Out of 1,000 people pursuing the same business idea, a year from now only a few will remain. Will you be one of them?

 

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[freek]

It’s so easy to be great nowadays, because everyone else is weak. If you have ANY mental toughness, if you have any fraction of self-discipline; The ability to not want to do it, but still do it; If you can get through to doing things that you hate to do: on the other side is GREATNESS ” – David Goggins

The average american is overweight in debt and divorced, it's not that hard.

 

[Lex DeVille]

I recently started learning French.

To build the basics, I started with Duolingo which is a very fun and effective gamified platform for learning languages.

It's so well-designed and addictive that learning feels like playing a game.

It takes very little effort to study. You look forward to it every day. It's hard to stop once you do one lesson because you get rewards and want to continue.

In the first week, despite traveling and having much less time than usual, I've been studying with Duolingo at least 30 minutes a day.

I just received my first weekly progress report. Take a look:

View attachment 53105

It completely blew my mind that 97% of people quit after less than 4 hours of studying. Of course, some may have decided to use another language learning software or work with a tutor or study in a different way. But most likely the majority quit because they just gave up.

They gave up despite using the easiest, most entertaining, game-like language learning software that makes it so easy that it feels like playing and not studying.

Learning a new language is infinitely easier than building a successful business. If you're not sure whether you can make it, remind yourself that this is your competition.

If you do the bare minimum, you're already ahead of 97% of people and your competition shrinks dramatically.

Out of 1,000 people pursuing the same business idea, a year from now only a few will remain. Will you be one of them?

Thanks for sharing. Been wanting to expand my German language skills. This could be a fun way to do it.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

As I mentioned in TGRRE , the largest business in the world is the business of shortcuts.

And some shortcuts aren't short enough.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Just like Duolingo...

 

[Jrjohnny]

I agree. Duolingo is so much fun.

I had it and began learning Portuguese and in 41 days, I got 423 minutes.

Not much, but in 1 day, I got 100 minutes.

I soon deleted it and lost my streak, but now I’m going to try to relearn.

If 423 minutes in a year is too 9%, that’s like a minute and a half every day.

My goal for 2024 is top 1%

 

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[Lex DeVille]

Been on this for about a week. My German is definitely improving. I didn't expect the app would have so many different approaches to learning. For example, typing translations and listening tasks are really helpful.

I haven't had a need to speak German in nearly a decade and a half, but a lot is coming back to me, and I can understand and communicate more than ever before.

Today, I'm going to upgrade to the paid version of Duolingo, and I'm going to start watching twitch streams and other German content to build in more natural listening and fluency training.

This is one of the most fun things I've done recently. I love spending a few minutes learning and reviewing words and phrases each morning. Danke @MTF

 

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[Lex DeVille]

I'm astonished by how fast I'm picking up the language with this app. My roommate ex-wife is both annoyed and wowed by how many sentences I can say and how I'm applying the language to everyday life. I think I could pass as a German to an American stranger. I must have added hundreds, if not thousands of words to my vocabulary. At this rate, and by combining multiple methods of learning, I should reach fluent competency in under a year.

Right now, I'm best at reading in German. I struggle a bit with listening because I have to think about what each word means. This makes it difficult to translate what I hear when the speaker speaks quickly. Duolingo seems aware of this and makes a point to have fast speakers and slow speakers with the option to go super slow for training purposes. I also struggle to come up with responses quickly for non-Duolingo communications.

I started reading German chat communications on Twitch, and also read a children's book in German. I'm not able to fully follow along with either, but I am able to interpret many more words than before. In addition, I'm reaching a point where I can get the gist of what others are talking about by interpreting key words like Essen for food and wetter for weather, etc. As my vocabulary grows, I should soon reach a point where I can keep up with a conversation even if I don't know what all of the words mean.

 

[Lex DeVille]

How much time are you spending a day studying?

Probably more than I should. I'd guess maybe 3 hours a day. I think it's super fun though. Doesn't feel like studying. I'll have less time after this week once things pick up after the holidays, but I think even an hour per day would be plenty. Even just a few minutes per day should increase your vocabulary a lot over the course of a few weeks.

 

[NewManRising]

Thanks for sharing. Been wanting to expand my German language skills. This could be a fun way to do it.

I can back up the app. I've used it in the past and it worked great and I quickly learn. In addition, there are teachers on Youtube with playlists beginning at the very simplest forms of communication. A few years back, I went through a Spanish playlist and was pretty fluent in basic language. I've been thinking about getting back into it simply because you can quickly learn and pick up a language.

A Spanish teacher from college told me the best way she learned was by immersion into the language and culture. She talked about going to meet up groups and even traveling and living in some of the countries for a few years. You pick it up way faster this way. You can even watch movies in a foreign language too to enhance your skill.

I will probably download the Duolingo app right now.

 

[freek]

Another stat that fits right into this thread: Out of all podcasts, 90% don't make it past episode 3, and of those that do, 9 out of 10 don't make it past episode 20. This means that if you make 21 podcasts, you are already in the top 1% of all podcasters.

 

[AmazingLarry]

Seems like a crazy statistic but at the same time not that surprising when you look around. People give up on things so easily, even big things like marriage. Although like you said, using Duolingo is like an addictive game so I guess that does make it more surprising to see how fast people quit.

I've been studying Korean vocab for a couple years every day while I eat lunch. I know a ton of words at this point by just studying 5 minutes a day. I could obviously be much further ahead if I studied an hour a day, but just commiting even to something small over time amounts to big results.

I do need to step up my game this year though and start learning more grammar.

 

[MTF]

Seems like a crazy statistic but at the same time not that surprising when you look around. People give up on things so easily, even big things like marriage. Although like you said, using Duolingo is like an addictive game so I guess that does make it more surprising to see how fast people quit.

I've been studying Korean vocab for a couple years every day while I eat lunch. I know a ton of words at this point by just studying 5 minutes a day. I could obviously be much further ahead if I studied an hour a day, but just commiting even to something small over time amounts to big results.

I do need to step up my game this year though and start learning more grammar.

I strongly recommend getting a Korean teacher, for example from Italki. If you already have vocabulary, you can Tarzan speak and learn grammar through practice.

 

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[MTF]

Since nearly 40 years I spend some weeks a year in Greece.
I didn’t learn speaking Greece until like 7 years ago. I got an Duolingo account and started. I was a t the about 10 top %, when I recognized, that I can’t remember words and I slowly stopped with it.

So the reason, why I tell you is, that someone, who fails, can serve as a negative example.
So, if someone wants a 99% negative example: here I am!

Duolingo by itself isn't going to teach you a language. It's only a supplement, one of the tools but not the only tool.

For me, Duolingo is only a starting phase. It could just as well be any other language learning software. I use it to get the basics and study in an entertaining way when I have only 30 minutes or less.

Otherwise, my primary focus is my live online classes with a professional teacher. I also use Anki for better memorization. When my level is high enough, I'll transition to French cartoons and other easy level native content. From there, I'll progress to TV series and other regular adult stuff.

If you think of Duolingo as a stepping stone, it's a great tool. If you think of it as your ticket to fluency, you'll fail for sure.

 

[mcpretelin]

I've been studying Korean vocab for a couple years every day while I eat lunch. I know a ton of words at this point by just studying 5 minutes a day. I could obviously be much further ahead if I studied an hour a day, but just commiting even to something small over time amounts to big results.

Nice! I’ve also been studying Korean vocab for a couple years on Duolingo, but only a few months ago had the opportunity and courage to attempt speaking w someone. It was exhilarating and even though i fumbled words and went back to English to ask questions, it was so memorable and fun. I had a second experience a few weeks ago running into a guy running a local shop i was buying a tool from. I asked to practice again and he was cool, and recommended HelloTalk. I haven’t spent much time on it yet but it’s basically an app where u can chat or listen to live people, using your mic. So you can practice speaking and hear others. Aside from music/shows etc, this could be another great way to practice using the language more! I’m looking forward to improving my conversational skills because after years on Duolingo, i still can only understand a few words or phrases.
Good luck, 행운을 빌어요!

 

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[mcpretelin]

Awesome! I actually downloaded hello talk a while ago but haven't used it yet. I have some friends in Korea I could text too, but usually talk to them in English. I think I just don't want to sound like an idiot but that's something I need to just accept as part of the learning.

Totally! Yea i feel the same way sometimes but it honestly feels better to try and look stupid than not try at all. For example, i have a friend who is Mexican and his whole family speaks Spanish, but he never learned. I always tell him u can practice w me or other workers around us, but he’s too shy. I’m guilty of being my own worst critic so i get it! lol but we got this!

 

[heavy_industry]

Discipline > Motivation

I don't think they are mutually exclusive, and they actually complement each other almost perfectly. I can't imagine being able to work for several years on a project without sustaining very high levels of motivation, but I also can't see any success being created without a very disciplined structure and action plan.

What most people don't understand (in my opinion), is that motivation leads to action, but action also leads to motivation.


People who give up too early, which by all statistics is at least 95% of the population, are not necessarily lazy and hopeless, but they've failed to learn how to wield the sword of motivation.

Use discipline to follow the schedule and do the hard work, and motivation will come.

 

[MTF]

Been on this for about a week. My German is definitely improving. I didn't expect the app would have so many different approaches to learning. For example, typing translations and listening tasks are really helpful.

I haven't had a need to speak German in nearly a decade and a half, but a lot is coming back to me, and I can understand and communicate more than ever before.

Today, I'm going to upgrade to the paid version of Duolingo, and I'm going to start watching twitch streams and other German content to build in more natural listening and fluency training.

This is one of the most fun things I've done recently. I love spending a few minutes learning and reviewing words and phrases each morning. Danke @MTF

That's awesome! I'm super glad to hear that. And that's exactly the right way to do it. Use Duolingo in downtime or when having a few minutes here and there and then do proper immersion when you have more time.

In the beginning I highly recommend watching easy YouTube animated videos with subtitles in your target language (not auto-generated ones as they aren't always accurate). For example, I found https://www.youtube.com/@BookboxFrench/videos for French.

I see they also have a German version: https://www.youtube.com/@BookboxGerman/videos

Once this is easy, I like watching animated TV series I watched as a kid like The Smurfs. From there, you can transition into proper "adult" stuff like TV shows, movies, regular YouTube programming, etc.

 

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[Lex DeVille]

I can back up the app. I've used it in the past and it worked great and I quickly learn. In addition, there are teachers on Youtube with playlists beginning at the very simplest forms of communication. A few years back, I went through a Spanish playlist and was pretty fluent in basic language. I've been thinking about getting back into it simply because you can quickly learn and pick up a language.

A Spanish teacher from college told me the best way she learned was by immersion into the language and culture. She talked about going to meet up groups and even traveling and living in some of the countries for a few years. You pick it up way faster this way. You can even watch movies in a foreign language too to enhance your skill.

I will probably download the Duolingo app right now.

That's why I have a head start on German, I lived there for four years. I was terrible at communicating back then, but I learned to ask if others spoke English in German and used it everywhere. Thankfully, most Germans speak English because they learn it in school. Now that I'm older, I have a greater appreciation for their language. Haven't heard many people speaking in German in Utah though.

 

[Raedrum]

@MTF félicitations pour ton apprentissage du Français. C'est une langue difficile, et peu d'anglophones l'apprennent. Mais les femmes la trouvent très sexy, hahaha. C'est aussi la langue officielle de l'escrime, et des textes diplomatiques grâce à sa précision.

(Congratulations on your learning of French. It's a difficult language, and few english-speakers learn it. But women find it sexy, hahaha. It's also the official language of fencing, and of diplomatics texts, because of it accuracy.)

 

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[TKLyte]

I recently started learning French.

To build the basics, I started with Duolingo which is a very fun and effective gamified platform for learning languages.

It's so well-designed and addictive that learning feels like playing a game.

It takes very little effort to study. You look forward to it every day. It's hard to stop once you do one lesson because you get rewards and want to continue.

In the first week, despite traveling and having much less time than usual, I've been studying with Duolingo at least 30 minutes a day.

I just received my first weekly progress report. Take a look:

View attachment 53105

It completely blew my mind that 97% of people quit after less than 4 hours of studying. Of course, some may have decided to use another language learning software or work with a tutor or study in a different way. But most likely the majority quit because they just gave up.

They gave up despite using the easiest, most entertaining, game-like language learning software that makes it so easy that it feels like playing and not studying.

Learning a new language is infinitely easier than building a successful business. If you're not sure whether you can make it, remind yourself that this is your competition.

If you do the bare minimum, you're already ahead of 97% of people and your competition shrinks dramatically.

Out of 1,000 people pursuing the same business idea, a year from now only a few will remain. Will you be one of them?

That was super inspiring. I've been working on my business for almost 2 years now. For almost 20 years, the longest I ever stuck with a business idea was a 2-3 months before getting distracted by shinier objects. What a waste of time that was. Here's another tit-bit. The average new podcast uploads 3 episodes before quitting. To become a 1%ter in the podcast arena, all you need is to upload 21 episodes. How about that.

 

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[MTF]

@Lex DeVille are you still learning German? How's your progress?

I'm still learning French, still as much as before. 131 days of an unbroken streak with Duolingo, Anki, and private online classes (up to 4x a week). On my good days I can talk in French for one hour without any problems. My teacher is a native French speaker and she doesn't change her speech/accent for me.

I still sometimes ask my professor to give French equivalents of specific English phrases or words but I can explain most of it in French now. I find it crazy how fast you can learn if you only keep up with 1-2 hours a day for a few months.

 

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[MTF]

It’s so easy to be great nowadays, because everyone else is weak. If you have ANY mental toughness, if you have any fraction of self-discipline; The ability to not want to do it, but still do it; If you can get through to doing things that you hate to do: on the other side is GREATNESS ” – David Goggins

The average american is overweight in debt and divorced, it's not that hard.

Yeah, not even the average American but the average human being around the world, too.

Thanks for sharing. Been wanting to expand my German language skills. This could be a fun way to do it.

It's pretty good for learning the basics. But if you want to go further and faster, supplement it with a tutor from Italki.com. I had my first French class with a tutor (native French speaker) after a few days of using Duolingo and was able to use (broken) French for up to a few minutes.

If you have some understanding of German, you'll manage fine during a live class as well. But yeah, Duolingo is still great, particularly when you only have a few minutes and can't schedule a 1-hour class.

View attachment 53109I agree. Duolingo is so much fun.

I had it and began learning Portuguese and in 41 days, I got 423 minutes.

Not much, but in 1 day, I got 100 minutes.

I soon deleted it and lost my streak, but now I’m going to try to relearn.

If 423 minutes in a year is too 9%, that’s like a minute and a half every day.

My goal for 2024 is top 1%

Good luck. If you can get a tutor, you'll be also more motivated to study in between as you'll want to have a nice conversation as soon as possible. And if you have friends or family members speaking your target language, then that's the best thing ever for learning a foreign language super quickly.

 

[Jon822]

View attachment 53116


Just like Duolingo...

A perfect illustration for why you should expect a Fastlane journey to be challenging. For all (or nearly all) of the starting group to succeed, the barrier to entry would have to be 1 day of coding. That would be like the business equivalent of receiving $1m for filing for an LLC. This could easily be a graph of New Year's Resolutions.

Discipline > Motivation

 

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[Panos Daras]

I also tried Duolingo after speaking 3 languages already. It is okay to just BARELY be scrapping the surface of what learning a language means. So for me, it was not that it was too stressful, just that it was TOO EASY. So you are fooling yourself that you are doing things, but in reality, you are playing quizzes. Sorry telling you what you have to hear not what you want to hear. You want to hear that playing Duolingo makes you a DOER. It doesn't.

 

[Ing]

Since nearly 40 years I spend some weeks a year in Greece.
I didn’t learn speaking Greece until like 7 years ago. I got an Duolingo account and started. I was a t the about 10 top %, when I recognized, that I can’t remember words and I slowly stopped with it.

So the reason, why I tell you is, that someone, who fails, can serve as a negative example.
So, if someone wants a 99% negative example: here I am!

 

[AmazingLarry]

Nice! I’ve also been studying Korean vocab for a couple years on Duolingo, but only a few months ago had the opportunity and courage to attempt speaking w someone. It was exhilarating and even though i fumbled words and went back to English to ask questions, it was so memorable and fun. I had a second experience a few weeks ago running into a guy running a local shop i was buying a tool from. I asked to practice again and he was cool, and recommended HelloTalk. I haven’t spent much time on it yet but it’s basically an app where u can chat or listen to live people, using your mic. So you can practice speaking and hear others. Aside from music/shows etc, this could be another great way to practice using the language more! I’m looking forward to improving my conversational skills because after years on Duolingo, i still can only understand a few words or phrases.
Good luck, 행운을 빌어요!

Awesome! I actually downloaded hello talk a while ago but haven't used it yet. I have some friends in Korea I could text too, but usually talk to them in English. I think I just don't want to sound like an idiot but that's something I need to just accept as part of the learning.

 

[NewManRising]

That's why I have a head start on German, I lived there for four years. I was terrible at communicating back then, but I learned to ask if others spoke English in German and used it everywhere. Thankfully, most Germans speak English because they learn it in school. Now that I'm older, I have a greater appreciation for their language. Haven't heard many people speaking in German in Utah though.

I'd love to learn Spanish, French, German, etc. But focusing on one is the better way to do it. I used to be somewhat fluent in Spanish just from listening to others, watching playlists on Youtube, and taking 2 semesters of Spanish in college. But I didn't use it and lost most of it. I still understand a good amount though.

The reason I choose Spanish is because, aside from English, it's the 2nd most frequently used language where I am living. I figure it would be an incentive to know it. Another thing, learning a language becomes easier if your native/1st language is similar to the one you're learning.

It is much harder for someone who speaks English to learn Chinese or Arabic simply because there are sounds in those languages we do not use. But it is far easier for someone who knows Spanish to learn something like Italian based on how similar they are. It's not to say you can't learn those harder languages, it's just the learning curve is much higher.

Some people will focus on a language family (like the romance languages). If you know Spanish, you can pick up French and Italian much easier, and vice versa. Probably one of the best things you can do when learning a language is learn the alphabet 1st. Get familiar with all the sounds. This will help with your speech and phrasing. Then learn basic grammar and how to form simple sentences. From there, it's just increasing your vocabulary.

Some people will go on Zoom calls with people around the world to practice their language speaking skills too. It's a great way to retain the language and enhance it.

BTW, I did download the Duolingo app again and started learning. It's pretty fun.

 

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[Andreas Thiel]

The guy is from Switzerland. Isn't the Swiss dialect almost like a different language compared to German from Germany?





Just curious about this.

Can't rule this out 100%, but I have briefly worked for Swisscom in Switzerland and would be surprised if these issues can somehow be explained with dialect peculiarities. Like most people can probably say if something they read looks like irish dialect English, the same is true for de_CH ... to some degree. Not sure what the story is, but I think there must be a different explanation for the horrible grammar.

The issues Germans have with the dialect have more to do with pronunciation and rhythm when speaking, plus some vocabulary differences.

 

[EquinoxS]

@MTFs original sentiment has really appealed to me: is your competition actually that tough?

I have created my intro thread in this forum about 2y ago and ever since I have been bouncing forth and back between "I will never be able to do this (= entrepreneurship, convince customers that my service/product is good enough for them to hand over their money)" and "how smart can this guy be? If he can do it, so can I!".

I explained in my intro thread how I learned web development and I have continued to do so. I have done the Webflow courses, the Framer courses and I even know how to code with NextJS. But still, I'm afraid to finally offer my services to someone because of my fear to disappoint.
When I check Fiverr, there are a gazillion web developers offering their services. How good are they? How good am I compared to them? Have they also put in the same amount of time and effort as I have? Or even more? Would I disappoint my would-be-customers?