My own language learning journey

The languages I speak, have tried, abandoned or keep learning: what's my current stage, and future goals.

2/27/2025

All The Languages I’ve Learned, My Current Stage, and Future Goals

Learning foreign languages has been part of my life since I was little - not just as a skill, but as a way of exploring the world. Every language I’ve studied has come with its own motivations, challenges, fails and little victories. Since My Language Journals is built around the idea of exploration, curiosity, and creative learning, I wanted to share where I am in my own journey - what I’m working on, how I approach learning, and what I hope to achieve.

So here are all the languages in my life, how I feel about them, how I learned them, or what I do to keep them alive.

Side note: I don’t come from a bilingual background, I never had a foreign partner, and I didn’t live abroad long-term until I was 37.

Let’s go chronologically:
Czech: My Native Language, My Home

Czech is my mother tongue, the language I grew up with, and the one that carries a deep emotional connection. It’s the language of my roots, my family, my childhood memories. No matter how many languages I learn, Czech will always feel the most familiar, the most instinctive. I love Czech movies, jokes, puns, poetry, and humor - I can't imagine my life without them. I feel fortunate to have a Slavic language as my first language - its richness and quirks give me a different way of seeing the world. And let’s be real: nothing hits quite like sarcasm in Czech.

German: Dusting Off the Rust

German came next. I actually started way back in kindergarten - coming from North Bohemia, right next to the German border (google Sudetenland or watch this great YouTube documentary if you’re into a bit of history) - and having German relatives made it a no-brainer when the option arose. I still remember the first animal I learned: der Igel (which sounds like “eagle” but actually means hedgehog. Funny, right?).

Over the years, I accumulated a lot of experience:

  • German classes from kindergarten through high school

  • Three years of advanced studies at university

  • An exchange program in Germany studying English-Czech translation (all in German, of course)

  • Two summers working in northern Germany by the Baltic Sea

  • My first job where I translated and handled calls with German tour operators at a travel agency

I peaked around my third year at university - I had the pronunciation down, felt comfortable with grammar… and yet, I never really fell in love with the language to the point of immersing myself in it. I never even read a book in German.

Now, when I try to speak (we still get a lot of German visitors back home in Bohemian Switzerland), it feels like trying to boot up an old computer. It just doesn't really spark. I do enjoy watching German movies (Good Bye Lenin!) or Netflix shows (Dark fans, anyone?), and I feel joy when I understand a YouTube documentary. But that’s about it. And honestly, it sucks.

The good news? I don’t need to start from scratch, and I don’t even want to get all my grammar wizardry back—I just need to shake off the dust, reactivate what’s buried in my brain, and get used to the flow of the language again.

My plan:

  • Watch more German content on YouTube - both general topics and language-focused (I love Easy German from the Easy Languages series).

English: My Daily Language and Creative Playground

I picked English as my second foreign language at 13, and I instantly fell in love with it.

English is my go-to, my default, my happy place. I think, dream, and create in it. It’s the language I use every day, and honestly? I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m proud of how seamlessly it has become part of my life - whether I’m writing, journaling, or just existing online. If languages were relationships, English and I would be soulmates for life.

English is my biggest life accomplishment - my dream come true. I’ve traveled to English-speaking countries, immersed myself in different cultures, taught English, kept learning it, worked in a fully remote English-speaking team with people from all over the world, and now I actually live in Canada.

French: Learning to Communicate, Not to Be Perfect

French was the third foreign language I chose in high school. We had to pick something, so I thought - why not another language? We had just one lesson per week, but we got the grammar basics and listened to a ton of songs.

For years, my French skills pretty much froze at that level. I tried restarting many times, but it never really stuck.

Things changed when I did a Workaway trip to France in 2019 and spent six weeks living with a French family (who actually spoke fluent English and German) in Senlis. I took free French lessons hosted by the local Rotary Club, devoured amazing French comics and graphic novels, and binge-watched French Netflix shows (Call My Agent!, The Hook Up Plan). I even accidentally read Into the Wild (1996) in French.

I can follow slow conversations and get the gist, but I still struggle with fast-spoken French. My vocabulary isn’t big enough to say what I want, and I never really focused on grammar.

My goal:

I want to communicate comfortably, not perfectly. I want to be able to watch movies, listen to podcasts, and have conversations in France. I don’t need academic-level grammar or fluency.

Right now, I’m focusing on:

  • Watching more French media (movies, YouTube, podcasts)

  • Practicing speaking, even when I feel self-conscious

  • Starting My French Journal, where I’ll test, use, and practice everything I preach here on this blog

Spanish: Building on Real-Life Use

Spanish felt like a natural next step since I’ve traveled to Spanish-speaking countries a lot. It’s tricky, though - it feels deceivingly easy (especially thanks to its closeness to French and Italian), so I recognize a lot, but recalling it when I need it? Another story.

I do similar things as with French - watch Spanish Netflix (Valeria), sing along to a few songs on my ukulele - but I don’t read much or watch real-life YouTube videos.

I also took lessons with a tutor and two other team mates while on a work trip in Mexico, and that helped me improve fast with the basics.

I want to be able to:

  • Navigate daily life with more confidence when I travel

  • Understand and have casual conversations without overthinking

  • Follow along with native content (movies, podcasts, books)

And More: My Linguistic Side Quests

I don't know about you but every now and then I get bitten by the language bug. Usually triggered by an interesting person, a story, a film, or a travel plan.

Italian: A language I keep flirting with

I’ve traveled to Italy many times, so I always worked at the pronunciation, basic vocabulary, and useful phrases to be able to say at least a few things. Ever read Eat, Pray, Love by Liz Gilbert? She got the bug too, but got way further than me.

Greek: My philosophical (and slightly useless) experiment

Back in college, I took an Ancient Greek philosophy course and learned the Greek alphabet, some vocabulary, and a handful of philosophical quotes. Naturally, I tried to put that to use when I went on holiday to Greece. Needless to say, things like ἄπειρον, καλοκαγαθία or αταραξια didn't really help me there. At least I could read street signs and contemplate the meaning of life at the source.

Afrikaans: My brief adventure

For my trip to South Africa in 2018, I decided to dip my toes into Afrikaans. Fun fact, Afrikaans took the best from German, while ditching the tricky bits so my German knowledge helped a lot. I learned a few words and phrases, and while I wouldn’t say I spoke it, it was fun to get a taste of the language, and use it while traveling. Try this: tell anyone from South Africa to "buy a donkey", and thank me later (and no, you won't be sending them to certain places or calling them names, trust me.)

Bahasa Indonesia: Fun and travel

I learned the basics of the Indonesian language while staying in Bali for three weeks. It was fun, easy, and extremely practical since people there often don't speak any English. I managed to ask for street food, negotiate the price of a sarong or buy a beer (always handy!).

Ukrainian: F*ck the war

I started learning Ukrainian in 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine. My studies didn’t last long (unlike the war), but it’s on my “definitely continue” list. I used Duolingo (which never really worked for me - more on that in another post), but since then I found Easy Ukrainian on YouTube, or watched Servant of the People, starring then-actor, now-president and real-life superhero Volodymyr Zelensky. It was a comedy, but now… it feels surreal.

Final Thoughts

Language learning is a never-ending journey, and My Language Journals is built on that idea. I don’t have all the answers, but I’m figuring things out as I go - just like everyone else. Whether you’re starting a new language or trying to level up one you already know, I hope this gives you a little inspiration to keep going.

What about you?

  • What’s your own language learning story?

  • Which languages have shaped your life the most?

  • Is there a language you’ve always wanted to learn but never started? Why?

  • What’s your biggest challenge (or funniest fail) in learning a new language?

Here's my old Moleskine notebook from 2019 with my Indonesian basics: