Lindsay Does Languages

June 18th, 2021

Now What? What to Do After Duolingo: Intermediate Language Learning Strategies

It’s quite easy nowadays to start learning a language. Duolingo and co have made language learning more accessible than ever, which is great! But…what next? Here’s my favourite intermediate language learning strategies to do after Duolingo.

So you've finally finished Duolingo. Yay! But now what? Here's what to do after Duolingo to keep learning that language. ➔

Page Contents

Revisit What You’ve Done

Just because you’ve done Duolingo doesn’t mean it’s finished and you’ve got everything you can from it.

Restart the lessons on Duolingo, head back to chapter one in your book, review your notes with fresh eyes. Here’s some suggestions on how to best use Duolingo to get your creativity flowing.

I always enjoy revisiting things that I’ve “completed” for a few reasons:

#1: Fresh eyes = fresh perspective

The amount of times I’ve revisited a resource and spotted something new is wild. Just leaving that gap of time before heading back to the start can work wonders for giving you a fresh perspective.

#2: Spot your smarts

Revisiting stuff doesn’t have to mean literally doing every single activity again (or for the first time if you were a skimmer first time round!).

There’ll be some things that you don’t need to actively review and can skim past quite quickly. That’s the stuff you know now. Did you know it last time? Probably not. That’s how far you’ve come and it’s always a nice reminder.

#3: Fill the gaps

As well as going through things in order, it can be really helpful to revisit the things that you missed, didn’t quite get, or ignored first time round.

Revisiting is a great chance to fill the gaps in your knowledge.

You’re also allowed to bring in new resources here too to really expand on what you’re learning.

Bring In What You Love

It’s important that you love what you’re doing when it comes to language learning, especially when progress naturally starts to slow post beginner stage.

Think about your other interests outside of language learning – are there ways you could combine them?

You certainly don’t have to add language learning to every single aspect of your life (in fact, I kinda recommend you don’t), but knowing where it can fit in and adjust is a great place to start.

Let’s say you really enjoy your pottery class that you attend weekly and you’re learning Japanese.

Are there any TV shows, YouTube channels, websites or podcasts that talk about pottery in Japanese?

Raku is a type of pottery from Japan. What can you learn about that – possibly even in Japanese?

Are there any Instagram accounts or Facebook Groups you can join for Japanese pottery enthusiasts?

These are just 3 big ideas for one example to get you started, but I’m sure you can see just how much potential this opens up.

Journal Your Journey

Writing is an underestimated tool for language learning that we nearly always have available to us, especially once we’re intermediate.

It’s easy to think of writing only as a skill – an endgame that we can work on once we can speak a language. But writing (like any language skill) is also a great tool for our learning process too.

Consider how you can write more in the language you’re learning and bring this into your regular routine. Bulle de Français is a great option here for French learners. Jessica includes journalling inspiration to get you thinking and writing.

When enrollment is open, you can use code LINDSAY10 to get 10% off your first membership payment. (I’m an affiliate for Jessica too so you’re supporting Lindsay Does Languages as well!)

Of course, speak as often as you can too, but writing really gives you a chance to self-reflect and be more thoughtful with your words as you explore the language.

You can approach this in various ways…

#1: Writing Prompts

This one’s my favourite (so much so it’s a weekly part of Language Life!).

There’s plenty of ways you can take just one prompt, which is kinda why I like it so much.

Let’s say your prompt is “The Number”.

That could be a great title for a short mystery story about a serial killer who leaves a calling card with a number on it at each crime scene.

It could be the title of a poem about someone winning the lottery.

“The Number” could inspire a dialogue of someone telling their friend they won the lottery.

You could write about your lucky number. Or unlucky numbers in a culture of the language you’re learning.

Use it as inspiration for a realistic role play dialogue of asking where your hotel room is. (The number of your room!)

As you can see, there’s so many different ways you can take just one writing prompt. Plus you can speak and record them when you’re done if you fancy it too. It’s a worthy habit to develop.

#2: Diary

If you prefer a more grounded approach, you can write a daily diary in the language you’re learning.

Talk about what you did, what you’ll do tomorrow, how you feel. Whatever you’d do in a diary, do it in the language you’re learning.

#3: Gratitude Journal

Perhaps a whole diary entry each day isn’t quite for you. In which case, try a gratitude journal.

Each day (morning or night, or noon, whatever it’s all good) write down what you’re grateful for in the language you’re learning.

You could play with this format too depending on what you value most in life or what you’re learning at the time – perhaps finishing the sentence “Today I learnt…” or “Today I ate…”

#4: Just one sentence. That’s it.

Writing regularly doesn’t have to be essays and pages. Start small.

Again, either morning or night, or whenever works for you, build a habit of writing just one sentence in the language you’re learning. It could be a summary of your day to that point, practise based on what you’ve been learning, or something that just comes to mind.

There’s no rules.

Expose and Immerse!

You know when someone on the internet writes that passive listening will get you fluent in a language and then there’s 10 more people ready to strongly argue against them in the comments? Yeah. I’m not getting involved in that.

But…what I will say is that passive listening can be a great addition to your overall strategy at any stage, especially intermediate and beyond.

Why? Let me explain.

The more you can expose and immerse yourself to the language, the better.

And hey, it’s the internet age now, immersion doesn’t mean booking the first flight to Seoul and living out your Korean dream. I mean, who would feed your cat while you’re gone?

Being in a place that speaks a language can be a great advantage, but it’s no longer the deciding factor in your language success.

You can immerse yourself and expose yourself to as much of a language from almost anywhere in the world. Provided there’s internet, you’re good to go. In fact, even without it, you could still try telling your brain to chat to itself in the language.

Wherever you are, whichever language you’re learning, bring it into your life as much as you can. Here’s some super simple ways to get started…

#1: Listen to Stuff!

Podcasts, music, audio lessons on repeat.

It doesn’t matter so much what it is, but find something you enjoy that feels rewarding and necessary to listen to.

#2: Read Stuff!

Books, news, the backs of cereal packets.

It’s all good. Again, pick something you enjoy that feels rewarding and necessary, and you’re golden.

#3: Follow Stuff!

Instagram, YouTube, email newsletters.

Wherever you prefer to hang out online, find things to follow and engage with there.

Hate Instagram? No need to force yourself to download it if you prefer to subscribe to a couple of email newsletters in the language.

#4: Cook Stuff!

Food is a great connection, especially at the intermediate stage when we really want to bring in cultural elements as much as possible. (Ideally we’re doing this from the get go, but it’s even more significant here if we’re going to really commit to a language.)

Find recipes – written or video – in the language you’re learning and see if you can follow them to make a delicious local delicacy…or just the best chocolate brownie that language’s corner of the internet has to offer.

Seek Out Speaking

They say practise makes perfect. I say practice makes better.

Everything you do to learn a language actively – even if subtly or unnoticeably – supports all areas of your language progress. But, that said, if you want to get better at speaking…well, speaking as much as possible is a good idea.

It doesn’t have to mean hours upon hours sat at a computer on video calls. Nor does it have to mean your whole salary spent on lessons each month.

There’s lots of ways to speak now to fit with you. Here’s some of my favourites…

#1: Speak to yourself

The easiest one. The one that can happen anywhere, anytime. But, it’s also the one that sometimes isn’t the easiest one because we’ve been told “speaking to yourself is the first sign of madness”.

Which first, isn’t true when we’re learning languages over here. And second, kinda stigmatises mental illness, no?

So scrap that little saying and replace it with this one instead: Speaking to yourself is the first sign of speaking confidently with others.

#2: Chat apps on your time

Sure, you can book a heap of lessons, events, and exchanges but…well, there’s other things you want to do with your life too, right?

Chat apps designed for language exchange fill this gap nicely.

Tandem, HelloTalk, others that have no doubt popped up by the time you read this. It doesn’t matter so much where, but more how you’re enjoying and fitting it in for you.

#3: Group online sessions

To clarify, I’m not anti longer language sessions. One of my favourites, especially at the intermediate stage is group sessions.

They give you the chance to sit back when you’re not quite following or have nothing to add. They give you the chance to hear multiple people speak with different accents and abilities.

There’s plenty of places to start your search – Duolingo Events, MeetUp, EventBrite and lots more.

#4: 1:1 lessons

You could throw lots of money at 1:1 lessons in the hope that you’ll be magically fluent just by showing up. Not gonna happen.

Your teacher may be amazing but can’t teach you by osmosis. Yes, you have to show up, but you also have to be ready to do the work.

My best advice here is to book lessons on a schedule that also gives you space to prepare if needed, and also absorb and review what you’ve done once it’s over.

#5: “Traditional” language exchange

And of course, traditional language exchange can be a great addition. If you’re interested in language exchange, it’s definitely worth keeping up with Tea With Emily as she knows what’s up when it comes to language exchange.

Keep Things Ticking Over

It’s far too easy (and I speak from experience here) to slowly stop showing up when progress slows, when you pass the fun beginner stuff, when you’ve finished Duolingo. I urge you to keep showing up.

And that’s literally it.

It doesn’t matter if you’re doing all the things every single day. It’s more about staying in the room and sticking with it. Don’t give up.

Some days (or weeks, or months) you’ll be overwhelmed with life, and language learning will crash down the priority list. At these moments, do what you can, and don’t let yourself believe that it’s over.

Soon you’ll gradually (or suddenly) fall back into it and get in motion again. But you’ve got to pump that bike slowly up the hill to get the wind in your hair on the other side.

Keep things ticking over.