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How to learn a language by speaking it

Short guides from the team behind Mimica. For each language, one post tells you how to start, with a first-month plan built around speaking, and one tells you what is easy, what takes time and how long it takes.

The Mimica home screen: the tutor ready to talk, and Mimic, Roleplay, Characters and Games

English

Two guides, and the English course where you put them into practice.

How to learn English: start by speaking

A first-month plan for English built around speaking, with a daily routine that takes five minutes.

4 min read

Is English hard to learn?

Easy to start, hard to speak clearly. What is light, what takes time, and how your first language changes it.

4 min read

Spanish

Two guides, and the Spanish course where you put them into practice.

How to learn Spanish: a speaking plan for the first month

Five vowels, two r sounds, the present tense and a few hundred words. A first month of Spanish built around speaking.

4 min read

Is Spanish hard to learn?

One of the easiest languages for English speakers, with real work in it. What comes fast and what takes time.

3 min read

French

Two guides, and the French course where you put them into practice.

How to learn French: speak before you can spell

French is easier to say than to spell. A first month built around the sounds, the spoken verbs and real conversations.

4 min read

Is French hard to learn?

Harder to hear than to read, and easier to read than most English speakers expect.

3 min read

Portuguese

Two guides, and the Portuguese course where you put them into practice.

How to learn Portuguese: rhythm first

Portuguese is learned with the ears. Brazilian or European, the vowels, the verbs you will use, and a daily routine.

4 min read

Is Portuguese hard to learn?

Easy to read, hard to hear. What comes fast, what takes time, and why Spanish speakers get a head start and a trap.

3 min read

Japanese

Two guides, and the Japanese course where you put them into practice.

How to learn Japanese: polite form first

Speak Japanese before you can write it well. Kana in two weeks, the masu form, the particles and real situations.

4 min read

Is Japanese hard to learn?

Easy to pronounce, slow to read, different rather than difficult to speak.

3 min read

Korean

Two guides, and the Korean course where you put them into practice.

How to learn Korean: Hangul in a weekend, then speak

Hangul takes a weekend. The sounds and the verb endings take months of speaking. A first-month plan.

4 min read

Is Korean hard to learn?

The alphabet takes a weekend. The sounds and the endings take months. What is easy, what is not, and how long it takes.

3 min read

Dutch

Two guides.

How to learn Dutch: the closest language to English

The closest major language to English. A first month built around the sounds, the shared words and the verb in the right place.

4 min read

Is Dutch hard to learn?

One of the easiest languages for English speakers. What comes free, what takes time, and the one obstacle nobody warns you about.

3 min read

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