A Hardcore System for Learning Languages Fast

Here is one way of gaining spoken conversational fluency very quickly. It works for me. It has worked for others who really followed the steps. “Hardcore systems”, however, aren’t for everyone.

But for those who get the hang of it, it works very well.

1. Print out the prolist. Staple it.

This is the prolist.

Five pages of words.

They enable you to say or paraphrase just about anything and manage conversations so you understand just about anything.

2. Fill out the words in your target language.

Write whatever you’d use to communicate each prolist idea next to it.

Indonesian: An old version of the prolist, page four

Just five pages. You can do this within a couple weeks or—if obsessed—a couple days. How to go about doing this:

1. The first group of words on page two (pronouns, like, want…) usually take the back side of a page. Grammar terms are there only to help you search, but don’t get sucked into the black hole of grammar or “perfect form”. Just focus on gaining tools to communicate these ideas.

Turkish: Expanding some of page two on a back page. Used my own symbols and added more than necessary. Doesn’t need to be this complex. If you need more than a full page, you’re over-preparing.

2. The second group of words on the second page (with an *asterisk) are groups of words, which also need the back of the prolist for expansion. For “positions” use a back page and write “on” “under” “next to” “right” “left” and so on. You don’t need to know everything, just the basics.

Burmese group words: questions, positions, time

I recommend finding a human being to help find the appropriate words.

Second best: an example dictionary plus a pronunciation dictionary.

3. Converse as much as possible

Find a local native speaker or someone online (Reddit, Italki, Verbling), and schedule as many conversations as you can. Start with 30-minute talks. Three or more per week.

During your talk, just communicate. Don’t worry about form or accuracy. Tell the native speaker not to correct you unless what you say impedes understanding. Relax, and enjoy talking.

This is the third step. Not the fourth. Don’t try to memorize the prolist. Just keep it on hand for morale support. You can use it to say almost anything:

You might not be able to say “library”

But you can say place where you find books

You might not know “baker”

But you can say a person who makes bread

Even if you can’t paraphrase using the prolist, you can use the phrase on page five “how do you say ____?”.

Keep a paper and pencil handy

During your talk, you will at times:

1. Think oh I wish I knew how to say ___. Jot it down.
2. Hear a new sound you don’t understand. Jot it down.

During or after the talk, find out how to say #1 and the meaning of #2.

Finally, remember something you liked about the talk.

The prolist enables you to communicate just about anything. Exceptions are advanced topics (politics, existentialism) and personal topics (what your hobby is). With each talk, you fill these gaps.

The prolist expands. You discover your own personalized “curriculum” that works for any language, even rarer languages with less resources! All the while, you become a stronger listener and speaker.

If you want to learn faster, I recommend:

1. Up your total minutes of conversation per week. Maybe hour-long conversations everyday!
2. When you aren’t with another speaker, practice Radical Translation.

That’s the system in a nutshell. It works if you do all the steps. But don’t take my word for it. Try it out for yourself. Print, staple, fill, and have at least one month of triweekly conversations. Competence will happen.

Ask me if you have any questions.

There’s more to this article! I wrote in a rush because I wanted to send this to two particular people. Check back in a couple weeks, or follow me, for answers to these questions:

1. What if the language is hard?
2. What if I have too much anxiety to talk to someone?
3. What does a good conversation look like?
4. What would a one-page version of this look like? A zero-page version?