Learning a new language

[Ryllharu]

with latin and greek we did vocab first, translating little stories and such.

We almost entirely switched to grammar after one set of first and second declension nouns and the first and second conjugations. We only learned vocab as we went through the declensions after that. By the time we got to poetry, it was a piece of cake.

Subsequently, I have forgotten nearly all of it in the four years since. Non-use will do that.

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Which brings up the next important point. Immersion. Since we're already here, most of us watch anime. Granted, much of it is very simplified, or twisted into "cutesy" ways of speaking, but it helps far more than you think. That's how you can maintain (or retain) what you've learned.

Immersion is absolutely key to learning any language with any amount of actual fluency.