LOL, I did take a semester of French in high school.

I guess it makes sense as an overlap - North America and Europe both have primarily English, Spanish, and French speakers in close vicinity. And Japanese cultural exports are just really popular.

I’m learning Japanese. On and off for years, but mainly the last couple. I’m still only at the advanced beginner stage, trying to work on my Kanji, reading, and listening.

Also learning Spanish, but I feel like I’m in a better spot with it. I took classes in school and have a decent foundation, just need way more practice. It’s on the backburner since I’d rather build on my Japanese.

For fans of this thread/topic, check out !languagelearning@sopuli.xyz . They have a weekly thread for progress and a few active folks. Lemmy also has more specific language learning communities that could stand to be more active.

Nothing wrong with posting here (looks like a solid answer already given!), but this thread seems like a good time to plug some relevant communities that exist and would probably be helpful for this kind of thing:

• !conlangs@mander.xyz
• !linguistics@mander.xyz
• !languages@lemmy.world

If you skipped the Switch 1, I think it’s worth going for. It’s overpriced for the moment - there are only a handful of Switch 2 exclusive games worth playing this year. Even the flagship Mario Kart game is a little weird with how it does some of its modes. But the Switch 1 has an extensive library with plenty of great multiplayer options. If you’re ready for a purchase, might as well go ahead and get the 2 so y’all can play the new Nintendo games when you want.

I agree that Nintendo the company is really slimy though, and it does feel a little gross to support them sometimes.

I’ve replaced all my aimless Reddit scrolling with Lemmy. I’m not so purist I refuse to go there though - there’s still a lot of good info organized there, and it’s still decent for searches.

I’ve replaced Twitter too. Ironically Facebook is the one that sticks around, despite being probably the most user-hostile. That one’s built around people I know IRL and it’s not so easy to drop in a replacement. Even though it’s not very good for that or any purpose.

As for what to do there - again, it’s your call. Generally they have several flavors of weight machines, cardio machines, free weights, usually some kind of aerobics space.

You set your own goals and routines. In contrast with something like school, no one’s going to force you to exercise. You have to want to - whether that’s for the fun of it or to achieve some health result.

Gyms also tend to offer classes, or personal trainers you can hire if you want more structure.

You’re absolutely correct that you can do all that at home. Will you? I find that going to a place puts me in the right state of mind to do the thing. They do have a lot of equipment available, but you can mostly replace it at low cost by running outdoors or buying a few dumbells.

Likewise for the costume - when I started going, I was very worried about making sure I had gym shorts and running shoes and a sweat wicking shirt and a gym bag. I got that stuff and it did help, just mentally put me into the place for it. But after a while I realized I could just go in casual clothes (though my gym bans jeans) and it’s fine. Up to you what’s more motivating - workout clothes or reducing friction by wearing what you’ve got.

Memory has a way of being fuzzy and inaccurate. Probably not my actual first experience of it, and I’m probably combining several different occasions…

But I remember a new desk with a computer set up in the living room. My parents or brother set me down in front of it and asked what I wanted to look for, I could search for anything. The first thing that came to mind was to look for Zelda, so I got them to type in Zelda Link’s Awakening for the search engine. I ended up on a cool little fansite, and learned about the bomb arrows trick.

I always thought Regin Smidur by Týr captured exactly the kind of vibes I’d expect from Viking metal. But I’ve never known what the lyrics are about, and probably don’t want to.

It’s not that you play one game exactly. The Pokemon games are about collecting and raising monsters. Each of those monsters have some unique stats and metadata.

Each time a sequel comes out, those games usually give you a way to transfer creatures from the old game to the new game (it used to be by linking games directly, now I think they have a side app).

Even though each generation brings kind of a totally new game, in same ways they have aspects of expansion packs. You can keep using the monsters you had before and building a bigger collection.

Not sure about current options, but I came across a physical copy some time ago. Wine was able to install it and run it without much fuss. Iirc I didn’t even have to put the disc back in to play.

I didn’t get around to sticking with it though, so there might have been more issues down the line, past the first bit of gameplay.

Amazing game. I remember hearing folks describe it, before I ever played. I couldn’t get my head around the concept. Then you play, and all the rules just make sense.

When I played through Portal in dev commentary mode, I was surprised at the time to realize they’re basically trying to teach you things through the whole game (or at least heavily signpost). Made me realize a lot about game design, and design in general.

If it ever does calm down and stabilize, beware. That means something expensive is about to break. It’s always something!

But really, it does get a lot less hectic after you close, get utilities and address records sorted, finish any big upfront renovations you want to do, and get most of your stuff unpacked.

I think so. If you’re a human and you’re not a jerk, then interacting on a platform you want to see flourish is a good idea.

It might fail. Any given platform may fail despite many people’s efforts to make it work. But that’s not a good reason not to try.

Yep, and you can grab an extension like Enhancer for YouTube to get customized looping behavior too.

September 25, 2025

Not exactly games I guess, but https://neal.fun/ always has neat stuff. I think some of them are relatively recent.

There are lots of great things to do, but most important is to build a habit and keep working at it. Engage with the language every day, and work up to consuming content designed for native speakers.

Duolingo and similar apps are helpful, but don’t put all your eggs in that, or any single, basket. Also do Anki or some other flashcard thing. And at the very least a beginner textbook or grammar guide is good to have. Early on, mix time between textbook, apps, ‘comprehensible input’ videos. Work your way up to reading, and look for graded readers to get started.

(Also, as Duolingo gets worse, consider alternatives like Memrise and Mondly. Or even paid stuff like Busuu, Lingq, Pimsleur, Babbel, Rosetta Stone. Also, your local library may give access to Transparent Language or Mango. Although of course I can’t vouch for most of these personally.)

Another rec: check out !languagelearning@sopuli.xyz for a cool community. Good place to ask questions and get support.

There are probably a ton of cool learning resources specific to your target language. Look online for communities around it.

Yeah! Songs are a good addition to learning activities. You learn several words deeply, with great repetition, and it’s fun.

But I agree you need to be looking at lyrics and using a dictionary. It can be too easy to just listen to songs as music, and not get any language-learning out of it.