LingoflyNotes
These are questions with no short answer — the ones this niche usually answers with a lie: how many words you need, whether streaks help, whether starting at thirty is too late. Every number here links to the study it came from.
All notes
- 📄Why a word list doesn't stickWhy rereading a word list barely works, what helps instead, and when to return to a word so it stays. With a walkthrough of the research.
- 📄How many words you need to knowHow many words to learn to understand a conversation, and how many to read without a dictionary. And why “I know almost all the words” does not yet mean “I understood everything”.
- 📄Do streaks and rewards helpWhat is proven about gamification in learning, why rewards for participation undermine motivation, and what is known about streaks — an honest walkthrough with numbers and links.
- 📄Is it too late to start as an adultWhat is known about the critical period: the data on 669 thousand people, the criticism of it, and what it means for an adult starting a language from scratch.
- 📄How to break down an unfamiliar scriptA practical order for taking on an unfamiliar script: how many characters at a time, why to come back, why you must not start with words, and what to do about look-alike characters.
- 📄Why we do not ask your phone to read words aloudWhy on many sites the sound button stays silent for Armenian and Georgian, how that differs from our sound, and why some words have no button at all.
- 📄How to choose which language to learnHow to choose a language to learn: what motivation data says, why “the most useful” is a bad criterion, and how to decide if there are several options.
- 📄Fear of speaking an unfamiliar languageWhat is known about language anxiety: how much it interferes, where it comes from in adults, and what is proven to reduce it.
Frequently asked
Where do these materials come from?
The articles are written by the Lingofly team from primary sources. Every checkable claim links to the study it comes from — open it and see for yourself. All the studies are collected on the Sources page.