Spaced repetition, explained without the jargon
Why reviewing a word right before you forget it beats reviewing it ten times in one sitting — and how to run the system without babysitting it.
THE LERNLANG BLOG
How languages actually get learned
Most language advice is either folklore or marketing. These are plain-English write-ups of the few ideas that keep holding up — spaced repetition, comprehensible input, word frequency — and an honest look at the tools and the timelines built on them.
MEMORY
INPUT
Comprehensible input: the case for reading slightly over your head
You don't learn a language by studying it. You learn it by understanding messages in it. Here's what that means in practice, and where most learners get stuck.
TIMELINES
How long does it really take to learn Spanish?
The FSI's 600–750 hours, what it actually buys, the cost of each CEFR level, and why two people at 300 hours end up in very different places.
VOCABULARY
Why the first 1,000 words carry most of the language
The coverage curve, the 98% threshold nobody mentions, and the study showing textbooks miss a third of the words you need most.
MOTIVATION
Your streak is not your progress
What gamification genuinely solved, where it quietly stalls, and the four numbers worth tracking instead of days in a row.
GRAMMAR
Why conjugation tables don't transfer
You can recite the preterite and still freeze mid-sentence. Knowing a rule and using it are two different systems — here's how to build the second one.
TOOLS
The 3 best language learning apps in 2026
Anki, HelloTalk, and Lernlang — three apps that each do one thing genuinely well, and how to tell which one you're actually missing.
Want the method, not just the theory?
Lernlang puts core vocabulary, grammar in context, and level-matched stories into one short daily loop.