Using your hobby as a means to learning

So I've been thinking about learning Portuguese for the past months. I have never "officially" started other that listening to random videos on Youtube, but I noticed that I've already learned some slang without really trying by watching Jiujittsu fights online lol.  

I think this is a cool way of learning a language, you get to pursue your other hobbies while slowly building your competency in the language of your choice. Anybody experienced something similar?

Music is my own solution, I love music and I listen everyday, so I download song in foreign languages, search for the lyrics, sing along and learn. :grin:

If you are a big fan of football you could try watching the games in Portuguese. If you like action gun movies there is Tropa de Elite which I think os available for free on YouTube.

Before I started learning Japanese (and before I even had an interest in the language), I learned a few words through watching some anime. 

Rose.Angelie wrote:

Before I started learning Japanese (and before I even had an interest in the language), I learned a few words through watching some anime.

same here! watashi mo! :blush:

Hmm... I like eating. It might explain why I know food items in a lot of languages.  

I've been watching anime for years but other than basic expressions and honorifics, I know next to nothing. T_T

This is a very effective approach to learning other language because it's an ally against language burnout. It will give you the drive to pursue your goal of mastering the language.

Using hobby as a means to learn something is very effective because mostly, one can master first what he/she is learning if it's his/her priority of interest. So, if it's one's priority of interest, then it would not take much time for him/her to learn the said thing.

I agree, if language learning is coupled with your favourite hobby, you have much more motivation to learn more. The same may also count for reading subject-specific magazines, like Cosmopolitan or The Economist (or something related to sports/ science/ cooking etc). This way, it won't be boring to read such articles in a foreign language if a person is very interested in the topic itself. 

i noticed i actually learn some words faster when i hear it in a song. for example "echame la culpa" by luis fonsi and Demi Lovato, Despacito also 

I love to watch cooking shows and hear music in other languages. After I watched football (soccer) in English I can't stand to watch it in Spanish

Jess.PWinkler wrote:

I love to watch cooking shows and hear music in other languages. After I watched football (soccer) in English I can't stand to watch it in Spanish

I watch baseball. From time to time, I hear the Spanish version. I don't actually know any Spanish, but the Spanish announcers definitely sound a lot more enthusiastic than the English ones!

I usually get plenty of Japanese words learned from singing Japanese songs and watching Jdrama and animes. ^_^ I sometimes play my ukulele and sing Japanese anime songs with it. YAY!

Totally agree, it is easy to lose interest in learning a language, if you interested it into a hobby it stays within your interests. 

This guy tried some games in French for the immersion aspect (but more to justify wanting to play games). He had some mixed results.  

https://www.reddit.com/r/languagelearning/comments/9w570i/video_games_for_immersion_in_a_language/

meifeng wrote:

Jess.PWinkler wrote:

I love to watch cooking shows and hear music in other languages. After I watched football (soccer) in English I can't stand to watch it in Spanish

I watch baseball. From time to time, I hear the Spanish version. I don't actually know any Spanish, but the Spanish announcers definitely sound a lot more enthusiastic than the English ones!

The sportscaster in English are a lot more imparcial, that's why I like them :)

Mei wrote:

I usually get plenty of Japanese words learned from singing Japanese songs and watching Jdrama and animes. ^_^ I sometimes play my ukulele and sing Japanese anime songs with it. YAY!

I’d love you to share some Japanese songs.. i’d love to listen and learn 

Oghenekevwe wrote:

i noticed i actually learn some words faster when i hear it in a song. for example "echame la culpa" by luis fonsi and Demi Lovato, Despacito also:grin:

Same here when I listen to kpop. 

TemitopeAkinyede wrote:

Mei wrote:

I usually get plenty of Japanese words learned from singing Japanese songs and watching Jdrama and animes. ^_^ I sometimes play my ukulele and sing Japanese anime songs with it. YAY!

I’d love you to share some Japanese songs.. i’d love to listen and learn

Some of my favorite Japanese songs are the various opening tracks to Naruto Shipuuden. Quick, sweet and oh-so-heartfelt.