How I Learned 5 Languages and So Can You: Philosophy of Radical Self-Study
My language-learning background
I speak five languages at different levels — and have a basic understanding of a few more. It wasn’t talent, privilege, or discipline that got me here. It was love, curiosity, and a lot of self-directed work.
My native language is Russian. For a long time, I didn’t value it —speaking it felt too familiar, too basic. But years of observation changed my perspective. Russian is one of the most difficult languages on Earth. As native speakers, we study it in school for ten years. One of those years is entirely devoted to punctuation. And that doesn’t even include Russian literature, which is taught separately. Despite this, many native speakers still make a lot of mistakes. I’ve seen it time and again.
My English is now almost at the same level as my Russian. I’ve been using it professionally for years, defended my PhD in English, and built a full library of admissions materials in it.
I speak German at a C1 level. I’ve used original German literature extensively in both my PhDs and most of my other research projects.
French is around B2–C1, depending on the skill. I participated in aFrench moot court, coached a team for it, and spent a full year studying inFrench at the Collège universitaire français de Moscou.
I also speak Italian at around B1–B2, which I learned mostly for the joy of it while living in Italy for four years while doing my second PhD.
I have a basic understanding of Spanish, Ukrainian, and Polish.
Whenever I talk to people about languages, they assume I’m either exceptionally talented, had expensive tutors, or that I’m some kind of productivity machine. None of that is true.
First of all, there is no such thing as ‘talent.’ No one is born with supernatural abilities. What people call ‘talent’ is usually a mix of hard work, circumstances (either self-created or provided), and intelligence.
And I definitely wasn’t the child whose parents could afford expensive tutors. In the 11th grade, my father managed to hire a tutor who charged 150rubles (about €1.50) for one hour a week — yes, that’s incredibly cheap even for the later-1990s Russia. I was lucky to find someone at that price point.
My primary strategy has always been fierce self-study — simply because that was all I could afford for years. And yes, I work like hell — but only on projects that are dear to my heart. You won’t find me grinding away at math or physics, because they are fundamentally uninteresting to me. The real driving force behind doing anything worthwhile, I believe, is love. Discipline follows love — not the other way around.
In this post, I want to share the key principles that helped me learn multiple languages.
Principle #1: Follow the Pleasure
Western culture tends to push a masculine, force-driven narrative:success comes through pain, discipline, and self-conquest. The ‘no pain, no gain’ mentality. In language learning, this often translates into strict routines, rote drills, and ‘military discipline.’
But that’s not how the brain works. The brain returns to pleasure and avoids pain. You’re free to fight yourself — but don’t expect exceptional results.
In language learning, this plays out on two levels:
- Substantive: Do you actually enjoy the act of learning the language? If you’re miserable every time you open a book or an app, maybe languages just aren’t for you — and that’s fine. Respect it and explore other skills.
- Procedural: Most people who start learning the language like the idea of it, but the tools they’re using are wrong for them. The methods don’t bring joy, so progress stalls.
To fix this, experiment. Try different tools, formats, and materials until you find what clicks.
For every language I’ve learned, I hand picked the materials that were fun or fascinating for me. It takes effort, but it pays off. Here are a few examples:
- German: I watched a lot of old DDR fairy tales and animated films because they were simple, fun, and beginner-friendly. I don’t enjoy fiction in my native language, so I didn’t read a lot of it in my target languages. On the other hand, I read a lot of creative non-fiction, especially memoirs and books on psychology. I discovered the story of a fascinating character Lou Andreas-Salomé through Irvin Yalom’s When Nietzsche Wept, and read a couple of her biographies in German.
- French: I watched dance tutorials (I dance Afro styles, where many teachers are native French speakers, especially in the Congolese ndombolo). I also explored singing in French — another passion that helped me improve my language skills.
- Italian: A friend recommended Mio nonno era un ciliegio — a children’s book so sweet and moving that it made learning the Italian language a pure joy.
I tried a lot of grammar books, most of which I never finished. I couldn’t force myself through them — they bored me to death. But the ones that sparked my interest stuck. It’s a cliché, but in language learning, the journey truly is the destination.
Languages are for connection, communication, and joy. Follow the pleasure.
Principle #2: Do in Your Target Language What You Do in Your Native Language
Standard language learning often includes activities no one would ever do in their native tongue: listening to artificial dialogues, reading dull news articles, constructing awkward conversations.
‘But I know my native language better,’ you may say, ‘I can’t do the things I do in my native language until I reach a certain level of mastery in my target language.’ To an extent, it’s true — but you hadn’t always known your native language. You just forgot how you learned it.
For instance, if you don’t read the news in your native language, don’t do it in your target language. If you don't read fiction in your native language, don't do it in your target language.
I did the things I naturally do: I watched dance tutorials in my target language. I read about personal finance – because it’s a natural topic of interest for me. I reread Harry Potter in multiple languages — already knowing the plot helped me learn vocabulary faster.
Whatever you do in your native language — books, podcasts, conversations— try doing that in your target language. Skip what feels unnatural.
Principle #3: Let Your Goal Dictate Your Choice of Materials
Start with a clear, specific goal. ‘Learning a language’ is not a good goal. It’s too vague — it won’t get you anywhere.
When I started German, my goal was narrow: access to legal literature for comparative law analysis. I wasn’t aiming to have fluent conversations or write essays. At the time, I focused entirely on reading.
I remembered a professor of mine saying he started by reading legal texts with a dictionary in hand. I followed suit. I bought German Grammar for Lawyers, mastered the basics, and dove into actual German texts — I’d order legal books on my subject of study at the university library, and read. Initially,I had to translate every other word, but I kept improving until I was able to read fluently.
Alongside that, I consumed other beginner-friendly content like the animated fairy tales and Deutsche Welle’s language resources. I enrolled in the German law lectures at the Moscow State University and even presented a legal paper in German (six months into learning it — no AI, just a lot of effort). It was far from perfect — I blanked when questions came — but I got through it.
Eventually, I expanded to other skills and was able to apply to German-speaking programs, like the German Law and Language Academy in Regensburg and a semester in Berlin. But that was a pleasant side effect. My initial success came from having one clear goal — and focusing 80%of my time on it.
Principle #4: Immersion Is Key — and You Can Create It Yourself
There’s a widespread belief that you need to live in a country where your target language is spoken to truly become fluent. I believe it’s false. That might have been true 50 years ago, but today, it’s simply outdated.
You can live in a country and still never learn the local language. Many people stay in expat bubbles, working and socializing entirely in their native tongue. The U.S. is especially well-known for this — people can live there for decades and never learn English.
On the flip side, you can create a fully immersive environment without ever leaving your home.
You can surround yourself with books, videos, podcasts, and projects in your target language. You can build a container that supports your learning and mimics the feeling of immersion.
I remember one day, my father walked into my room looking for a document he thought he’d forgotten there. He paused and said, ‘But there’s not a single piece of paper in Russian here.’ All the books and printouts I had on my desk were in some other language. I was deep in the language-learning mode, and it was intentional. I had created an environment where everything I read, watched, or worked on was in my target language.That’s how deep immersion can look — and you can build it yourself.
Principle #5: Put Yourself in Situations Where You Have to Use the Language
One of the most effective strategies I’ve used was to deliberately commit to projects and environments that require me to use the language, no matter how ready I felt.
People often ask me what grammar book I recommend. My honest answer: I don’t recommend any.
Books can help with basics, but language is a living, evolving thing. It’s meant to communicate, not pass exams. You co-create it as you use it with others. Real fluency comes from doing.
Here are some of the projects I took on before I felt ready:
- German: I attended lectures in German law at MSU taught byProfessor Ariane Hess during my first year of learning the language. At first,I only understood the articles and auxiliary verbs — but I kept going. My comprehension grew, thanks to relentless self-study alongside the lectures.
- French: I participated in a French moot court during my second year of learning it, even though my spontaneous speech was still shaky, and I could properly pronounce the French ‘r’. It pushed me to improve quickly.
- Spoken English: During my first study trip to London Language School that I funded with Olympiad prize money, I used every break to talk to classmates. I also asked multiple strangers for directions even when I didn’t need it just to start conversations, and even went to the GlobeTheatre twice — each visit cost just £5, and I soaked in every word. I volunteered in Ilmenau, Germany, for a youth project to practice everyday conversation and get over the fear of speaking. I also attended InternationalStudent Week in Ilmenau and joined competitions like Willem Vis and Jessup.
- Legal Research: For my law research, I deliberately chose topics that required foreign-language literature. I specialized in comparative and international law.
In every case, I didn’t treat these opportunities as ways to showcase my skills — I saw them as ways to develop them. The excitement of doing something I loved in a new language always outweighed the fear of making mistakes and looking stupid.
A Note on Formal Learning (and Why I Rarely Used It)
As you can see, I took very few formal language classes. I dropped out pretty much out of every conventional language class I took.
Why? Because most of them were too slow for me. I think fast, and I need to move at my own pace. I haven’t been officially diagnosed with ADHD, but I definitely exhibit many of the symptoms. Self-paced learning works much better for me, especially when I’m focused on something I enjoy.
University language classes didn’t help much either. For two years, we had English lessons based on Wikipedia articles and depressing news stories. I hated them. They were boring, uninspiring, and completely disconnected from howI actually wanted to use the language.
Instead, I created my own path.
- At the French college in the Moscow State University, we took a placement test and were sorted into seven levels. I landed in Group 5(with Group 1 being the highest), but I requested to move to Group 2.
- In German class at the Humboldt University, I was placed in a B2 group. It felt too easy, so I asked to join the C1 group. It wasn’t perfect — six of the nine students were Russian, and we often reverted to speaking Russian on breaks — but it was still a better fit.
In both cases, the classes were complementary to deep, focused self-study.
If you’re learning a language and would like to move faster
If you’ve been trying to learn a language but feel like you’re not progressing as fast as you’d like to — or it’s not working the way you hoped — here’s what I’d like you to know:
There’s nothing wrong with you. You might just need a different approach.
If you’d like help adjusting your language learning strategy or figuring out what actually works for you, I’m happy to offer 1-on-1 consultations. We’ll explore what’s not working and build a better, more personalized plan.
I’m not a language tutor. I can’t help you prep for exams.
But I am a language enthusiast who’s self-taught four foreign languages and can help you build an environment and a mindset that supports your progress.
If this sounds interesting to you, drop me a message.
Hope this helps, and good luck!