Tips for learning another language with a disability?

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Hi! I hope everyone is doing well. I've got a couple of languages I'd really like to learn (Japanese and Russian, with Japanese being the top priority at the moment), but I have an executive function disability. What this means is, I have a disability that affects the executive functioning of my brain. Largely the frontal lobe is affected (though not exclusively), and I have extreme trouble starting, finishing, and switching tasks, as well as maintaining focus. My memory is also affected to an extent.

I was wondering if you had any tips or resources that would be helpful for someone like me, given my specific difficulties. The only thing I know to do for sure right now is duolingo. It being on my phone helps, because when I am having trouble moving to a different area, I can be productive by doing some lessons, but I am skeptical of its true efficacy.

One thing I have extreme difficulty with is reading textbooks. I have to reread things over and over again to really retain what I read, and it becomes exhausting rather quickly.

I know this is an unusual request, but I really hope you all can give me some help! Thank you for any assistance you can provide!

in languagelearningby CryoProtea

78%

1mo

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melancholymelanie

1mo

As a person with ADHD, an almost pure CI (comprehensible input) approach has been a godsend. I'm doing the dreaming spanish program after failing to learn a second language my whole life. I'm now at the point where I can understand a lot of memes and instagram reels in Spanish, especially when they're subtitled.

people love to hate on this approach but honestly it takes very little executive function or energy to do compared to formal study, especially after the first 100 hours or so.

ADHD specific tips:

if you can, trigger a hyperfixation on language acquisition to get you through the first stages until the content gets more interesting, lmao (easier said than done, I know)
try keeping your content just a little harder than is recommended for people at your level without ADHD. you'll learn a little slower this way, but we need engaging content, and often do better with faster speech.
find something mindless things to do with your hands while watching videos/listening to podcasts.
if it's too hard and you can't focus, try something easier. if it's too slow and you're dying of boredom, try something harder. if you're just having a shit focus day, rewatch something you enjoyed, or, if advanced enough, watch a TV show instead of learner content.
from intermediate level on, try to start consuming content about your current hyperfixations in your TL. look for youtube channels etc about whatever you find super motivating and consume that as content.
ci should not feel like work and should never feel like study. you're just watching youtube videos, some of which are kind of boring at worst. if you're working hard to translate or figure shit out: just stop. if you can't summarize what was said after, just hi back to something easier.

you will want to start talking at some point, the folks who claim CI learners never practice speech have never looked into the actual method, but you'll wait long enough that you can start having interesting conversations very early on, rather than wading through years of drilling phrases.

DigitalAxel

1mo

I'm kinda following this method but need something more to practice with. Struggling with motivation (for goal-oriented reasons that aren't necessary here) and ASD/ADHD problems. A year into this process I can only form very basic present-tense sentences sadly...

Talking, listening, and word order are a massive struggle. Can't grasp the grammar. I have this problem in my native English- couldn't tell you what the parts of a sentence are but I can write a very decent essay.

Shame its hard to find content I like in my TL. Ive added another language simply because its similar but there's more content available. But I might confuse myself.