---
title: "KnowHow — how to actually learn a language · NoaLingua"
description: "Method, not motivation. What the research says about learning a language, what people who have done it advise, and how to make watching count."
url: "https://noalingua.com/knowhow/"
language: "en"
modified: "2026-08-19"
license: "CC BY 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
---
KnowHow

# NoaLingua KnowHow

How to actually learn a language

KnowHow is one section per language, covering how to start, how long it honestly takes, which parts are hard, and how to turn watching and reading into practice. Every figure is sourced and dated, and every method is one you can begin tonight.

Most language advice is either a motivational post with nothing in it, or a list of apps written by somebody being paid per app. This section is neither. Each language gets the same treatment: what the evidence says, what people who have genuinely done it recommend, and where the popular advice is wrong.

We sell a tool, and we say so on every page rather than pretending otherwise. What we do not do is pretend it replaces the work.

## 5 languages, 25 articles

More are being written. Each one lands only when it has something in it that the rest of the internet does not already say better.

[French Category I · 600–750 class hours · 5 articles](https://noalingua.com/knowhow/french/)[German Category II · about 900 class hours · 5 articles](https://noalingua.com/knowhow/german/)[Japanese Category IV · about 2,200 class hours · 5 articles](https://noalingua.com/knowhow/japanese/)[Korean Category IV · about 2,200 class hours · 5 articles](https://noalingua.com/knowhow/korean/)[Spanish Category I · 600–750 class hours · 5 articles](https://noalingua.com/knowhow/spanish/)

## Try NoaLingua on the next video you were going to watch anyway.

Free, with every feature. No account, nothing to cancel, and your deck stays on your machine.

[Add to Chrome — Free Add to Chrome](https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/ocimolffhgpeeoifjpjhgikgfbnmlkdh) Opens the Chrome Web Store listing **NoaLingua — beyond dual subs: video, web, PDF** — free, no account, Chrome 138 or newer.

- [Free, and not a trial Every feature on the free plan — both PDF modes, shadowing, all 30 practice formats.](https://noalingua.com/pricing/)
- [No account, no email Nothing to sign up for and nothing to cancel. There is no login screen at all.](https://noalingua.com/privacy/)
- [Two dropdowns to set up Pick what you are learning and what you want translations in. That is the whole setup.](https://noalingua.com/getting-started/)
- [Your words stay yours Export to Anki, CSV, a spreadsheet or a full JSON profile — free on every plan.](https://noalingua.com/docs/export-import/)

[What happens after you install](https://noalingua.com/getting-started/) · [Pricing](https://noalingua.com/pricing/) · [What it cannot do](https://noalingua.com/limits/)