Some people tend to think learning a language is something that comes and goes. You learned Spanish in high school, now it’s 2025, now you’re in Mexico trying to order a taco—where did the time go?
Well, great news: you lose nothing over time.
What? Nothing?
Yes, nothing.
My theory is that language learning is a constant building process. Let me give you an analogy.
Clearing a forest
Language learning is not like a campfire: it begins to build but without fuel, wood, or in our case, words, grammar, etc., the fire dies until it burns out. How else would you be able to say, “Yo quiero un taco por favor!” Those words didn’t just magically evaporate out of thin air the moment you forgot to study them, right?
Think of it this way: language learning is like clearing a forest. Every time you learn, you’re using a machete to cut down some trees. Over time, the forest gets clearer, you understand more, and the language you’re using becomes more free and accessible.
But let’s say you stop learning for a while. Then what? Does all that progress, all of those words and vocab just magically disappear?
Well, yes and no.
Just like a forest, there might be new growth. Some ferns, some grass, a new tree stump to remove when you get back. But overall, the progress is still there.
You didn’t just magically lose all of the progress you made. You aren’t at square one. How can I understand, roughly, full conversations in Japanese and Korean yet never use these languages on a regular basis?
Exposure and experience.
If you come back, you’re likely to be in roughly the same spot you left it. Yay!
So please don’t feel bad that you “lost all your progress.” I know water in German is vasser even though I haven’t checked my language app in a while.
Final Thoughts
You haven’t lost all of your progress—you just paused but now you’re back.
You don’t have to clear massive trees. Those words are still in your vocabulary. The grammar may be a few stumps or ferns that grew back. But the concepts remain even after time has passed.
Good luck on your path to fluency!
Yours,
Judah