Why I Quit Learning Languages

Overview

The video is a personal “I quit” story about how the creator’s obsession with learning languages—starting especially with French—became their entire identity. It follows their journey from studying nonstop and adding more languages over time to turning language learning into a constant lifestyle through habits like walking 10 miles daily during lockdown while listening to podcasts.

They describe language learning like a game, complete with unlocking “communication DLC,” map/geography obsession, daydreams about future travel, and bingeing polyglot YouTubers for motivation—especially Steve Kaufmann.

The Turning Point

The creator eventually admits a major shift: they stopped studying for growth and started studying for content.

• Filming and “channel-first” thinking replaced the joy of actually practicing.
• This caused stagnation, guilt, and a shame cycle that made them avoid studying.
• They “quit learning languages,” feeling depressed because the person making language content no longer matched the person who was learning.

Feeling Like an Impostor

Even after finding success—traveling and attending language exchange events and meeting inspiring polyglots—they often felt like an impostor. The comparison trap kept hitting:

• Others kept improving while they didn’t.
• Browsing YouTube felt disconnected from their real learning life.
• Instead of helping, it made things worse.

The Real Lesson: Don’t Wait for Motivation

They explain that the problem wasn’t the absence of passion—it was waiting for motivation to magically return before taking action.

Once they restarted studying—particularly rebuilding and improving their Spanish—without self-judgment and with a renewed priority on learning over filming, the positive feelings gradually came back:

• reconnecting with their earlier self
• daydreaming about future language adventures again
• even falling asleep thinking about new languages

Where They Are “Now”

In the present, they say they’ve been sharing daily progress for 120+ days via Patreon. They feel re-energized and plan to keep YouTube, but with fixed priorities:

• live the hobby first
• let videos follow naturally

Notable Jokes / Bits

• “French is gay.”
• “Communication DLC with new NPCs around the world.”
• Role-playing as a polyglot YouTuber before starting their own channel.
• “Half of my languages were stored in there” (about the beard).
• Branding gag: changing from “LanguageSimp” to their real name.

Personalities Appearing

• The creator (Samidna / “LanguageSimp” in the story)
• Steve Kaufmann