Written v.s. spoken language learning Rather unconventionally, I began learning my chosen language (German) from listening.  Audiobooks, music, movies, ect.... paying very little attention to the written language with the exception of seeing it on social media, and in some vocabulary apps.  Since joining italki, I'm typing and reading it constantly.  From chats with my new friends, to the lessons that I've taken, I'm paying much more attention to the written language.  That said, I wonder if learning to read and write first would have accelerated my growth.  I've always kind of approached it as "you learn your native language from hearing it and mimicking it before you ever learn to read or write it".  However, it's hard to deny that my pace of learning and retaining new vocabulary has certainly accelerated now that I'm engaging written words.  I'm just not convinced that one method is more effective than the other.  Obviously, a bit of both would probably be ideal.  What do you think?