Ask HN: Has anyone else learned English just by reading tech posts (like HN)?
Hi HN, I'm curious if anyone else had a similar journey learning English.
I'm from Ukraine and started reading Hacker News about five years ago. At first, I understood almost nothing. I didn’t use a translator — partly because I was lazy, and partly because I wanted to see how much I could figure out just from context.
So I kept reading. I would see the same words appear in different posts and comments, and slowly, I began to understand their meaning. Sentence structures became clearer, and I started to “feel” the language. Eventually, I stopped being afraid of reading in English altogether.
I didn’t learn from a teacher or a course — just from the internet, and mostly from here.
Now I write posts, share my projects, and even chat with other devs here — all in English. It still feels surreal sometimes.
Have any of you learned English (or another language) in a similar way — just by immersion, without formal study?
Also: thank you, HN. You taught me more than just tech.
I'm on the path of learning English, and I'm a newcomer here. Can you share your experiences? I'm currently viewing this post through a translation plugin.
My journey is similar to yours. I am from Turkey and work in the industry for almost 8 years. My english level was B1 at the beginning. By reading and learning everything through articles and documentations I feel very comfortable right now. Especially in writing. Reading was not a concern for me but writing feels way more easy.
I'm learning another language by watching videos. The term you want to search for is "comprehensible input."
HN definitely helped me to improve my writing skills
Thank you HN !