Learn Hardcore German: Manchmal ist mein Lernfortschritt langsam, aber er ist deutlich, wenn ich alte Texte anschaue. - Sometimes my learning progress is slow, but it is clear when I look at old texts.

In German main clauses, the finite verb must be in second position (the “V2 rule”).
You can put different elements in first position to change the emphasis:
- Manchmal ist mein Lernfortschritt langsam … – emphasizes the time/frequency: Sometimes my progress is slow.
- Mein Lernfortschritt ist manchmal langsam … – emphasizes the subject a bit more: it’s my progress that is sometimes slow.
In both versions, ist stays in second position.

Why is it ist in second position after Manchmal and not third? There are three words: Manchmal ist mein…

German counts sentence elements, not individual words, for the verb-second rule.

Manchmal = first position (one adverbial element, even though it’s one word).
ist = second position (the finite verb).
mein Lernfortschritt = third position (the subject phrase).

So the pattern is:
1st element: Manchmal
2nd element (verb): ist
3rd element: mein Lernfortschritt

Why is it mein Lernfortschritt and not meiner Lernfortschritt or meinen Lernfortschritt?

Lernfortschritt is the subject of the sentence, so it’s in the nominative case.

The noun is der Lernfortschritt (masculine).
Nominative masculine singular with mein is simply mein Lernfortschritt (no extra ending on mein).
Other cases would change the form, for example:
- Accusative: Ich sehe meinen Lernfortschritt.
- Dative: Ich bin mit meinem Lernfortschritt zufrieden.

What does Lernfortschritt literally mean, and why is it one word?

Lernfortschritt is a compound noun made of:

Lern- (from lernen = to learn)
Fortschritt (= progress, advancement)

Literally: learning-progress → progress in learning.

German very often combines nouns into a single long noun. Writing it as two words (Lern Fortschritt) would be wrong.

Why is the pronoun er used? Why not es or sie?

Er refers back to Lernfortschritt.

The noun is der Lernfortschritt (grammatically masculine).
German pronouns must agree with the grammatical gender of the noun, not with any “logical” or natural gender.
So:
- der Lernfortschritt → er
- die Entwicklung → sie
- das Ergebnis → es

What exactly does langsam mean here? Is it negative or neutral?

Langsam means slow.

It can sound negative if you expect faster progress: My progress is (too) slow.
It can also be neutral: simply describing the speed without judging.
It does not mean “stupid” in German the way “slow” can sometimes imply in English; it’s about speed, not intelligence.

What nuance does deutlich have? Why not klar or sichtbar?

Deutlich means clear, noticeable, obvious.

deutlich: clearly recognizable, easy to perceive (often used with progress, differences, pronunciation, etc.).
klar: clear in the sense of understandable or logically clear.
sichtbar: visible to the eye.

Here, deutlich fits well because the idea is “my progress is clearly noticeable when I look at old texts.”
You could also say … aber mein Lernfortschritt ist klar erkennbar …, but deutlich is very natural.

Why is there a comma before aber? Is it required?

The comma separates two main clauses:

Manchmal ist mein Lernfortschritt langsam
aber er ist deutlich, wenn ich alte Texte anschaue.

With aber, German allows you to omit the comma in many cases, but using the comma is standard, clearer, and recommended:

Manchmal ist mein Lernfortschritt langsam, aber er ist deutlich … ✅
Manchmal ist mein Lernfortschritt langsam aber er ist deutlich … also allowed, but less tidy in writing.

Why is it wenn and not als or wann?

All three words relate to “when” in English, but they’re used differently:

wenn:
- for repeated events in the past, present or future:
  Wenn ich alte Texte anschaue, sehe ich meinen Fortschritt.
- often similar to whenever / if.
als:
- for one specific event in the past:
  Als ich gestern den Text gelesen habe, habe ich viel verstanden.
wann:
- for questions (direct or indirect):
  Wann schaust du alte Texte an? / Ich weiß nicht, wann du alte Texte anschaust.

Here, the meaning is more general / repeated (whenever I look at old texts), so wenn is correct.

Why does the verb anschaue go at the end in wenn ich alte Texte anschaue?

Wenn introduces a subordinate clause, and in subordinate clauses the finite verb moves to the end.

Structure of the wenn-clause:

Conjunction: wenn
Subject: ich
Object: alte Texte
Verb (finite, from anschauen): anschaue

So you get: wenn ich alte Texte anschaue.
In a main clause, the order would be: Ich schaue alte Texte an.

Why is it anschaue and not schaue an?

Anschauen is a separable verb:

Dictionary form: anschauen
In a main clause: the prefix separates and moves to the end:
Ich schaue alte Texte an.
In a subordinate clause (like with wenn), the finite verb goes to the end, and the prefix stays attached:
… wenn ich alte Texte anschaue.

So anschaue at the end is the correct subordinate-clause form of anschauen.

Why is it alte Texte and not alten Texte?

Alte Texte is accusative plural without an article.

Noun: der Text, plural die Texte.
Here, Texte is the direct object → accusative plural.
There is no article (some old texts), so the adjective uses strong endings.
For adjectives with no article in the accusative plural, the ending is -e: alte Texte.

If you added an article, the ending would change:

die alten Texte (article present → weak ending -en on the adjective).

How do I know Texte is accusative, not nominative?

You see it from the role in the clause:

In wenn ich alte Texte anschaue:
- ich is the subject → nominative.
- alte Texte is what you are looking at → direct object → accusative.

Nominative plural and accusative plural often look the same in form (Texte), so you must rely on who does what to whom (the function in the sentence).

Could I also say wenn ich mir alte Texte anschaue? What’s the difference?

Yes, wenn ich mir alte Texte anschaue is also correct and common.

sich etwas anschauen = to look at something (for oneself), often used reflexively with mir/dir/sich.
ich schaue alte Texte an and ich schaue mir alte Texte an are both idiomatic.
The version with mir can sound slightly more personal, like I look (for myself) at my old texts, but in everyday speech the difference is small here.

Why is the tense ist (present) used for something that seems like an ongoing, general situation?

German present tense (Präsens) covers:

right now: Er ist müde. – He is tired (now).
general truths / habits: Manchmal ist mein Lernfortschritt langsam. – Sometimes my progress is slow (in general).

So using ist is normal for describing general tendencies and repeated situations, just like English simple present. No special tense is needed.