Most
travelers, myself included, want to learn at least one foreign language. It opens up a whole new world, almost
literally, allows us to make friends, have eye-opening conversations, and solve
problems in ways we can’t even imagine.
BUT…
many of us
travelers also feel ‘guilty’ about not making more progress, having abandoned
their study plans, giving up completely, not having more motivation/ time to
study, etc. To me, this is completely
backwards. Language should make our
travels less overwhelming, but instead, the weight of how far we have to go and
the guilt of not having done it just end up paralyzing us.
As I see it,
there are two strategies for language learning:
1. Be hardcore:
large
chunk of time at once
immersion
intensive
class/ study
good for:
rapid
progress
breaking
plateaus
focusing
on one language
preparing
for an exam
reviewing
after a break
preparing
for a trip
shorter
term memory
having
breakthroughs
consolidating
learning
learning
your first foreign language- when you don’t have language learning skills yet
2. Compound it:
a
little every day
continuous
spiraled review
spread
over long periods of time
good for:
slowly
building understanding & confidence
avoiding
language loss
continual/
gradual progress
avoiding
frustration
studying/
maintaining multiple languages
I personally
prefer to learn languages using the compound effect- a little every day. I get frustrated and my head feels like it’s
going to explode when I try to learn too much in too short a period of
time. My brain needs time to process and
move information to longer term memory, and working on language learning a
little every day works well for me.
Here’s what I
do:
-study every
night for at least 30 minutes, as part of my nighttime routine (I clean up, plan the next day, brush my
teeth, and then study.)
-‘study’
means just about anything, as long as I’m interacting with the language:
-complete Duolingo reviews
-read a book in that language
-work on flash cards
-write journal entries
-watch tv/ news/ music videos in
that language
-play on lyricstraining . com
-do vocabulary or conjugation drills on
an app
-listen to a podcast lesson (like RadioLingua)
-take a course on how to read (thai,
for example)
-translate signs, menus, etc. that
I’ve collected in my travels
-switch my thinking from english to
another language
(except
for the course on how to read Thai, the rest of these are FREE:)
-whatever
language I feel like working on is fine… I don’t try to push myself to stick to
the same one all the time or to work on the one that ‘makes sense’ to work on
because of my travel plans. As long as I
work on language learning, it’s progress.
-if I do extra
language work during the day, like talk with a friend or do extra reading or
take a tour in the target language, etc., I still study for 30 minutes at
night. I usually pick a different language
to study, but not always. For me, it’s
about the consistency of the routine.
-If I want to
make more progress, I can change my routine to ‘study’ for an hour a night, or
I can clear some space in my schedule for some hardcore intensive study-
especially if I want to break a plateau.
BUT… can you
make enough progress in half an hour a night?
….depends what counts as ‘enough’
progress.
-it’s better than nothing-and it’s
definitely better than being paralyzed by not having a plan and just doing nothing
and feeling bad about it all the time. I
know that cycle too well.
-365 days x 30 minutes/ day = 182.5
hours of study in one year. That’s like taking
a month of a full time course at 40 hours/ week, plus an extra 22.5 hours on
top of that. Whatever progress you can
make in a month long full time course, you can make in a year, but without the
inevitable language loss and frustration that comes with intensive courses.
-using an hour/ day instead, that’s
365 hours, or the same as 9+ weeks of full time study
-don’t
forget about the motivation that you’ll likely feel to do extra language-related
activities, now that you don’t ‘have’ to do it and you feel good about your
progress.
-when
I hit a plateau or feel like I need to consolidate everything I’ve learned, I
add in a little extra language time (like mixing a little hardcore into the
compound)- usually when flying or physically traveling (sometimes when I can’t
sleep). I get to reclaim otherwise lost
time and give my language skills an extra little boost.
Languages are
part of the joy of travel. Learning them
should make our experiences richer, not more stressful. Language learning should be fun and should be
something we want to do, not something we feel we ‘should do or ‘have’ to
do. By putting routines in place and
making use of the compound effect, we can enjoy the both benefits of speaking a
foreign language AND the learning process as well.
PS… now that
I think about it, this system could probably be applied to learning just about
any skill or tackling any personal growth project… make it a habit and compound
it most of the time, and add in hardcore work as needed.
*
*
*
(This post was written after our
weekly Nomad Ladies’ Lunch,
where I had an unbelievable delicious
Trail Mix Pancake,
washed down with a Nutty Nong peanut
butter & banana smoothie,
at the Free Bird Cafe in Chiang Mai,
Thailand. YUM.)
