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xiaotoda · 1 month ago

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Have to remember this 😀

As sticking to studying is the hardest part of learning a language, the following can help you keep going and succeed:

Pick a short term goal that is doable within a month to a year, and that upon reaching will motivate you personally. (Example: your ultimate goal is to read novels - so you set a short term goal to read 1 graded reader. Or your ultimate goal is to travel and have casual conversations - so you make your short term goal to get on a language exchange app or speak with a tutor about how you are/where you live/what you do for work/what like to do, and ask them the same. Or your ultimate goal is to watch shows, so your short term goal is to watch a 5-10 minute chunk of a show and understand the main idea happening even if you have to look up words as you watch).

Pick study activities that allow you to do the things you want to do (aka things related to your goals) as soon as possible. So if you want to read, finding a way to do reading as you study will keep you going (Example: using graded readers, reading while looking words up, reading while listening to learner materials, picking textbooks that include reading excerpts). If you want to watch shows, finding a way to watch shows as part of your study routine (Examples: CI Lessons, watching cartoons, watching things you've seen before in another language, watching shows while looking words up). If you like listening to stuff, finding a way to fit listening to the language into your schedule (listening to Learner Podcasts during your day, listening to podcasts or audio dramas while looking up words, listening to songs and looking up the words, crosstalk). If you want to talk with people, getting on a language exchange site/app or getting a tutor or taking a conversational class, so you can regularly talk with people as part of study (also doing things to talk more on your own - shadowing, looking up how to say things and recording yourself speaking about topics you want to be prepared to chat about, doing Crosstalk sessions with a tutor or language exchange partner so you can listen to the tutor talk in the language even when you don't know how to say things yet).

Commit to study 50 hours. Yes I mean it. The beginning is when you're most likely to quit. Push through it. If you can manage to study 50 hours, you want to reach your goals enough to commit.

If you've been floundering the first 50 hours, look up different people's study plans they've shared online. Stuff like Refold, Dreaming Spanish, Glossika, Listening Reading Method, Glossika, Assimil, "learned to speak X," "learned to read X," "passed B2/HSK 6/JLPT N1" look up your personal goals "learned to understand anime," "learned to read webnovels," "learned enough to play video games," "learned to have conversations." Browse what people say they've done as their study plans, to achieve the same goals you have. Pick a person who had the same goal as you and achieved their goal, copy what they did. Ideally copy someone who likes to study in similar ways to you. So if you hate anki don't copy someone who used a ton of anki, if you hate reading don't copy someone who mostly studied by reading. So if you like speaking, and find someone who achieved the goal of speaking to people comfortably and did it with a lot of speaking, copy that person.

If you're struggling to make a study plan: find a person similar to you, with similar likes and goals who has succeeded, and copy their study plan. Copying someone who was successful means there's a decent chance their study plan works. So it may work for you. You may need to adjust the study plan, if it turns out not being ideal for you. But it's a good starting place if you have no idea what to do.

Alternatively, if you're struggling to make a study plan: sign up for a formal class so you can get a potential study plan from a teacher, or get a structured textbook, and just stick to the plan they recommend. Include some study activities directly related to your goals, to ensure you are motivated.

(So an example: if totally lost on where to start with say learning Japanese, and you want to play video games as your goal, you might buy Genki I, Genki 2, and Tobira textbooks, and just work through them while also playing japanese video games and looking up unknown words and grammar as you play. You'd get a structured study plan from the textbooks - so you'd work on listening, reading, speaking, writing. And you'd also regularly get to do your goal activity as practice and reinforcement of what you're learning, motivating you).

Commit to study 200 hours. Congrats, you've done more than most people. Depending on the language, and your study plan, you might even have reached an intermediate enough level to start reading stuff, watching stuff, and conversing with people assuming you're willing to look up words/grammar as needed. So if your goal is to do one of those things, it's going to only get easier from here on - you can finally study mainly by just DOING your goal activities. If you can reach this point, it will be easier to keep going, or even to study on and off (since you'll have some skills to do something in the language even if you leave and come back to it).

Keep going until you reach the point you can do some (or most) study by just doing your goal activities (or an easier variant of your goals) - with tools to help if necessary. Once you reach the point you can actually do the thing you want to do, even if badly or needing to rely on a lot of tools to do it, it becomes easier to keep studying. You find it's easier to turn study time into just regular hobby time. You find it's easier to stay motivated, because you're frequently doing what you wanted to do when you started learning.

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