Fear. Stress. Boredom. Language learning can stir up a host of negative emotions.
One minute you’re yawning over a grammar book and the next you’re cowering under the table for fear of sounding like a cross between a 2 year old and Tarzan.
These bad feelings are bad news for language learners, because negative emotions like stress and boredom can wreak havoc in your brain and make it more difficult to learn and remember new things.
Your brain on stress
When our brains detect a stressful situation, the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis (that’s a system of glands that release hormones, not an 80s hair metal band) pumps out stress hormones, like cortisol.
These stress hormones stimulate the fight or flight response, which came in very handy when we were living in caves as they helped us react quickly to threats, like saber-toothed tigers. Even today, small amounts are good as they keep us alert and focused on the task at hand.
But large amounts of these hormones suppress systems that aren’t deemed important for survival, like the ability to learn new information. And when you think about it, learning to conjugate a French verb probably isn’t all that important when you’re being chased by a tiger.
Too much stress is bad for your memory
Our problem is that we’re learning a language, not running away from big cats, and too much stress gets in the way of this learning process.
Studies show that people under stress have difficulties learning new words, which is linked to an excess of cortisol (Kuhlmann et al. 2005). Cortisol interferes with an important learning and memory centre in the brain, the hippocampus (which, alas, does not look like a hippo, but more like an upside down seahorse). It also stimulates the amygdala, the part of our brain which deals with emotions like fear. Psychologist Daniel Goleman (2006) explains that too much cortisol focuses our attention on the emotions we feel and limits our ability to take in new information.
Excessive stress can cause a whole of host of problems for learners like the shrinking of the prefrontal cortex – the part of the brain that regulates concentration, amongst other things – and fewer new brain cells being generated (Radley et al. 2004; Chen et al. 2008).
At this point you’d be forgiven for wondering why you chose such a strenuous hobby, instead of a lovely relaxing pastime like crochet or baking cupcakes.
The good news is that language learning also lends itself very well to positive learning experiences like fun and laughter. And research shows us that by capitalising on these positive emotions, we can enhance our ability to learn new information.
The science of joyful learning
French teacher Alfred Mercier once said what we learn with pleasure, we remember. Positive emotions boost our performance in a variety of areas including problem solving, learning, memory and verbal fluency. Scientists believe that this positivity advantage comes in part from increased levels of dopamine, a neurotransmitter sometimes described as “the feel-good chemical”.
Dopamine plays a major role in several types of memory which are essential for language learning:
– working memory (when you repeat a word or sentence you’ve just heard)
– implicit memory (when you “pick things up” automatically)
– explicit memory (when you memorise new words or grammar rules).
Neuroscientist Martha Burns describes dopamine as “the save button” of the brain. When we learn something, the brain encodes the new information through neuronal connections, known as synapses. Burns says that the presence of dopamine strengthens the connections between synapses, making the new information easier to remember at a later date. This means that when we learn in a way that’s fun and rewarding, not only do we feel better, we learn better too.
One of the best ways to keep our brains receptive to learning is laughter. Studies of university professors reveal that using comedy in lectures helps students understand and remember the material better (Garner 2006). Laughter reduces hormones that inhibit learning, like cortisol, and activates regions of the brain associated with dopamine release (Berk et al 1989, Mobbs et al. 2003). Injecting humour into language learning reduces anxiety, increases motivation and helps things stick.
It’s time we started taking fun more seriously. To turn our brains into learning powerhouses, we need to develop strategies that help us manage negative emotions and learn with more enthusiasm and laughter. With this in mind, here are 13 ideas to make language learning less stressful and inject some fun into the process.
13 ways to make language learning joyful
1. Laugh at your mistakes
We language learners take ourselves far to seriously. Sometimes, we’re so worried about making mistakes that the idea of speaking causes lots of anxiety. But with the right attitude, mistakes are a perfect opportunity to lighten up and have some fun with native speakers. Many of my friendships with French and Italian speakers have been solidified by us laughing tears over something ridiculous I said by accident.
2. Play games
Over the last few years there’s been an explosion of online games which help you learn a language and have fun at the same time. Two of the most popular, duolingo and memrise, are available as apps, so you can download them and learn a language instead of playing candy crush.
3. Accept ambiguity
Languages don’t always follow logical rules. And even when they do, the rules sometimes feel out of reach as our brain isn’t ready to pick them up yet. Trying to grasp everything at once creates tension and gets in the way of learning. Accept that some things are still a mystery and they’ll be revealed little by little as you continue learning. When you approach languages with patience and curiosity (and don’t stress about what you don’t know yet) you’ll learn much faster.
4. Give yourself an eff it day
You know those days. When your brain just says eff it and sabotages all of your good intentions to study. These days are risky, because once you miss one session, it’s easier to skip the next one, then you start to feel guilty and it’s hard to get back on the study train. My secret weapon for these days (which happen pretty often) is to let my brain chill out by doing “lazy” activities in my target language, like watching TV, films or listening to music. If I’m feeling inspired, I might look up the odd word or grammar point that comes up, but I don’t force myself to do anything strenuous. This way I can stay on the study train without stressing myself out.
5. Do what makes you tick
What do you enjoy doing in your native language? Whatever it is, try doing it in the language you’re learning. If you like going to the pub, set up a language exchange at the pub. If you like reading news websites, find one in your target language and use the google translate add-on to quickly translate new words. If you like watching TV, look for similar programmes in your target language. If music’s your thing, try finding a group you like and translating the lyrics. Finding resources you enjoy is essential for bringing a spirit of fun to your learning.
6. Make it relevant
Learning grammar and vocabulary in an abstract way can be frustrating because it’s difficult to see how they will be useful to us in the real world. Whenever you learn a new word or grammar point, make it more concrete by linking it to real things and situations in your own life.
7. Find the right level
Too high and it’s frustrating, too low and it’s boring. When choosing resources, try and find that sweet spot where the learning flows easily: materials should reinforce what you already know and throw in a few new things without being overwhelming. Graded readers are great for this purpose as they’re specially designed to introduce a little new vocabulary and grammar at each level.
8. Shake it up
Routines are good as they help us work consistently. But ruts are bad, as they mean our minds aren’t stimulated enough. Shake things up every now and then by using the language in new ways. Visiting the country is a great way to do this, but there are plenty of ways to get new stimuli at home too. A few examples are language exchanges, joining a meet up group, writing a diary or recording yourself speaking.
9. Know when to call it a day
If you’re using a textbook or course that stresses you out or bores you to tears, change it! Often it’s the resources that are causing tension, rather than the language learning itself. There’s a right way for everyone to learn, and sometimes you have to experiment with a few different methods before you find yours. That said, be careful to avoid shiny object syndrome, where you keep collecting resources and not using any of them! Aim to find the right balance between trying new things and getting stuff done.
10. Use music
Music is a well-known dopamine booster and is great for learning a language in a fun and stress-free way. Learn the words to some songs in your target language and listen to them whenever you can. You can even sing along while you’re in the car or cleaning the shower!
11. Find the right people
When you’re practicing speaking, some people will stress you out more than others. It’s normal. Try and spend as much time as possible with people who make you feel relaxed and comfortable. Italki is a great place to find like-minded language partners and patient teachers.
12. Don’t forget to breathe
I tend to speak in a slightly higher pitch when I’m speaking another language, which is probably because I feel a bit tense. I find it helps to breathe steadily and focus on bringing my tone closer to my native one. I don’t always remember, but when I do it makes a huge difference as I feel much calmer and my speech flows better.
13. Give yourself rewards
Levels of dopamine increase in response to things that we know lead to rewards. For example, smelling cookies boosts dopamine because we know that the smell is usually followed by eating cookies. Neurologist Judy Willis says that giving yourself little treats at the end of study sessions helps your brain associate studying with rewards, boosting dopamine and motivating you to study more.
What do you think?
Do you find language learning stressful sometimes? What do you do to relax? Which of the above tips do you think would be the most useful in your own language learning?
References
Berk, L., Tan, S., Fry, W., Napier, B., Lee, J., Hubbard, R., Lewis, J., Eby, W., Neuroendocrine and Stress Hormone Changes During Mirthful Laughter, The American Journal of the Medical Sciences, 298
Burns, M (2012) Dopamine and learning: what the brain’s reward center can teach educators. The Science of learning blog: https://www.scilearn.com/blog/dopamine-learning-brains-reward-center-teach-educators
Chen Y, Dubé C, Rice CJ, Baram TZ (2008) Rapid loss of dendritic spines after stress involves derangement of spine dynamics by corticotropin-releasing hormone. Journal of Neuroscience, 28.
Garner, R. L. (2006). Humor in pedagogy: How ha-ha can lead to aha! College Teaching, 54
Goleman, D. (2006) Social Intelligence: The New Science of Social Relationships, Bantam Books.
Kuhlmann, S., Piel, M., and Wolf, T (2005) Impaired Memory Retrieval after psychosocial stress in healthy young men. Journal of Neuroscience,25.
Mobbs, D., Greicius, M.D., Abdel-Azim, E., Menon, V. & Reiss, A. L. (2003) Humor modulates the mesolimbic reward centers. Neuron, 40
Wittmann, B. C., Schott, B. H., Guderian, S., Frey, J. U., Heinze, H. J., & Düzel, E. (2005). Reward-related fMRI activation of dopaminergic midbrain is associated with enhanced hippocampus-dependent long-term memory formation. Neuron, 45
Goals are good. We know that.
They turn dreams into reality and all that jazz. But working on goals involves a constant battle against the lazy part of our brains that says “uh… I’m sure it’ll just, you know, uh… get done at some point” (mine sounds like the dude from Big Lebowsky).
As I write, I’m fresh back from a break in the south of Italy and my brain is swimming with exciting language projects. And I want to make sure I actually do them.
So now seems like the perfect time to join the #clearthelist project. Clear the list is a monthly language goal setting project, run by Lindsay from Lindsay does languages and Shannon from Eurolinguiste. It’s a place for language learners to share their goals and cheer each other on.
Sharing goals = Smashing goals
I like clear the list project because it includes a couple of principles that are backed by scientific studies on goal setting:
2. Accountability: Sharing your goals makes you more accountable for them. In one study, people who shared their goals with others and gave planned progress updates had higher success rates than people who kept their goals to themselves. When your goals are out there for all to see, you’re more motivated to put the work in to avoid looking silly. There’s a big picture of my face at the end of this post, so I’m feeling pretty accountable right now.
Could this delicate balance of teamwork and fear of public humiliation be the recipe for language learning success? To find out, I’ve decided to share my October language learning goals with you:
My Language Goals for October
I’ve got 5 languages on the go and I’m going to do a little something in all of them this month.
Learning multiple languages can be tricky if you don’t manage it carefully. One strategy that works for me is to choose one language to focus on intensively (sprint language), whilst studying the others in a more relaxed fashion (marathon languages). In the “sprint language”, I immerse myself in the language as much as possible through activities like reading, watching TV and listening to the radio. Like a mad language binge, except it mostly involves reading books and listening to the radio and such. So not that mad really.
My sprint language for October is Italian, while my marathon languages are German, Chinese, French and Spanish.
Italian
This month I’m excited about going back to my first language love, Italian, which I learned during my year abroad, back in 2008.
I’ve been living in Italy on and off ever since, and my social life (and love life) has been conducted almost entirely in Italian for the last 5 years. For this reason, Italian usually gets relegated to the “languages I already know” section in my mind and I don’t dedicate much formal study time to it.
But that’s changed recently as I’ve started preparing for my C2 certificate, which I’ll be taking at the beginning of December. If you’re new to the European levels, C2 is the highest. The boss level. The Dr Robotnik of Italian language exams, if you will.
Why do an exam after all this time?
It’s good to have a goal, and I haven’t had a goal in Italian in a while. I can live and work comfortably in Italian, and at this level it’s easy to get lazy and stop making progress.
I want to shake things up, motivate myself to read/listen to new genres and practise expressing ideas in formal and academic contexts. It feels good to keep pushing my Italian.
To help me prepare for the exam, I’ll be doing the following things:
1. Working on exam skills
I’ve been using a workbook which focuses on vocabulary, grammar and exam skills. I’ve got 5 chapters left and I’m aiming to finish it before the month’s up. That means doing one and a bit chapters per week.
My Italian textbook
2. Writing
I’ll need to write a mini academic essay in the exam (eek!) so I’m going to practice writing at least one each week.
3. Learning some fancy words
In the speaking exam, I’ll need to discuss controversial topics and current affairs. It’ll be useful to know some intellectual expressions and keep up to date with what’s going on in the world. To do this, I’m going to watch “Otto e mezzo“, a daily show in which guests debate Italian politics, and a little news every day.
4. Getting my read on
I’m currently reading Gomorrah, a brilliant book by Roberto Saviano, which exposes details about organised crime in Italy. I’m aiming to finish this book and move onto a new one before the month is up.
Learning Italian with Gomorra
German and Chinese
During my holiday I took a whole 2 weeks off from studying German and Chinese, so I’m looking forward to getting back into them. I’d like to improve my speaking skills in these languages, so I’m going to do 2 conversation lessons per week on italki.
Learning German with italki
German and Chinese are my newest (and weakest languages) so I still need to build up a lot of vocabulary and get to grips with some grammar.
As well as my conversation classes, I’m planning to learn around 40 words per week in each language and do a chapter from my textbook each day (except on weekends – no textbooks allowed at weekends).
Learning German with books
That all sounds like a lot of hard work, so I’ve got something fun planned for French and Spanish…
French
My French mission is to watch some delightfully trashy, so-bad-it’s-good French reality TV. Reality TV is great for boosting your listening skills as speech is more spontaneous compared to films and TV shows, so it helps you get used to how people how people actually talk. Also, you follow people going about their daily lives, which is a good way to learn everyday grammar and vocabulary. But mostly, it’s nice to know I can switch my brain off and learn some French at the same time. I’m going to aim for one 20 minute episode per day.
Learning French with reality TV
Spanish
Just as I was wondering what to do for Spanish this month, the lovely people at Gritty Spanish sent me a copy of their course. It’s a series of funny Spanish dialogues where the characters fight, gossip, get drunk, go to strip clubs, and break the law. And it’s full of naughty Spanish words, so it’ll make a nice change from all the textbooky stuff I’ll be doing with Italian, German and Mandarin.
Gritty Spanish
There are 31 chapters and 31 days in October, so I’m going to try and squeeze in one dialogue per day.
Phew! That’s it for October, I’ll let you know how it went in November.
What about you?
What are your language goals? Share them in the comments below!
One of the best things about working on the joy of languages blog is that our readers are always sharing smart ideas about how to learn a language. This week’s post is inspired by Anne, Ken and Vanessa, who suggested keeping a journal as a way to improve your speaking skills in a foreign language.
I loved this idea and wanted to get as many people involved as possible, so I’ve set up a language diary challenge on Instagram, together with a little giveaway (more on this later).
First, let’s talk a little about how keeping a language diary can boost your speaking skills.
Writing to improve speaking
Writing to improve your speaking may seem counterintuitive at first. But writing helps develop the skills you need to communicate fluently. To speak a language well, you need to:
practice organising your thoughts into sentences
learn vocabulary to talk about everyday events
identify gaps in your knowledge
A language diary helps with all of these things on a daily basis. It’s a powerful way to improve your vocabulary, grammar and ability to express your ideas – all essential for speaking.
Reasons to keep a language diary
1. Learn useful things
By writing about your day, you’ll be practicing using the vocabulary and grammatical structures that you need to talk about day to day stuff. You’ll learn how to communicate about things that are important to you and the people around you, which is much more useful than the random word lists most language courses give you.
2. Remember faster
Humans are hardwired to remember stories better than other types of information. The little snippets in your diary act like mini stories, which make the grammar and vocabulary easier to remember and reuse. You’re also likely to repeat a lot of the same words and structures, which naturally makes them more memorable.
3. Use the language
When we learn a language, most of us focus on “passive activities” like reading and listening. But if we want to use the language to communicate, we should focus more on activities that help us produce the language. A language diary helps you draw from the vocabulary and grammar you’ve been learning to build sentences you can use in real conversations.
4. Learn consistently
Keeping a diary is a great way to add consistency to your language learning and make sure that you practice using the language you’re learning in some way every day.
And Instagram is the perfect place to write a little something in the language you’re learning each day.
It’s based on photos and videos, which makes it visual and fun
Pictures facilitate memory
You can connect with the language learning community on Instagram, which includes support and corrections from native speakers.
Get involved!
To join in, all you have to do is post a photo or video to Instagram and write/say something in the language you’re learning for 30 days.* Then use the hashtag #languagediarychallenge and tag @joyoflanguages.
What level do I have to be?
You can join in at any level. If you’re a complete beginner, you could use the challenge to learn simple sentences, or individual words. For example, you could post a picture of a beer and write the word “beer” in the language you’re learning. If you’re advanced, you can practice more sophisticated vocabulary and a variety of tenses. The important thing is to write or say a little something in the language you’re learning.
4. Bonus step: Take a look around and leave a comment to support the other learners on the challenge!
Looking forward to seeing your progress on over on Instagram.
*The challenge starts at the beginning of each calendar month. See @joyoflanguages for updates.
What do you think?
Are you joining the #languagediarychallenge? What are you going to write/speak about? Let us know in the comments below.
Milan gets unbelievably sweaty in August.
That kind of hot that makes you want to shave your head, tear off your own skin and lie face down on a marble floor all day. So I decided to ditch the heat and mosquitos for a few days and visit some old friends in Hamburg.
I’ve been learning German online for the past few months and I was looking forward to finally test driving my language skills out on the field.
But then something odd happened.
I spoke less German in Germany than I do here in Italy.
Not learning German in Germany
Sure, I ordered my Kaffee, Würsten and Weißbier in German. But I didn’t have a proper conversation the whole time I was there. I actually had to catch up on my German, once I got home.
So what went wrong?
Well, at home, I have regular conversation lessons with native speakers, like this one:
But in Hamburg, I was busy doing holiday stuff with my Italian friends and didn’t spot any obvious opportunities to start a conversation in German.
Normally, I’m a firm supporter of the “you make your own opportunities” philosophy. But at the same time, I find it hard to strike up conversations with random people in my native language, so I certainly didn’t feel like doing it in German.
In my head, it would have gone something like this (in German):
Katie (smiles awkwardly): Hi
Stranger: Erm…Hi??
Katie: I’m learning German
Stranger: Oh. Good for you (runs away).
It might have gone better in real life, but I didn’t want to take the risk. So I stuck to “einen Kaffee bitte”.
Just like magic (not)
There’s a common belief that being in the country is a magic pill for language learning. After all, we’ve all met those people who move abroad and come back speaking a language as if by magic.
Friends and family sometimes put me in this category because I moved to Italy saying “cappuccino, mozzarella, pizza, per favore” and came back speaking fluent Italian.
But they missed the bit between zero and fluency, which believe me, was far from magic. It involved:
– Talking like E.T. – “Katie… Phone… Home!”
– Headaches after long days of trying to figure out what the heck people were saying.
– Battling to speak Italian with people who insisted on replying in English
It’s true that being constantly surrounded by a language makes it easier to learn. But it doesn’t happen through osmosis.
And for every expat who’s “picked up” a language, there are others who’ve been living abroad for years with only a few survival phrases. The most common reasons for this are:
1. It’s hard to meet people outside their English or expat friend circle.
2. People reply in English all the time.
In short, it feels difficult (and scary) to get “in” with native speakers who will speak to you in their language.
Fortunately, there are lots of good ways to do this, and none of them involve harassing strangers.
How to learn a language when travelling
1. Pay someone (a little bit)
Learning a language abroad can feel like a catch-22 situation. You can’t start a conversation if you don’t know the language, but you can’t learn the language if you don’t speak to people. Getting an online tutor is the best way to get past this stage. It’s their job to help you talk, no matter how slowly you speak at at the beginning or how many times you forget a word. And they’re used to working with beginners so they can give you you the support you need to practice getting your words out. I use italki, where you can get good conversation tutors for as little as $5 per hour.
2. Go on a language exchange
Language exchanges are a fab and free way to learn the language when you’re in the country. They give you an instant opportunity to meet the locals and get some speaking practice with supportive conversation partners. I did some French-English language exchanges whilst on holiday in Paris and it was great! I got to experience Paris the way Parisiens do and improve my French at the same time. To set up a language exchange, try the Hi uTandem app or head over to conversationexchange.com
3. Go to the sticks
If you can choose where to go, I highly recommend small towns where people don’t speak much English. In cosmopolitan cities, there’s always the worry that people are thinking “why can’t we just speak in English instead of waiting for you to get your words out?”. It’s so much easier to practice in places where you really need the language to communicate. Also, people in these towns tend to be more curious and friendly, so they might be the ones who start talking to you.
4. Tell people
We usually expect native speakers to know we’re trying to learn the language, and take umbrage when they reply in English. But people aren’t mind readers. Often, they reply in English because they think they’re being helpful. You’d be surprised how supportive people are when you explain that you want to try speaking the language. I recently had a lovely German waitress (who spoke perfect English), patiently help me through ordering a meal in German, once I’d told her I was learning it.
Now I’d like to hear from you: Have you ever struggled to speak a language abroad? Do you have any more tips? Let us know in the comments below!
A bad memory is one of the top excuses people give for not learning another language.
We see pages of unfamiliar words, or hear streams of sounds we can’t decipher and think “I’ll never be able to cram enough words into my brain to understand that”.
I used to worry that my own crappy memory would make me a bad language learner: I’m the type of person who can’t remember anything I learned at school, the last film I saw or what I ate for breakfast. Thankfully, once I got into language learning I realised that it doesn’t have to stop me from remembering vocabulary.
In fact, lots of language learners with average memories manage to learn thousands of words and make it look easy.
But how?
The spaced repetition technique
Many learners swear by flashcard systems, which involve studying words or sentences in the language you’re learning on one side of a card with a translation or picture on the other.
Nowadays, people use apps like Memrise and Anki which show flashcards at specific intervals to optimise learning. This technique, known as spaced repetition, is based on observations by memory researcher Hermann Ebbinghaus, who noticed that we’re better at remembering information learned a few times over a longer period of time compared to many times within a short space of time. This means that we can learn more vocabulary with less effort, by spreading out our study sessions.
Love them or hate them
Despite their merits, flashcards have caused quite a stir in the language learning community. For each successful language learner who swears by them, there’s another who wouldn’t touch them with a 10 foot pole.
That’s because learning vocabulary is more complex than memorising a bunch of words. When we focus too much on flashcards, there’s a danger we’ll end up recognising lots of words without knowing how to use them in real life. Also, languages are about communication – spending too much time with your head in an app is boring and it sucks the soul out of learning. Finally, if you don’t dedicate enough time to engaging with the language in a real way by listening, reading and talking to native speakers, you’ll never learn how people actually talk.
Importantly, the flashcard haters are a testimony to the fact that it is absolutely possible to learn a language without them.
My experience with flashcards
These conflicting viewpoints are the reason why my relationship with flashcards has been more on and off than a Justin Bieber love story.
In the honeymoon period, I’d get excited by all the words that seemed to pop into my head at just the right moment. But after a while, I’d notice that lots of words I was learning didn’t come to me when I needed them in real life. Eventually, I’d get frustrated and delete the app.
But without flashcards, I’d start to get this nagging feeling that my vocabulary learning had slowed down dramatically. So I’d download the app and start the cycle all over again.
The right way to remember words
Over the last few months I’ve been using flashcards consistently for the first time ever and they’ve become my trusty secret for speedy word learning.
What changed?
I realised that there is a right way (and a wrong way!) to learn vocabulary. So I’ve been integrating wisdom from memory research, together with advice from renowned polyglots, to find ways to make flashcards more effective and minimise their shortcomings.
I’ve broken it down into 8 strategies that will help you get the most out of flashcards. When you put these ideas into practice, you’ll be able to remember lots of words without taking up too much time or turning study sessions into a yawn fest.
How to remember words in a foreign language
1. Make your own
This one’s first on the list because it’s by far the most important. Flashcard apps usually give you two options: use your own, or the sets other people have made. Making your own takes a little more effort in the beginning, but it’s infinitely better to use words you have met in real contexts through listening, reading or conversations. This is because memory is highly context dependent – decades of research show that we remember information more easily when we associate it with the context we first learned it in. When you make your own sets with words you’ve already met, you can link them back to the original context and remember them much faster.
2.Use Mnemonics
A man named Harry walks into a café. Eliza Doolittle, who is working in the restaurant as a waitress, greets him with her dodgy cockney accent, “Ari”. He orders a slice of cake with layers of sponge, cream and forest fruit: a “gateaux”. When Elisa brings over his order, Ari looks at the gateaux, and says “thank you”.
Ari-gatou – you’ve just learned how to say thank you in Japanese through mnemonics, a memorisation strategy inspired by the ancient Greeks and endorsed by memory champions as the most effective way to quickly remember large amounts of information. Linking new words to things you already know such as images or rhymes makes them instantly easier to remember. The more detailed and unusual the imagery, the better – think Eliza Doolittle with a black forest gateaux in hand.
3. Be ruthless
It’s really tempting to record every new word you come across. Don’t do it. I know it sometimes feels like you need to learn the word for bunsen burner in Spanish, but you don’t. The impulse to learn everything is an asset, but if you don’t keep it in check you’ll soon find yourself with unmanageably longs lists of words you’ll never actually learn. Our mental and time resources are precious and we need to spend them on stuff that’s going to be useful. Choose words that are important for you, add those to your flashcard sets and forget the rest for now.
4. Make flashcards Robin, not Batman
Flashcards should be your trusty sidekick, not the star of the show. When you spend too much time using flashcards, you have less time to engage with language in a real way and meet words in authentic and varied contexts, aka the most important stuff. Also, turning a language into nothing more than a list of words makes it more boring than eating rice cakes.
5. Learn little and often
Flashcards work best when we study in short 5-10 minute bursts. Longer periods of time lead to inefficient learning as our brains get tired and can’t absorb new information as easily.
6. Learn whole sentences
There’s no point in learning lots of isolated words without knowing how to use them. Recording the whole sentence (or a short snippet if it’s too long) gives you information about the sentence structure so that you can build new sentences with your word. Learning sentences also helps you associate the word with the original context, giving you an extra memory boost.
7. See it in your mind’s eye
Associate new words with images you already have in your mind. For instance, if you review the word “el río” in Spanish, try conjuring up a mental image of a river. This technique helps you link new words to your existing mental representations, making them more relevant and memorable.
8. Use it or lose it
The more you use your new words, the faster you’ll remember them. There are lots of different ways to put this into practice: you can build new sentences in your mind, write a few examples, or try throwing the words into a conversation when opportunity arises. Always be on the look out for opportunities to bring your new words out of books and apps and into real life contexts.
Et voilà, 8 different ways to make the most out of flashcards. Everyone has different learning styles so I recommend giving them a go to see if they work for you.
If you choose not to go the flashcard route, the above tips can be integrated into almost any vocabulary learning strategy to help you remember words faster.
What do you think?
How do you like to study vocabulary? Let us know in the comments below!
From crash diets to language hacking, the world is becoming obsessed with quick fixes.
The idea of learning a language in next to no time is certainly appealing. Recently, I did a language challenge to learn as much German as possible in 90 days. And I have to say, I was thrilled with the results as I went from zero knowledge of German to being able to hold a basic conversation in 3 just months.
But then I let my intensive study patterns slide a bit and I started to forget German almost as quickly as I’d learned it. Which is perhaps not that surprising, given that I’ve had blocks of Parmesan cheese for longer than I studied German.
Quick to learn, quick to forget
The experience of forgetting a language in this way is new to me. Usually when I put a language aside for a few weeks or months, it’s still there when I pick it up again. Sure, it feels like I’m speaking with a sock in my mouth for the first few minutes, but it soon comes flooding back.
So why did my brain hang onto the other languages, while my German disappeared in a puff of smoke?
Because I didn’t cram the other languages. I studied them little and often, spread out over a longer time period. I let the words, sounds and sentence structures swim around my brain and settle in my memory in their own sweet time.
Slow learning builds long-term memories
Studies show that we remember information better when we learn it in short sessions spread out over several days compared to in the same amount of hours crammed together. This means that if we learn something over the space of a week, we’re much more likely to remember it if we study for an hour a day compared to seven hours squeezed in over the weekend.
Why? Because because sleep is really important for building long-term memories. Remember in school when you studied really hard for a few days to pass an exam, only to forget everything a few days later? When we cram, we don’t get enough sleeps between study sessions, which makes it harder for our brains to consolidate the information we learn.
By spreading our study sessions out, we give our brains plenty of opportunity to strengthen our long-term memories during sleep. That’s why learning languages little by little makes them easier to remember in the long run.
Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed my 3 month German sprint and I got a lot out of it. But if we want lasting progress, sooner or later we have to get into the tortoise mentality and build study habits that are sustainable over longer periods of time.
Why people resist slow and steady
The main reason people fail to create sustainable learning habits is the level of effort and commitment required. On the whole, we humans struggle with slow and steady. We want results straight away and when we don’t get them we give up. Or we go at it as fast as we can and burn out before we’ve really got started. This explains why diets, exercise programmes and most attempts at language learning fizzle out after the first few weeks.
Be the tortoise: 6 ways to build lasting study habits
The good news is, it’s actually quite easy to build sustainable study habits, once you’ve got the right strategies in place. These six steps will help you harness the power of slow to build lasting study habits and get that language firmly lodged in your brain:
1. Focus on the small things
Emily Dickinson once said, “If you take care of the small things, the big things take care of themselves”.The ability to focus on the smaller picture is essential when taking on mammoth projects like language learning. When you break your learning into tiny units and put all your energy into getting that done, the bigger picture will take care of itself. For example, I’m focusing on getting 60 minutes of German study done per day. If I can manage that most days, I should be able to speak German pretty well after a year. But I’m not thinking about that too much yet – it would be overwhelming. I’m just focusing on getting my hour done, day after day, week after week. It’s the repetition that’s key here – you can choose any amount of time that fits in with your schedule. Even 10 minutes a day can add up to big results over time.
2. Don’t break the chain
You may have already heard of comedian Seinfeld’s popular productivity tip. To hone his comedy skills, he decided to write one joke per day and mark a big cross on the calendar for each day he did it. This simple technique works brilliantly for building long-term habits – once you’ve got a streak going, you get so much satisfaction from looking at that row of crosses that you’ll do anything not to break the chain. The method has become very popular over the last year or so and there is now a selection of fancy apps that help you record your crosses. I like Chains.cc as it allows you to share your progress with others, which gives you another reason to stay consistent (more on this in a moment). That said, a good old fashioned calendar does the trick just as well.
3. Go social
It’s easy to keep putting things off when you know no one’s watching. When you make your progress public, you become accountable to others, making you far more likely to keep showing up for your goals. Another advantage to sharing your progress with others is the level of community spirit and support you get from other learners. There are plenty of ways you can share your learning progress: you could start a blog or join the lovely community of language learners on Instagram by taking part in the language diary challenge.
4. Let yourself off the hook
There’ll probably be times when you miss a day or two (or three or four). Whether it’s a deadline at work, visitors, or a holiday, sometimes life gets in the way. Feeling guilty about skipped study sessions is counterproductive: it creates tension and makes it more difficult to get started again. When you find yourself off track, let it go and get back on it.
5. Be lazy
During the weekend, my German study mostly consists of me sitting in my pyjamas watching German TV. Even during the week, if I don’t feel like taxing my grey matter, I’ll make myself a cup of tea and watch something light on YouTube. Forcing yourself to do heavier stuff like studying grammar or writing when you don’t feel like it doesn’t make for sustainable language learning – sooner or later you’ll burn out and give up.
6. Track your progress with videos
Learning a language is a bit like digging a tunnel: if you keep chipping away with your head down the whole time, you won’t see the results of your hard work. Making videos or recording audio of yourself speaking helps you step back and appreciate the accumulative effect of your study sessions. Watch the video from a few months ago and you’ll see that your pronunciation is better, your vocabulary is more advanced and your grammar is more precise. And you’ll want to keep it up so that you can see more progress a few months from now. Don’t worry if you’re camera shy, or the sound of your own voice makes you cringe a bit (mine certainly does!) these recordings can be for your eyes and ears only. Or, if you’re up for it, you can post your progress videos on YouTube to benefit from the accountability and support that goes along with sharing your language goals. I’ll be posting my German videos on my YouTube channel, and I’d love to see some of you over there too.
What do you think?
Have you ever learned a language and then forgotten it? Or are you trying to learn a language and struggling to stick with it? Which of the six tips can you start doing now to help you be more consistent in your language learning? Let us know in the comments below!
You never fail until you stop trying. Albert Einstein.
Happy (nearly) New Year everyone!
As one year draws to a close, our thoughts often turn to how we can better ourselves in the coming year. Learning a language is something that always features highly on people’s lists.
That said, many of you will be familiar with the dismal statistic which states that only 8% of people actually stick to their New Year’s resolutions. This means that by February, most people’s language projects will be but a distant memory.
Research-backed ways to succeed
Thankfully, not all resolutions are destined for the same fate. Research on the psychology and neuroscience of motivation is full of useful tidbits to help you stay on track.
Here are two of my favourites that will increase your chances of seeing your language projects through to 2017.
1. Boost motivation through teamwork
How often do you keep the promises you make to yourself?
Flying solo towards your goals might seem like a good idea at first, but most people run out of steam in the first few weeks.
Almost everyone puts more effort into the commitments they make as part of a team compared to the ones they make as individuals. Research at Stanford University shows that people who feel like they’re working in a team (even though they may not physically be working together) are more interested in the task and more likely to perform better.
Language learning is often a solitary activity, but that doesn’t mean you can’t reap the benefits of teamwork. There are increasing numbers of online communities which provide the opportunity to work together with other language learners.
Lately, I’ve experienced the value of teamwork in the language learning process first hand. I’m currently learning German as part of the Add1 Challenge, a three month online programme which unites language learners from all over the world. Even though we’re all working on different language projects, everyone is moving towards the common goal of having a 15 minute conversation with a native speaker. Being part of such a community makes you accountable to other people (making you far more likely to actually study) and gives you access to a friendly support network.
Working towards a large goal like “learn language X in 2016” can be overwhelming. In the past, I used to struggle with vast and ill-defined targets, a well known motivation killer.
Research shows that setting smaller subgoals is highly beneficial to learning. For example, Bandura and Shunk (1982) demonstrated that, over 7 sessions, people who were instructed to complete 6 pages of maths problems per session completed the task faster and more accurately than people who were given 42 pages from the outset.
Reaching a goal (no matter how big or small) gives you a little hit of dopamine, the neurotransmitter associated with reward and pleasure (Schultz 2002). Setting tiny targets and achieving them regularly boosts your mood and keeps you feeling positive about your language learning.
One strategy that has been working well for me lately is to set mini daily goals, for example, to complete one lesson from a textbook, or to study for half an hour. Such goals are generally easier to reach and give you the chance to celebrate each tiny step on the language learning journey.
What about you?
Now I’d like to hear about your language learning plans. Have you got any language goals for 2016? Are you planning on using teamwork or tiny goals to help you succeed? Let us know in the comments below!
Christmas is a time when most of us joyfully leave our good intentions at the door (glass of bubbly and Ferrero Roche at 10.30am, anyone?)
For many, this means putting language learning on hold until January. However, there’s one sneaky technique you can use to practice your languages without lifting a finger (leaving your hands free to raise that glass of bubbly). There’s no need for computers, books or pens. You don’t even need to be alone. You can do it wherever you are and whoever you’re with.
The little voice in your head
Most of us are familiar with the internal dialogue in which we silently talk to ourselves, for example, when adding up numbers, remembering things people said earlier or imagining future conversations. That little voice in your head, or “inner speech” as psychologists call it, can be your best friend when it comes to language learning.
Thinking in a second language is often viewed as something reserved for very advanced levels, akin to dreaming in a second language. However, speaking silently in your head in another language is something you can choose to do at any level.
For example, if you’re just starting out on your language learning journey, take a look around the room and see which words you recognise: Do you know how to say tree? Chocolate? Cat? What about knife, fork and plate? Do you know how to describe family members? Can you use basic grammatical structures to make short sentences about the people and things around you?
For more advanced levels, try listening to your own inner dialogue and the conversations around you: can you say these things in your target language?
Make it a habit
The process can feel a little slow and unnatural at first, but the more you practice, the more automatic it becomes. I’ve been using this trick for years and I believe it helps me speak more fluently because it gives me lots of practice in building sentences.
Of course, with new languages, you might not always find the perfect words and sentence structures for each situation. However, by force of habit, you’ll be surprised how quickly your inner voice starts chatting away, making use of the words and structures you already know.
Learning new things
Now let’s imagine you see uncle Bob slumped in the corner after Christmas dinner and you suddenly realise you don’t know the words for “uncle” or “drunk”. Going through this thought process is valuable as it helps you to identify gaps in your knowledge. Then, if you get chance, you can quickly look the word up on your smartphone.
One advantage of this method is that new information is learned through familiar situations and emotional connections, which makes things easier to remember. Phrases relating to real-life situations, like “uncle Bob is drunk again” are far more likely to stick in your head compared to boring sentences found in textbooks.
Consolidating
Let’s imagine you’re at the dinner table, or you don’t have a smartphone with you. Even when it’s just you and your noggin, you can still use inner speech to strengthen your language skills.
In this case, you can practice organising the words and grammar you already know into meaningful sentences. Building sentences is a key skill for speaking a second language, so having a simple technique that allows you to practice is invaluable.
So go ahead and pour yourself a second Glas Wein or grab another cioccolato. You can be safe in the knowledge that no matter what happens to your waistline come January, your language skills will be in tiptop shape.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Or should that be… Buon Natale, Feliz Navidad, Joyeux Noël, Frohe Weihnachten…
I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times. Bruce Lee
Goals. Most of us are pros at getting started but a bit clueless when it comes to actually crossing the finishing line.
I recently had a similar experience in my own language learning missions. Despite a lot of initial enthusiasm (or wild optimism?) my accomplishments turned out to be a bit flat.
My first goal was part of the italki challenge, where I did six lessons with native Mandarin speakers over the space of two weeks. My aim for this challenge was to describe my friends and family in Chinese.
The second was to learn some basic German phrases to use in shops, restaurants and travel situations.
Looking back, I can see I did one thing right, but I missed something really important which ultimately slowed my progress.
What I did right
I followed the #1 rule for achieving just about anything and everything:
Set small, well-defined goals
One of the main reasons people give up on languages is the sheer volume of new things to learn. When you think about a language as a whole, each new word or grammar rule feels hopelessely insignificant by comparison. Vague goals compound the problem as they make it impossible to track progress and give the impression that you’re getting nowhere, in spite of all your hard work.
Ill-defined goals such as “to get by” are kryptonite to motivation. What does “get by” even mean? How will you know when you get there?
Over 50 years of studies in goal-setting theory show that setting specific goals leads to higher success rates. For example, the idea of earning 500 dollars a month produces far better results when compared to the more general goal of earning some extra cash.
The same principle applies to language learning. Dividing the mammoth task into small, well-defined goals gives you a clear destination to aim for. More importantly, you can track your progress and give yourself a little pat on the back when you get there.
Where I went wrong
Although my goals were small and well-defined, I didn’t give nearly enough thought to how I would bring them to fruition in the real world.
For example, a lot of my study time in German was based around audio and texts from my self-study book, with relatively little time practicing the actual skills I was trying to develop. Which brings me to rule number 2:
Practice practice practice. Then practice some more.
If your goal is to order in shops and restaurants, you should practice ordering in shops and restaurants. It sounds so simple, but it’s easily overlooked. How many people focus diligently on grammar rules and vocabulary lists even though their primary goal is to communicate in everyday situations?
This tactic rarely works because the brain learns new information in a way that is context dependent. This means, if you spend a lot of time memorising grammar rules and vocabulary, you’ll get good at remembering grammar rules and vocabulary. But unless you put them into practice, you’ll probably struggle to use them in the real world.
Once you’ve got a goal in mind, think of ways to integrate plenty of practice time into your study sessions. For example, you could simulate ordering in a restaurant with an online teacher, a language partner, a friend, your dog, a tape recorder, a mirror… the list is endless. The important thing is to act out a situation where you use the language in a way that’s similar to the goal you’re working on.
When you nail these skills at home, you can draw from them far more easily in real communication situations. And voilà, before you know it, you’ll have mastered that goal and it’ll be time to move onto the next.
What about you?
What are your language goals? How are you putting them into practice? Let us know in the comments below!
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From crash diets to language hacking, the world is becoming obsessed with quick fixes. The idea of learning a language in next to no time is certainly appealing. Recently, I did a language challenge to learn as much German as possible in 90 days. And
As one year draws to a close, our thoughts often turn to how we can better ourselves in the coming year. Learning a language is something that always features highly on people’s lists.
That said, many of you will be familiar with the dismal statistic which states that only 8% of people actually stick to their New Year’s resolutions. This means that by February, most people’s language projects will be but a distant memory.
Christmas is a time when most of us joyfully leave our good intentions at the door (glass of bubbly and Ferrero Roche at 10.30am, anyone?) For many, this means putting language learning on hold until January. However, there’s one sneaky technique you can use to
