Learning a new language? Develop sustainable habits.

Developing habits is a great way of getting stuff done, of reaching your goals. Being extremely motivated for a short period of time can drain your batteries, after which you’ll have to take a break and relax. We’re all super excited when we start learning a new language. The problem is that when this flow of motivation comes to a stop, and the tide reverses, we’re in for some disappointment.

How can I develop good language learning habits?

1. Form goals: Be “S.M.A.R.T.”: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. Once you have such a specific goal, developing habits and getting into a routine will be much easier and might even come naturally.
2. Physically assign a place for studying: It may help you to associate a certain room or place with your language. Don’t limit yourself to a room. It can be the subway/bus, the library, the park, a coffee shop. Make sure to choose a place that will allow you to focus and avoid major distractions.
3. Pace yourself: Once you have a place to study, you need to decide how much time to put into studying. Go slowly, especially in the early stages of learning a language: no more than 30 minutes a day to avoid burning yourself out. Figure out what pace works for you, and stick with it.
4. Make use of dead time: To continue your habit, look for periods of “dead time” in your day and take advantage of them.
5. Take on a 30-day challenge: Commit to building a small positive habit when learning a language and do it every day for 30 days. After, either stick with it or change to another habit. Examples could include simple changes like reading the news in your target language instead of your native language or listening to podcasts while commuting/walking/shopping.
6. Improve your self-control: You can train yourself to have better self-control and stop procrastinating. Self-control is a mental muscle that can be trained and reinforced with exercises. Remind yourself of all the negative consequences that your loss of self-control might incur. If you start procrastinating on your studies of a foreign language and you deviate from your habits, make a conscious effort to remind yourself of all the beautiful opportunities you will miss by not speaking the language fluently.
7. Know yourself: We all learn differently. Get to know your learning style by trying different approaches to language learning. Books, grammar, online programs, movies, music, language exchange partners, the list is endless. Find out what works for you and what doesn’t. Get into the habit of trying different approaches, especially at different stages of your learning journey, and you’ll most likely save yourself a lot of frustration and avoid getting stuck in a rut.

Thanks to Transparent Language