Listen on Spotify: Link to Spotify
Listen on YouTube: Link to YouTube
Benvenuti, Bienvenue, Croeso and Welcome.
Hi, I’m Juliet. Join me on my language learning journey and discover my thoughts on different aspects of language learning with the A Language Learning Tale Podcast. Today, the subject is …
I Just Don’t Have Time
Or
How to Streamline Your Language Learning
Are you someone who struggles to find time to learn a language? Or someone who doesn’t even want to start because they can’t see how they’d manage it? Let’s talk about that.
In truth, learning a language takes a long time. Obviously, how long depends on the language you want to learn, your language and any other languages you’ve learnt in the past.
Starting to learn a language is a big commitment, so you need to use your time efficiently to get the most out of that commitment.
So, where can you find extra time to start with? The key here is to prioritise what’s important to you. If learning the language is a priority, what else can you give up to make time to do it? Just watching one hour less of TV a day will give you a good start. Or giving up some of the time you spend on social media. There may be other things you can give up, or do for a shorter length of time. Only you know what those things are.
One thing, which I’ve never done, but might be something you’d want to try, is to use some of your holiday allocation to take a really intensive language course, where you’re learning for 6 or 7 hours a day. This will give you a huge burst to start with, so you need to spend less time in your normal daily life to progress further. This won’t be for everybody. It will be expensive, probably, and not everyone can give up their precious vacation days for such a purpose, especially those who have a family.
But finding extra time is only part of it. You also need to use your time efficiently. One thing you can do is to multi-task - so, listening to the language, or reading, or even studying, whilst you’re doing other things like chores, walking the dog, or commuting to work, will save you a lot of time. Yes, you might use that time now to read a book or listen to a podcast in your own language, but if you’re learning a language, you probably need to change your focus and try to find the same content in your target language.
Which are the most efficient processes for learning a language? If you only have limited time, perhaps watching films and TV programmes in the language isn’t the way to go, because how much are you actually learning by watching them? They’re not, generally, intensive language-learning situations. You’ll get a lot more exposure to words by reading, or listening to something like a podcast, or a radio programme.
Is taking a weekly class a good thing to do? Well, in terms of making you study, yes, perhaps, but, once again, how efficient is this? How much will you actually learn in each class - and don’t forget, there will be homework and travelling there and back to take into account. Could you have spent that time more wisely studying on your own, or by using online tutors?
What will make learning easier and give you more motivation to find the time, is to do language learning exercises that you find enjoyable. So, again, if you like reading, read in the language, even if it’s nothing as grand as a novel. Instead of watching YouTube videos in your language, find creators producing the same content in your target language. Instead of listening to music in your language, listen to it in the language you’re learning.
There’s only one person who will know how efficient tasks are for you in your language and that’s you. Everyone is different. So, what works for me won’t necessarily work as well, or in the same way for you. Choose your learning methods wisely and you’ll be able to find more time than you ever imagined you had.
That’s all for today’s episode. Don’t forget to join me again next time, for more language learning tips, tricks and tales and in the meantime, check out the A Language Learning Tale YouTube channel for additional, non-podcast content.
Ciao, salut, hwyl and bye for now.