Climbing the mountain

A choose your own adventure game

Welcome, aspiring polyglot! Last week someone asked me an interesting question and I thought the answer might benefit all those who are seeking to become bilingual. For transparency’s sake, know that I work individually with this person and I have personally seen their growth and their struggles. It is with that background, and the background of having taught hundreds of people, that I bring you this advice. So, what was the question?

Any recommendations/tips for how I can really push myself and make sure I'm moving forward? I find it's difficult to do with learning a language as typically I just fail and keep trying until I over come it. With speaking/learning Spanish I feel when I fail it doesn't matter if I do it 10 more times as it still comes down to knowing it or not. Is it as simple as just continuing to "do the thing?"

Let’s talk about it. Learning a language is a lot like climbing a mountain. Once you’ve climbed it you are done and you no longer have to do it again. Of course, there are many mountains to climb, but you’ve already “bagged” the peak, as they say. Just as with climbing a mountain, there are many ways to do it and everyone has their preference. This, in essence, is what I told him. But let’s look at the three paths I discussed with him.

The round tour

The first path is the most common, though it is not necessarily the most efficient nor the best for most people. It just so happens that it is the easiest, and slowest, way to learn a language. This is where the majority of complaints about time investment and stagnation come in and ruin people’s confidence. While it is nice to come home and stack up 5 new vocabulary words every day, you are capable of so much more and sooner or later you won’t be able to ignore that.

When climbing a mountain, the slowest way to do it is by walking around it in circles at a very gentle incline. It is also the easiest, provided you do not run out of motivation/discipline and can remain on task. The same is true for learning a new language. You can continue to circle around the core concepts, avoiding steep learning curves, and moving forward only once you’ve mastered a single concept, but it will require more discipline and motivation over more time.

Switchback

On the other hand, the most comfortable for most people in both climbing mountains and learning things is the switchback method. Steeper incline, but still manageable. A place from which you can visibly see your progress (you are writing, right?). This ability to see your progress and feel the study sessions impacting your cognition will override any sense of feeling stagnant. It may take more time than you want or expect, but you will feel it.

Most people mess up on switchbacks because they take their foot off the pedal. You must maintain a consistent pace the majority of the time or you will essentially be back to circling the mountain. The number of proverbial switchbacks will be different for everyone, but at the top of the mountain awaits bilingualism and, with that goal in mind, pushing through to the next turn should always be something to which you look forward.

Sprinting up the face

Finally, there is my preferred method. Whether you call it sadism or psychoticism, I prefer to run up the side of mountains. Though, it may not be for the reasons you think. I prefer to run up the side of the mountain because it means I can spend less time doing the most difficult thing. Those of you who are long time readers may remember my post “Turbo Language Learning” and that is my favorite way to approach things.

Every book is a step, every grammar concept mastered is a false peak, and the vocabulary foundation is the height I’ve climbed from the base of the mountain. Indoors and outdoors, I would rather do the hard thing for less time than the easy thing for a long time. You are trading the only thing you cannot get back in exchange for bilingualism. Efficiency and efficacy are noble goals, but be aware that this method is not without its drawbacks.

For one, you will spend the majority of the time you are climbing feeling like you are going to die. There will be rare moments of elucidation followed by long periods of confused frustration. You will consider quitting often, especially before you open your book/notes to start studying. However, if you can push through those things, the sky is the limit.

Conclusion

Take some time to consider these options as well as the pros and cons of them all from your own perspective. I know what works for me, but what works for me may not work for you. Irrespective of how you climb the mountain, the only thing that matters to anyone in the end is that you reached the summit. In our cases, that means reaching fluidity if not fluency in a new language. Trust me, no one is going to ask you how you climbed the mountain unless they have also climbed it.

Comparing yourselves to others on the trail can be tempting, but it is rarely worthwhile. Your journey is your own. My goal is to help enhance and accelerate the experience as a whole, but it is up to you to choose your path forward. Whatever you choose, it is crucial that you have a way to track your progress. Done right, having a written record will make each and every one of these paths better. It is going to be difficult, but you can do difficult things and be great. So go out and do some difficult things and become great. I am rooting for you.

Requests

If you have anything you would like covered you can reach out to me on ​X​, ​Instagram​, or at odin@secondlanguagestrategies.com.

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