Get the BEST Sleep of Your Life

How to get better sleep by studying foreign languages before bed

Welcome, aspiring polyglot! Sleep is something I have never really struggled with and it wasn’t until I went to college that I realized how many people struggle to fall asleep at night. As the years have passed more and more people have spoken to me about sleep issues and I really could never relate. There may be a reason for that, too, and it is a secret I want to share with you here. The best part is there is no minimum or maximum dose. You just keep going until you can no longer keep your eyes open.

Reading books before bed

Bedtime stories have been around since time immemorial. While the goal is normally to help someone else fall asleep, you can use this same tool to help yourself sleep. Reading books in a second language is exhausting and it will work your brain to the limits. Whether it’s from the exhaustion or your brain simply refusing to continue, reading in your target language will put you to sleep.

Fortunately there are levels to this. You do not have to start out by reading the entire Dostoevsky catalog in Russian. Comic books are easily digestible and often enjoyable. Books are separated into categories in other languages just as they are in English. Choose the categories you like, find something that looks interesting, and take the leap.

Personally, I think the higher level books are almost always worth it, but only if you are working with a teacher or tutor who can make things make sense to you. If you are working solo, try something with pictures so you can start word association sooner. Seeing things and reading how they are said in your target language simultaneously will do wonders for your language acquisition.

The first day will be slow, you will likely be a little demoralized. Conceptually it is easy, but in practice it will take time to get into the flow. After a week you will realize that you are actually capable of reading quite fluidly. That won’t change how exhausting it is, but it should help you build up your confidence. Reading is far from the only method, though. Anything you do that helps you build your second language skills will have a similar effect.

Why language learning makes you tired

The brain is not a muscle, but it can be trained. Working on a second language is some of the most intense training you can put your brain through and so it inevitably produces exhaustion. Of course, the more you train your second language skills the longer it will take for that exhaustion to kick in, but that is the goal at the end of the day. While there will never come a time where it does not affect you at all, if you plan to travel and use your language skills then the longer you can go without passing out the better.

When I was an exchange student, one of the things we all had in common was constantly being half asleep. Learning a second language is difficult, especially if you ascribe to the Second Language Strategies methodology. If you immerse yourself in your second language for a few hours every day, particularly before bed, I can all but guarantee you will not have any trouble falling asleep.

Prompting language dreams

You can even try and prompt yourself to dream in your target language. Immersion will accelerate this process, and surrounding yourself with the new language before you go to bed will give you a better chance. I don’t have any scientific evidence of this, but every time it has happened to me or any student I have worked with, there was a ton of localized immersion involved.

If you are having trouble reading, work in some audiobooks. Believe it or not, even Duolingo can be helpful to prompt some language dreams, but not if it is your only source of comprehensible input. Listening to music, watching TV shows, reading out loud, writing in a journal, whatever you need to do to work on your second language is something you can do more to prompt some dreams in a new language.

The downside of dreaming in a second language is you will probably wake up exhausted. In theory you are supposed to get some rest for your brain when you are sleeping and if your brain is working overtime to compartmentalize the things you learned during your language studies it is no surprise that your sleep was less than restful. That said, you, like me, will probably not care and keep pushing to have the experience again.

How the little things stack up

As I mentioned above, there are dozens of things you can do to make yourself tired in preparation for bed using your second language. The best part about this is that you do not always have to do the same things. You can read ten pages or you can watch one podcast or you can listen to four songs or you can write ten sentences. There are so many things you can do to work on your second language and almost all of these will strain your brain to the point of exhaustion.

If one thing isn’t working for you, try another. Reading probably will give you the toughest time at first, but writing will be equally exhausting. Putting something on in the background to listen to is great, but if you really want to put yourself to the test, try writing down what you are hearing. Whatever you choose to do, make sure you are actually challenging yourself.

The problem with saying these things work absolutely with no exceptions is that in order for it to work it has to actually be challenging. Just like trying to grow in the gym, if you are not constantly working to progressively overload you will not see the progress you want to see. Falling asleep quickly at the end of the day, particularly after working on your target language, is a sign that you put your brain through an ample amount of training.

Conclusion

Millions of people around the world struggle to fall asleep at night. Some use pills to help, some have routines that make it easier for them, but some choose to work their brains to prompt some exhaustion. While it will not always work, studying your target language before bed will likely give you everything you need to fall asleep quickly. A good night’s sleep isn’t the best reason to learn a new language, but if that’s your reason I’ll take it!

As we discuss often around here, creating is vital in second language acquisition. Speaking and practicing with written language will help you in accelerating and enhancing your language learning process, so start having conversations as early on as possible. It will be difficult, but you can do difficult things and be great. So go do some difficult things and become great.

Eager for more Second Language Strategies?

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