The Reality of Learning a New Language
How long to study a new language on a daily and weekly basis
Welcome, aspiring polyglot! It is incredible what people believe with regards to language acquisition. The primary problem is that there really is no one size fits all solution. On social media it is all too easy to fall into the trap of looking for what is “enough” rather than finding what actually works for you. While the internet is a marvel for education and can be used to enhance and accelerate your education experience in just about any domain, there are risks you need to know about in order to mitigate them.
Instagram reels “educators” will tell you that ten minutes a day is enough, public education will tell you it’s going to take 2-5 years, and some “higher education” instructors will tell you that you can never truly acquire a new language. If you listen to them, they end up being right. Fortunately, there is another way. You need a framework specific to you that can set you up to hit every language acquisition goal you have.
Common misconceptions
One of the most pervasive misconceptions people have when it comes to learning a new language is that it only takes ten minutes per day. While that would be great, it is simply unrealistic. It is probably possible given a long enough timeline, but it is by no means the ideal approach for anyone who plans on speaking the language they are learning within the decade. That said, the time requirements are unique to each individual.
As a general rule, you should be able to start speaking your target language within a year. In order for that to happen, though, it is going to take you six times longer than you might expect, at least. An hour every single day is the only way to ensure you will achieve your language acquisition goals. You can take days off, you can work more on some days and less on others, but without the exposure you will never become fluent.
The more time you have to dedicate to this endeavor, the less time it will take to master everything you need to master. Ten minutes is hardly enough to get your mind going, irrespective of what Duolingo might tell you. Signing in to keep your streak will not benefit you if that’s the only thing you are doing on a daily basis. There has to be more. But once you get it, you don’t have to worry anymore.
Use it or lose it is another pervasive myth that often serves to scare people away from learning a new language. They are afraid, and rightly so, that if they stop one day then all of their hard work goes out the door. That is simply not true. You may get weaker, but all of your knowledge will still be there and if you fought to hone the skill you will find it comes back rather quickly. Do not let the fear of losing what you’ve fought for stop you from working in the present.
Things you should expect
I like to focus on the positives of learning a new language because, at the end of the day, they far outweigh the negatives. However, that does not mean everything is easy. In fact, learning a new language is one of the most difficult things most people will do, especially adult learners. You are, in essence, giving up your ability to communicate which is no simple feat.
In that, you will undoubtedly face moments of near paralyzing frustration. Times when you will want to give up because it doesn’t seem worth the trouble of going back to thinking like a five year old. It may not mean much, but the truth is everyone who is bilingual experienced that feeling at one time or another. Even worse, many still feel it on a daily basis when their native language fails to match their second language in eloquence.
Another problem everyone faces is demoralization. Every time you start to feel like you are really getting it you will come up against a new challenge. Whether it’s realizing that listening to a group of people is nowhere near as simple as listening to one person or finding out you cannot actually express everything you thought you could, demoralization is par for the course.
Over time things will get better. They will not get easier, but you will get stronger. The primary reason I am always talking about writing down the things you are doing is to mitigate this problem. When you have a record of everything you did to compare your previous abilities with your current abilities it is difficult to feel like it was all for nothing. Remember, the best you are now is not the best you ever will be.
For quite some time learning a new language feels like Sisyphus pushing a boulder up the hill. Every time it rolls back down the hill and you have to get back under it to start pushing will be less than enjoyable, but unlike Sisyphus there is an end to your struggle. I cannot tell you when it will be, I cannot tell you how it will happen, but eventually a switch will flip and you will no longer be translating in your head, you’ll be speaking your target language.
The importance of doing difficult things
One of the unique, or not so unique, aspects of my particular approach to language acquisition is that the things we do are extremely challenging. Translating college level books, dictation from native speakers, one verb tense every single week. These things constantly add up and pile on top of one another, for many the weight can be crushing, at first.
Over time, with each passing day and every trial overcome, things become easier. Not because they are easier in and of themselves, after all it is the same stimulus, but because the people I work with are better and have worked through challenging obstacles to get where they are. No one is going to be perfect at first and expecting perfection can cause analysis paralysis which can be debilitating in the short and long term.
Above all, doing difficult things will show you precisely what you can do. Without knowing what you are capable of and what you still need to practice you are far more likely to waste time meandering around working on things that are not helping you progress towards your language acquisition goals. Plus, it is always fun to take on newer, more difficult challenges and succeed. In order for that to happen, you have to be willing to fail.
Leveling up in real life is perhaps less enjoyable than leveling up in a game, but it is also more rewarding. Every time you realize you are capable of doing more than you originally believed you can use that confidence to get you through your next challenge. Stacking wins is paramount only because it will increase your confidence; and confidence is a powerful thing in language acquisition.
Conclusion
In a lot of ways language learning is not all it’s cracked up to be, but only because the challenge is undersold. If you don’t know what you are signing up for it is easy to be disappointed when it’s not everything you had hoped. Throughout the course of a year, as you work on your target language, you will experience untold disappointment, fear, and anxiety. Learning a new language requires you to fight through all of that.
By the end of your journey you will not only be bilingual, but you will be a better, stronger, more confident version of yourself. It is going to be a lot of work, but once it is done you will no longer need to fear losing your progress. You may need more time to get into the swing of things the longer you go without speaking, but if you ever go back you can rest assured that your knowledge is lying dormant, waiting for you to use it again.
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.
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