Ideas on Learning Languages in 2022
At the end of the year, many people reflect on the different goals and their progression in those areas. They think of whether they have met or have not met goals during the year and decide what to take on next. Due to this being a large scale issue, I will focus on some reflections on a topic that is important to myself and others with similar perspectives. This would be the topics of language learning.
Many individuals, particularly those who are on the younger side of the life spectrum have a lot of excitement for learning new languages. This is a great thing; however, a lot of people don’t really understand how to develop a sound program to get themselves to the goals they want to achieve. For some, the idea of “fluency” and reaching that is the goal, but they don’t know how to start or how to continue towards that path, so today I will attempt to lay down some elements, some methods to help them get there. On the other hand, some need to learn a language because of workplace employment opportunities or requirements. For them, it can be hard to maintain a proper motivation to keep to their goals.
To be clear, it is evident that those who have a genuine interest and discipline will do much better than those who don’t. These suggestions put forward won’t be a quick path, but an effective one for progress; therefore, here are observations and suggestions for language learning for the new year.
To start, perhaps the most important part of language learning in the new year, is to realize that your ideas now will likely change as the year progresses. For example, you might be interested in German, French, Spanish and Italian. This hypothetical person might do 3 months of German and then decide to work on Spanish. For the rest of the year, they work on Spanish until December. This individual may think they have failed, but what they don’t realize is that, they are just are on a different time scale then they had set about. Unless, they decide not to learn those other languages, whose to say that you must learn those 4 languages in a year’s time. Chances are, getting that strong foundation in one or two languages can give you the opportunity to learn the culture and cover more topics than learn 4 languages to a basic level. In the Romance languages, they build upon each other in the scheme of learning, so if you want the majority of them, then progress in one will lead to progress in others. Patience is a virtue as they say.
For the daily route, spending 10 minutes a day is much better than spending 70 minutes on one day. If you think about how you learn in school or something you are interested in, then it’s clear there is a lot of repetition. For some situations, grinding can be effective, but not when you’re just beginning. What comes to mind is taking an exam or going for an interview, grinding can be useful. If you are doing this a side project for fun or even in a productive capacity, repetition is key.
For watching shows, if your language level in a given language is intermediate or above, then casually watching shows is just fine. That being said, if it’s not there; which you can evaluate by watching without subtitles, then there is little profitable time happening if you don’t work while watching. According to material and studies supporting this conception of repetition, it is necessary to understand at least 90-95% of material to grasp and gain from watching or reading a material. If one writes or records vocabulary during a show, then it can be useful.
On number 4, I think a rounded program of the three major elements of reading, writing and listening is crucial to give you the overall usage for interacting with native speakers. I doubt that only knowing how to read will be satisfactory for those who like to communicate with others on a daily bases.
Finally, for your learning project. Find out what works for you. I like lists since I don’t prefer to be told when and what to learn. Creating my own schedule is much more fulfilling to me; yet for some, they like being told what to do. Nothing wrong with either of those tactics.
In conclusion, don’t be hard on yourself about learning a new language. If you want to learn a new language, then you will get there if you keep at it. Depending on your schedule, you can always adjust your schedule to increase or decrease your time involved. Taking an outline such as the common framework for languages with the references of B1, B2 and so on is very useful. Anyways, everyone have a great new year!