The secret to success
It’s the never ending debate. What’s the best way to learn a language? Why do some people seem to be incapable of learning a foreign language while others have a natural talent for it? YouTube is full of those language geniuses. What makes them so successful at it?
This is the secret: Consistency and deliberate practice. There’s no magic formula, there’s no secret technique, and you certainly don’t need to have an IQ of 150. It’s just doing the work. Over and over again. Work hard and work smart.
Skill Building vs Input
Dr Stephen Krashen has been arguing for decades in favor of comprehensible input as a the most important tool for language learning. And he is not wrong. Having to spend years memorizing vocabulary and grammar rules before they get to use and enjoy the language will demoralize most learners long before they are able to enjoy the fruits of their labor.
However, some people actually enjoy doing grammar exercises, filling the gaps, multiple choice, etc. I don’t particularly enjoy it, although I think it is important for error correction. People who do like it should do it as much as possible.
Habit building
The most important thing is consistency, the more often and longer you do something, the better you will become at it. And to be consistent, you need to enjoy the process. You will not stay consistent if the materials you are using are not interesting to you, unless you are someone like David Goggins or Jocko Willink and have insane levels of discipline. For most people though, that’s not the case and even if discipline and focus can be improved (more on that later), we have to work with what we’ve got. Therefore, you have to make language learning as effortless and interesting as possible. The best way to do that, in my opinion, is building the right language learning habits.
The easiest way to create language learning habits, is to set specific times and places for each one of your learning exercises. Use “dead time” like transit or chores for listening, and set specific times for reading and speaking and make sure you schedule it all in your daily planner! Be very specific:
8am listening while preparing and having breakfast (News)
1pm listening while preparing and having lunch (Podcast)
4.30pm reading in LingQ
5pm speaking: reading aloud and answering to questions
6pm listening while driving to the gym (Podcast)
8pm listening while driving from the gym (Podcast)
For more information on how to build habits, check out Charles Duhigg’s The Power of Habit and James Clear’s Atomic Habits.
Conclusion
To sum up, in order to learn a language, you need to practice frequently and deliberately. The more time spent with it, the better. Using interesting content will help you stay consistent and not burn yourself out. Create the habit of reading, listening and speaking every day for an hour or two. Schedule your learning.