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July 9, 2011

How To Prevent Information Overload

Think you’re suffering from information overload?  It’s not as uncommon for language learners as you may think.

In a haste to become proficient quickly, many language learners will schedule extended language sessions with their language software.  Instead of one or two modules a day, they’ll try to go through as many as their free time will allow.  And they won’t even stop there.  They’ll be listening to recorded lessons while in the car, reading a phrasebook in the train and doing a dozen different things, as well.  The result is more information than they can realistically process.

There’s no clear-cut rule about how much language learning you can absorb in a day.  For the most part, it varies from person to person.  That’s why many standardized study modules suck — they don’t account for individual differences in learning ability.

My suggestion is to start small and gradually increase until you notice your personal threshold.   Don’t embark on a language learning project, scheduling 8-hour lessons per day from the get-go.  Instead, be modest.  Try one module per day with 30 minutes of practice or exercises.  Then, gradually increase it every couple of days to see how well you can adjust.  You’ll be more effective that way.

May 25, 2010

The Social Challenges Of Language Learning

The social components of language learning can be just as important to achieving your overall goals. Sure, most people hardly pay attention to it, but that doesn’t make its impact any less valuable.

1. Sharing with fellow learners. The isolation created by using a home language software can lead to a downward curve in your learning, especially at a certain stage. That’s why it’s still important to try and connect with fellow learners both to seek out encouragement as well as share the skills you’ve managed to integrate. If there’s no local group to serve this purpose, you should try online clubs and forums.

2. Using a yardstick. You can set impossible goals all you want and set out to achieve them. Until you find realistic yardsticks for yourself, however, you’ll continue to face disappointment. Realistic goal setting is often achieved by seeing how others before you did and relating that with your existing situation.

3. Be accountable for your progress. Taking charge of your learning means being accountable for every aspect of it, from being diligent with your lessons to finding people you can practice with. Don’t wait around hoping to chance upon opportunities – make them.

4. Having a feedback system. How do you know you’re improving? How do you know if you’re barely progressing? You need to develop a feedback system. Most of the time, this is best served by either fellow learners or advanced speakers.

June 8, 2009

Factors That Can Affect The Difficulty Of Language Learning

What’s the hardest language to learn?

According to a report by the British Foreign Office, based on a study of British diplomats and embassy staff who have undegrone language training, students had the most difficult time with Hungarian, followed closely by Japanese.  By no means does it imply they the most complicated languages in existence (although they are pretty daunting).  For the most part, it’s an indication that the British form of English is so far removed from those two that it requires a whole redefinition of their language map in order to achieve any form of proficiency.

Chinese speakers, for instance, will probably have an easier time with learning Japanese, since that language uses a number of Chinese characters in its own alphabet, along with sharing some similar constructs.   Yet, it doesn’t make Japanese the easiest language to learn in the world, either.  Your native tongue’s proximity to the language you want to study is well beyond your control.  As such, there is no point focusing on a language’s difficulty when it comes to its relationship with another.

Natural aptitude is often cited as a factor in language learning.  While this may have some merit, aptitude also plays a huge part in learning computer science, the arts and pretty much every field of study.  Like the relationship of your language to another, your inborn talents are not exactly under your command.

As with most fields of education, it’s important to focus your language learning on factors that you actually have a hand in, such as the amount of practice you put in and the quality of the instruction that you get.  So what’s the hardest language to learn?  It’s whatever language that doesn’t interest you enough to put in the effort.  As long as you’re willing to study a subject, after all (whether you do it in a classroom or on your own with a language software), and give it the attention it deserves, you’ll eventually find success.

There is only one important factor in language learning and that is you.

April 28, 2009

Language Learning And The 10,000 Hour Threshold

If you’re not learning language as fast as you think you should, it’s usually a signal that you’re doing something incorrectly. Unfortunately, most of us tend to blame the wrong factors when trying to figure why our actual results fail to reach our expectations.

When tasked to list down the possible reasons for your inadequate results, do you attribute it to any of these?

  • natural language skills
  • inadequate learning materials
  • difficulty of the language
  • bad instructors

While I won’t trivialize issues that you notice in any of those areas, most of those reasons play second fiddle to the real cause of most language learning problems: the lack of practice. Truth is, if you put in a lot of time to learn a language, you’ll be good at it, regardless of how difficult it is or how bad your materials are.

If you read the book Outliers, the author claims that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to reach professional level at any endeavor. Have you put in your 10,000 hours? If you haven’t, then you really can’t complain about not reaching expert status yet.

Mastery of any language, for the most part, just requires plenty of time spent with it, whether actively studying its rules or just immersing yourself in its use. Listen to Japanese radio for over 10,000 hours and let’s see if your vocabulary doesn’t measure up to those of local speakers. Work with a language learning software for the same amount of time and prove me wrong.

The moral? Don’t be frustrated with your language learning. A strong grasp of any skill takes time so be prepared to invest it.
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