July 20, 2011
Need to use your language learning time more wisely? Here’s a suggestion: block your time. That means, dividing your day into sequential chunks that span short time frames, then using those chunks in your planning and logging activities.
Say, you have 3 hours a day to spare for language learning. If you’re winging what to do during those three hours, you’ll likely find yourself alternating between different activities: a language software lesson here, interrupted by practicing a monologue you downloaded from YouTube, which is then interrupted by an exercise you remember you were planning on doing.
Obviously, that way of working isn’t likely to net you the best results. In fact, all that shuffling will probably have you losing precious minutes that you could have used productively.
A better approach will be to divide those 3 hours into chunks. Personally, I like 30 minute chunks, but you can go lower if you’re more comfortable with it. Then, I schedule my language activities within those 30-minute bubbles.
Doing this allows you to focus on just a single activity at any one time. If you suddenly remember the YouTube monologue during the middle of your language software lesson, you can hold off on shifting your attention to it, since you have it penciled in during the next 30-minute block. It’s a more efficient way of managing your time — one that could generate significant results in your language learning efforts.
April 30, 2011
It may be cliché, but it’s no less valid: if you fail to plan, you’re planning to fail. That’s as true in your language learning as it is in other endeavors.
If there’s one advice we can send your way, it’s to always have a plan of attack for your language learning. Identify the different activities you will perform and create a schedule for each of them, so that you don’t spend your days making up activities on the fly. Similarly, set milestones for each week and month, so you can watch your progress.
Some students I know refuse to plan ahead since it feels like a waste of time. According to them, it’s hard to anticipate how lessons will go, especially if this is your first time learning a new language.
While that last part is true, it’s not a valid reason to not plan. Creating a plan helps you organize your language learning; not doing so leaves you having to improvise on the fly. When it comes to effectiveness, the former will always leave the latter in the dust.
The trick to planning is to keep the plan flexible. If your initial plan is off-base (e.g. your language software lessons are proving much more difficult than you assumed), you’ll likely realize it early — you can then rework the plan, change your activities and create a new schedule. That approach is much better than doing everything by the seat of your pants, which leaves you with no structure to follow and no guidelines to base your actions on.
April 15, 2010
Anyone writing their own language learning program will need to take many factors into account, a lot of them they aren’t likely to have much experience with. It is this reason why it’s usually tough for beginners to develop their own plan for study, making most efforts on that end an exercise in futility.
So how should beginners develop their own language learning program? My personal recommendation is to not even try, at least for the first couple of months. Find a course with a pre-made syllabus that you can follow or a language teaching software with its own system that you can adopt.
At some point (most likely in the first 2 to 6 months), you will get a clearer picture of what learning a new language actually entails, allowing you to write out a sensible plan that you can use for the future. Factors you will need to consider include:
- Kinds of materials you can use. The more varied your sources, the more depth you potentially allow into your learning; however, doing the same thing can complicate matters as well.
- Your budget. Many of the best language learning tools cost money. Make sure you can squeeze in their purchase if you include them in your plans.
- Evaluation procedures. How do you know you are succeeding in acquiring the language? What measurements can you employ?
- Learning methodologies. People learn differently. You need to take this into account to make the best choices in programs and materials.
March 4, 2010
A general language plan is a great way to guide your overall learning path. However, if you want to maximize the time that you invest into it, you’ll need to draw up a daily language plan.
Don’t Worry, It Won’t Bite
Creating a daily plan actually sounds more daunting than it actually is. When you get right down to it, it’s basically about drawing up a regular schedule that coincides with the goals you have defined for learning the language.
Know Your Objectives
It’s impossible to come up with a plan without a clear set of objectives. That’s why you’ll have to define what your language learning goals are, as well as decide on a general plan. Based on those two things, you can then begin detailing the steps you need to take to accomplish them.
Guidelines
When preparing a daily plan, be as specific as possible.
1. Write down all activities you will need to.
2. Write down all the materials you will need, whether a language software, a stack of index cards or a book.
3. Allot time for each specific activity.
4. List down daily objectives. They will be very useful to use as criteria to help you decide whether a particular daily session is successful.
November 21, 2009
Most language-acquisition products come with a built-in learning system that’s designed to guide students in a structured manner. You can usually follow whatever learning path your main product prescribes to varying results. After all, most of those “lesson plans” are one-size-fits-all deals: not exactly the most ideal way for you to learn.
Ideally, it’s a good idea to plan out your own learning, as you usually know your own strengths and weaknesses best. You also have a better grasp of your schedule and the kind of time commitment you can make (both of which are things no language learning software publisher will know). Most importantly, going this route puts the full responsibility of your success on your hands.
Sticking To One Material
If you plan to stick to one language learning material, then following its prescribed structure should be fine. That’s provided, of course, that you can conform to the schedule, time requirements and learning pace it suggests.
Drawing From Multiple Sources
For most language learners, though, learning will consist of one major material, such as a class, a software or a book, supplemented by numerous other tools. In fact, we suggest learning this way so that you can maximize your resources, especially downtimes, such as during commutes to work and office breaks.
In this situation, the challenge no longer becomes conforming to the prescribed schedule. Instead, it’s a matter of balancing your different sources so that you may be able to draw the best results from them. For the most part, it’s going to be trial and error, where you learn about how to best arrange your lesson plan as you. It will be very dynamic and active, so prepare yourself.
July 22, 2009
Some people work better with a plan in place. Others, however, get their best results flying off the seat of their pants. Both methods are equally valid, though, I’ve always leaned towards those who work with more structure.
When you have a plan written out, there’s a guideline that you can follow. It’s something that you can work through, regardless of how you’re feeling on a particular day. Without one, you’ll likely just end up putting an entire day to waste as feelings will tend to mirror success for a lot of people who work without a structure.
Putting Together A Plan
A loose plan is better than no plan – that’s my motto for language learning. As such, I always encourage language students to draw a learning plan that they can follow. For those averse to such a structure, I recommend even a simple one, just so they have something to guide them in case they wake up one morning just not in the mood.
If you don’t know how to put one together and are studying the language on your own (as with most people who use a language learning software), you can use the course outline you’re using as reference. Schedule which lessons you can go through for each day (keep it reasonable), then add in “grammar practice” and “structured writing” exercises into the mix, as those two are typically the most successful types of applied training learners can do on their own.
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