So many people truly do want to become fluent in their target language, yet study in fits with long breaks in between. This is how a lot of people end up “false beginners.” They know a little of a language and may even have the general idea some fairly advanced grammar rules, but can only communicate at beginner level if at all.
More often than not, what got them off track was a lack of solid commitment to a clear goal. Doubt is a big cause of this. If you’re having doubts about your ability to learn the language to a useful level or about whether learning this particular language is a useful investment of time it’s going to slow your learning. You’ll be less likely to spend time on the language and less likely to find more efficient, effective ways to study.
You may also find you have a harder time remembering vocabulary. Somehow the brain has a way of throwing out information when you ultimately believe it won’t be important.
Once you’re really committed to reaching your goals, though, those problems tend to disappear. Make the decision that you will do whatever it takes to learn the language to a particular level and will keep going until you do.
Pick One
If you’re a language lover or live in an intercultural community, so many languages look tempting and “could be useful” that it can be hard to limit yourself. While it is possible to study more than one language at once and make progress, it will greatly increase the time it takes you to make any useful progress.
That is, you’ll have very basic vocabulary in three languages when you could already be conversant in just one. In most cases, sticking to just one until you reach decent conversational level in that one.
Set Your Conversational Goals
“Studying a language” doesn’t have to mean sticking with it until you reach near-native fluency. Maybe you only want to know enough to get by as a tourist—check into a hotel, get somewhere by train, buy some souvenirs. Maybe you want to know enough to converse easily with your co-workers about work and life in general.
Decide what you want to be able to do with the language (not just what course book you want to complete) in terms of all four language skills: speaking, listening, reading, writing. Be specific. For example, as a listening goal, you might have “get the gist of radio news broadcasts.”
Set Dates for Your Goals
I don’t mean to suggest that there’s something wrong with dabbling in languages you have no intention to learn to fluency. In that case, it’s just a hobby. Indulge your curiosity, but don’t allow yourself to get pulled off track.
Do something with your target language every single day for six months. Set short-term goals like “learn seven words a day for a month.” Then commit to those goals. Adjust your deadlines if unexpected difficulties come up, but set some kind of deadline so you have a milestone to work towards.
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