Three Keys to Learning A Language: Interest, Relevance, Ease

If you’ve been following along, you’ll know that I’m currently studying Mandarin Chinese on my own in my spare time. My current language effort got me thinking about all the other times I’ve tried to learn a language and how I’ve usually fallen short of my goals. It’s not that I didn’t learn anything in those languages, but I wasn’t able to communicate as I am now able to in Mandarin. Anyway, this isn’t about my failure at learning languages, it’s about what I see as a few key points to keep in mind when picking a language to learn and sticking with it.

I should point out that no matter the textbook, teacher or sources you use, learning another language is very much a lonely enterprise, that is, only you can really teach yourself a language. And that brings me to what I see as a few key elements needed in order to learn another language. First, the language needs to be INTERESTING for you so you won’t get bored; it needs to be RELEVANT to your work or life so you can apply what you learn; and it needs to be EASY for you to accomplish even if little by little.

With that, let’s look at these three keys of language learning.

INTEREST

First, you need to have an interest, either in the language itself (maybe you heard someone speaking it before or wondered what people speak in some far off place in the world); the culture (such as the language of where your grandparents’ parents came from); the people; or, simply, be enthused by the ability to use another language other than your own mother tongue. Many of us English speakers have had an easy time of it because the language is the word of global business. But imagine if Khmer or Swahili became a global language, how would we fare then? Would it still be interesting to learn? And if we had to learn another language, what would keep us motivated to keep learning?

This is where interest plays a role. You need to have a personal interest in studying the language and it must serve a purpose for you, even if it’s a small goal. A lot of students want to learn another language so they can study abroad for a semester or longer. Employees (often overworked and underpaid) have little time to dedicate to learning another language but see the benefits of putting an extra language on their resume. You yourself will need to figure out a overarching reasons to learn a language so that when you hit a rough spot you’ll be able to recall why you are learning the language in the first place.

So what does interest mean?

Is it the history? Current affairs? Politics and policies? A flirty friend? A like-minded individual? Does the idea itself of reading another language excite you? Are there other opportunities available to you if you know another language? More money? Better water cooler conversations? Where could you go by knowing another language? Or is it simply the idea of being able to communicate in another language?

These are all things and people that can capture and keep your interest, and it may be that your interests change over time or, more importantly, you find that you’re not as interested as you thought you would be. In that case, it’s better to move on to something in which you actually are interested. It may be that you even need to change up your interests from time to time.

RELEVANCE

You may very well have the interest to learn a language but if you’re not able to use it in some aspect of your life, you could find yourself not making any progress because there’s nothing to push you outside of your comfort zone. For example, grammar. Every language has its own grammar rules but you may find yourself using only using a few different verb tenses and sentence structures. To break out of that pattern you’ll need to search out sources that can challenge your language abilities all the while not discouraging you from continuing on in the language.

You need to be able to use the language especially as you progress into the intermediate level. Beginning a language is easy enough and you can often propel yourself pretty far on your own. But once you hit intermediate level you’ll begin to plateau and the frustrations will grow.

And that means you have to remind yourself why you’re studying the language in the first place.

Is it because you’re simply enamoured by the language? If so, has the love affair worn off? What would keep you going in the language? Do you need it for work? Are you able to get by already or are you having a hard time making others understand you? Do you just need to be able to understand where to go for a ticket or something? How to order the basic foods? Read directions? Browse a website? The list goes on.

There are also differences in spoken and written languages, which may include idiosyncrasies or idioms that work in one context but not in another. In this situation, you’ll need to evaluate whether or not you’re content with how you’re able to communicate, is it mainly through the spoken (eg, phone calls, face-to-face) or written word (eg, emails and texts)? If you want to push through this barrier, you’ll need to put yourself in situations wherein you can use what you do know all the while learning more about what you don’t know.

How can we keep a language relevant?

In finding those sources of interest, you need to make sure you’re not wasting time on things that don’t really affect your life too much. Knowing every verb tense might be great if you’re going to be tested on them, but if you’re goal is to simply talk with others and understand what they’re saying, then you need to find sources such as dialogues, movies, and radio broadcasts.

Likewise, if you need to be able to scan a website without relying on a translation device, you need to buff up your reading skills and find sources that are easy enough to go through but challenging enough to move you forward, such as comics, news articles or even children’s books. When your reading is slow I suggest using printed materials rather than electronic since the electronic resources can strain you eyes.

EASE

The last piece of the puzzle is to make it “easy”, and I don’t mean that the language is easy or that all of a sudden you’re able to figure everything out. I mean that it’s easy for you to “study” the language and not fighting your tools, be them electronic or otherwise. Cell phones have made language study very easy these days but they come with a host of distractions: login in with email address, text and social media messaging, or even how to take a screenshot and import into a dictionary, etc. You need to be able to do these sorts of things with relative ease so that you’re getting the most out of your study time, even if you’re at the bus stop or walking to work.

To make your studies “easy” requires a bit of research in regard to where you can find material to study. You’ll need to find an app that works for you, a website to get news or stories from, writing supplies (pens, pencils, notebooks), or even how to change the keyboard on your cellphone or computer. For example, people wonder why I spend my days writing Chinese characters. The reason is because we’re not allowed electronic devices in our rooms but we are allowed a book. Further, by writing the characters my reading has improved which then helps in adding vocabulary. It’s also something I can do quickly and with little effort whenever I have a spare moment. Finally, being able to see the characters I’ve written down already gives me a sense of accomplishment and allows me to gauge how my efforts are going.

It’s not just the tools you have to work with to learn a language, but you have to fit it into your life. Is it easy for you to listen to the radio on your cellphone or is it better to watch a TV program in your target language? When do you have five or ten minutes to spare in your day? Can you wake up and before your brain realizes it and write down five words in your target language? Conjugate a verb tense quickly before starting your day? Count your gym reps in your target language rather than your native tongue? You’ll need to look at your daily schedule and fit your language learning into that schedule with minimal impact on your other duties and responsibilities.

USE A STOPWATCH

One final tip I’ve found useful is to use a stopwatch to keep track of how much time I’ve spent on each skill (reading, writing, listening, speaking). It also keeps me honest about my studies and allows me to see how my studies are accumulating over time.

PUTTING IT TOGETHER

And if you’re able to address much of those three aspects of learning another language, that’s where you’ll be better able to select the resources you use and not simply rely on some language textbook. Why? Because each will require a certain amount of time and effort on your part and you want to be moving forward with each step instead of having a library full of books (or even a folder on your computer full of ebooks). Likewise with people, you don’t want to feel like you’re bothering someone else with your simple language skills but at the same time you want to be able to communicate without relying on an electronic dictionary or some similar device.

I hope that helps you with your language studies. I know these “keys” are a bit general but these are some of the things you need to think about to motivate you to keep going. These are the same concerns I’ve found myself facing in my own language studies and I hope they’re able to allay some fo the fears or concerns that others might have in picking up another language.


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