Written by: Gabriella Szabo-Szucs, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
The decision has been made. You are going to bring your foreign language skills to the next level. Not next year, not next week, not even tomorrow. NOW! You are happy as Larry before your first class, excitement is in the air, you are smiling, bursting with energy and determination. What an adventure! For sure, you know there will be problems. Time management is never easy, as you still have to work, your boss still has expectations towards you (especially as he does not have the faintest idea about your great language learning plans). You may have no boss, if you work as an entrepreneur, but you have clients, and your priority is still to serve them. You also have to spend time with your family, which means that besides language learning you still have your normal tasks. Anyway, who cares? You are going to learn the language finally, no matter what! Nothing can stop you!
A couple of weeks go by. You do not feel on top of the world anymore…what’s more, sometimes, even if you just touch your learning materials, you want to drop them as if they were a poisonous spider. You still feel you are a gibbering wreck, no progress has been made in terms of speaking. It seems you are not cut out for language learning after all. You are on the verge of giving it up.
How to make sure you do not go down this road again? What are the most important (mainly preparatory) steps to follow?
Let’s face it. As an adult, you simply cannot learn the same way as a young student. You have to look at this whole language learning thing from a totally different perspective.
Probably you have never learned about the right mindset at school. You simply received the books, the teacher gave you homework, and whether you wanted it or not, you had to go to classes. Foreign language was just another subject, like maths, chemistry, literature and so on.
As an adult, the right mindset is key.
A solid plan is a game-changer.
It means you decide upfront how long you are going to learn, what clear goal you intend to achieve, and you take a close look at your schedule, to examine how learning will fit in. You may feel extremely motivated at the beginning and you want to jump right in, but when reality confronts you and you realise time is your great enemy, you will need this plan. For the grim, rainy days, when your motivation plays hide-and-seek with you.
Let’s look at the key components then.
1. Motivation
The great losers of language learning are the ones who do not know why they even started in the first place.
You have to be aware of your great, shiny WHY. It should be crystal clear what benefits the language will carry for you.
Knowing your motivation is not enough. It is best to put it into writing and it is even better if you see it every day. Make your writing colourful, vivid, you may even use colours or drawings, little symbols, to remind you why you have started learning.
2. Tiny, sustainable steps
Probably you will not be able to sit down for one or two hours every day, to learn in silence.
Look at your schedule to have a clear view when you can find time for short learning periods.
Sustainability is the key concept here!
3. The learning environment at your service
It is easiest to establish a habit for learning if your environment makes it super easy for you to do something for your goals.
Do not think of big changes.
To mention a couple of examples: Have your pens and notebook on your desk, not in the drawer. Have the podcast episodes downloaded, so that you can listen to them even if you are offline. Keep the book you want to read next to your bed and make sure there is a bedside lamp.
4. Feedback
You will need regular feedback that you are making progress. So make sure from time to time you take a look back and see how much you have accomplished. You can compare the audios you recorded of yourself, take a look at the time you spent with language learning, see how many pages you have read from your book, and discuss the process with your language coach.
If you examine these components, chances are much higher that you will not give up!
Gabriella Szabo-Szucs, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Gabriella Szabó-Szűcs is a Neurolanguage Coach®, and an expert of self-directed language-learning. She specializes in helping forward-thinking coaches, experts, consultants level up their foreign language skills quickly and effectively. By propagating learning techniques she intends to help her clients follow their own interests, goals and style in language learning. Raising awareness about how we actually learn, especially in adulthood, lies in the center of her interest.
