You might think that you are doing everything right to learn a new language, but what if I told you that you are actually making some common mistakes that are hurting your learning process?
Yes, you heard me right. There are some habits that you might have that are not only ineffective, but also harmful for your brain and memory. In this article, I will share with you three stories from my own experience as a language teacher that will reveal some surprising facts about how our brain works when we learn a new language. These stories will also teach you how to avoid the bad habits that are holding you back, and how to adopt the good habits that will boost your learning speed and efficiency. Are you ready to learn the secrets of becoming a language master? Okay, here we go.
Number 1. Bad sleep schedule.
One of my English students was a 15-year-old Chinese girl who showed a lot of potential. She improved her skills rapidly, learning new words and rules with ease. But there was one thing that puzzled me: sometimes, she could mimic my sounds perfectly, but other times, she had trouble saying even the simplest words. For example, she would confuse thirteen and thirty, or say “sink” instead of “think”. I noticed that this issue was worse on Mondays when she seemed less focused and more lost. I wondered what was affecting her, so I asked her about her weekend activities. To my shock, she admitted that she stayed up all night playing with her phone every Sunday. That’s when I understood that her lack of sleep was hampering her learning abilities.
I tried to convince her to change her habits, but I don’t think she ever followed my advice. However, I gained a valuable insight from her: sleep is vital if we want to learn fast, especially when it comes to something as challenging as adjusting our pronunciation and losing our accent.
Number 2. Not immersing yourself in a new language.
Also, one remarkable thing that I witnessed was the dramatic improvement of one of my students in his English skills, especially his speaking abilities. As you may know, China has strict internet censorship that blocks access to Google and YouTube. Chinese citizens can still access some English materials, but they are not as high-quality, diverse, and useful as the ones on YouTube. So, what happened to my student? I noticed that he was speaking much better than before. I asked him how he did it, and he said that he finally got access to YouTube and started watching it all day long, especially the daily vloggers who share their lives. He found it very helpful, as he wanted to learn more about American culture.
You might want to change your media consumption habits. Instead of watching or listening to content in your native language, try to immerse yourself in the language you want to learn. You can start by watching movies, shows, or videos with subtitles, but don’t rely on them too much. Challenge yourself to turn them off as soon as you can and see how much you can understand. You can also listen to podcasts and music in your target language while doing your chores. This will help you get used to the sounds, rhythms, and expressions of the language. By exposing yourself to authentic and diverse content, you will not only learn new words and grammar, but also improve your listening and speaking skills.
Number 3. Long isolated studying sessions.
One of the most interesting things that taught me how our brain processes information was when my wife had to prepare for her HSK exams (Chinese language proficiency exams). She had a part-time job back then, and she devoted a lot of time to studying for each lesson. She used up all her free time, but we didn’t see any significant results. She only became more and more tired and frustrated. To make things worse, she got a full-time job, so now the only time she could study was in the morning right after she woke up or late in the evening before going to bed. But to our surprise, by spending only around one and a half hours a day, she made much more rapid progress than when she was studying for four or five hours in a row.
Learning something as complex as a new language or even Chinese characters is not as hard as it seems if you know how to study effectively. Your brain needs time to process the information, especially when you are learning these complex symbols. Cramming them for hours will only make you forget them faster. The secret to improving your language learning rate is to create a habit of studying everyday, but in small increments of time. Don’t study long hours once in a while, but study short sessions every day. This way, you will give your brain the chance to absorb the information and store it in your long-term memory. You will be amazed by how much you can learn in just a few minutes a day. Trust me, this is the best way to learn Chinese language, and any other language for that matter.
As you can see, learning a new language is not only about memorizing words and rules, but also about understanding how your brain works and what it needs to learn effectively. By avoiding the three habits that are killing your language learning, you can make a huge difference in your progress and results. These habits are: having a bad sleep schedule, not immersing yourself in a new language, and studying for long isolated sessions. Instead, you should try to get enough sleep, expose yourself to authentic language materials, and study in short and frequent intervals. By doing so, you will be able to learn faster, easier, and more enjoyably. I hope you found this article helpful and informative. If you did, please share it with your friends and fellow language learners. Thank you for reading and happy learning!