The Power of Daily Study

When learning a language, or any skill for that matter, the most important rule to follow is daily study.

Maybe you’ve heard this many times, and perhaps you chose to ignore it. After all, your weekday schedule is busy and there’s no way you can fit in anything else, much less something “boring” such as studying languages. Many people would rather spend a few hours on the weekend, when they’ve got the time. Days off are relaxing, and theoretically more conducive to learning and deep thought. Plus, an entire day can be spent studying away. While this may be a great way to build a deck, it’s not really all that great for picking up a language...

Basically, feeding massive blocks of information into your brain on a weekly basis is not how the learning process works.

Instead of envisioning the skill you’re developing as some sort of construction project, think of it instead as a meal. The brain must take bites, chew, swallow, and digest. This way, the food is broken down properly and as many of the nutrients as possible are absorbed. If this “eating” is rushed, then the information goes undigested.

This is especially true with languages, because rather than simply being a long list of vocabulary and pronunciation techniques, there is also contradiction. This disagreement is not only within the language itself (such as irregular verbs and grammar forms), but may also be contrary to the rules of your native tongue. Before you learn, you must first unlearn. Within your mind, there will be resistance to these new rules so this type of mental gymnastics takes time and effort.

Fortunately, the food analogy goes a step further. When you eat, you don’t actually have to work in order to digest. The same holds true for learning.

Once you have read and understood something, it becomes part of your subconscious. While you move on to the rest of your day, your brain continues to mull the new information over. In the past, you may have found that a new concept seemed easier the second day you approached it. This is because of the work your subconscious did while you went about your daily routine (including sleeping).

In closing, don’t overwhelm yourself. Take small, measurable bites on a daily basis. This provides a steady and manageable flow of information to your brain rather than a massive buffet that leaves you feeling ill. The size of the bites you should be taking varies, but 20 minutes is a good guideline to follow. The other advantage of such small, regular sit-downs is that you can do them almost anywhere – on the train, right before bed, or during your morning cup of coffee.

While you may be busy, there is likely some part of your day where you can fit a book into your hand while doing other things. So eat up!