Learning a language when you don’t have the time

Habit-building and consistency in difficult times

I am typing this on a plane, returning from a conference I attended this week. On my way to the airport, I was thinking about what I would write about once I board, and I realised that the sum of the things I plan to say sound like nothing new. 

Do I have some new revolutionary insight for you? The answer is no, you have heard all of it before. While the outskirts of Paris came and went from my view, I realised that what I want to talk about is probably more habit-building and consistency in difficult times, rather than something specifically language-related. 

But, we can start there.

“If I just had the time…”

Often when we talk about “having the time” to do something, we don’t literally mean time, but rather mental space and/or physical capability. I am sure you have seen and heard some hustle influencer counting the hours in your day, then pointing out your screen or otherwise idle time and leaving you feeling dreadful for your failed productively spent time. This premise, that you can squeeze every hour of your day and convert it into achievement is based on a shaky ground - as both mental and physical capacity are limited. We possess limited willpower and limited cognitive capacity and we have limits to our exertion. These vary for each of us, but neither our bodies nor minds have been created to be “on” constantly. 

While it is easy to fall into the guilt-driven self-optimisation route trying to achieve a superhuman self, it might make sense to question: is this an achievable pursuit, what would it cost you, and who is trying to sell you the tools to get there :).

An easier route would be to accept our limits and work within them. What I mean by that is accepting that the scroll is inevitable when you are exhausted from performing both socially and cognitively at work. When you have tended to one or multiple small children. When your chronic illness is giving you a hard time. When the mind and the body are exhausted, it is futile, or at least not very effective, to pressure the brain to focus on learning something new. 

Staying on task

Clicking on the image will take you to the slides. I made them in 2020. Sigh.

As part of my cognitive science classes a few years ago I had to present a paper where I made this “take away” sheet that transforms the age ranges mentioned in the paper as UX personas (yes, welcome to fun paper reading with Tamara!). If you look at the last column of the sheet, you can see that Jake can only learn if he stays on task, and has lost some of the modes of learning that younger people have. 

When creating the personas I imagined Jake sitting in a language class after 8 hours of work, one hour of lunch with colleagues and a two-hour commute - there, but not there. I imagined him listening to one of those language-learning audio materials right before going to sleep as he nods off or trying to progress with the exercises in one of those grammar-practice books, but managing to fill in just one or two blanks of each exercise.¹ I imagined him trying, but frustrated, feeling the drudgery of the notoriously non-entertaining grind he’s undertaking, slowly despising both the activity and the language itself(this is important, but a topic for another post). 

Are we all not Jake in some way with whatever skill we want to achieve? I have definitely been in that situation before. 

So why is Jake struggling to progress, feels the activity draining and dull and has issues exercising his willpower and discipline? 

This has to do with adults being able only to learn if they “stay on task”, or “active target detection” as the paper names the term. What staying on task means is that one can be fully present and focused, and paying full attention to the learning task. 

We discussed our limited willpower, cognitive capacity and bodily exertion abilities. When either is exhausted, staying on task and getting the best of your time is impossible. Our minds and bodies need rest, and it is only fair to allow that rest.

Whatever works

Maybe someone has told you before to find something that keeps you entertained, and that you will learn much faster if you are having fun. Perhaps you’ve been suggested to watch movies, listen to music, or throw in a podcast here and there.

This is all good advice, but it is also very vague. The title of this section is “whatever works”, whatever keeps you on task - as long as you find something that genuinely works for you.

You can ask yourself some questions:

• How much effective learning time do I have a day or a week?

• Why am I learning this language? What would the ideal usage be?

• What kind of learning task can I do when I have both willpower and cognitive capacity, and what can I do when I am low on either, or both?

• Is there any media that I could consume that would serve both a learning and entertainment purpose? What would if not recharge, not drain me?

For example, a common suggestion is to listen to the news, or some version of simplified news if you are learning a new language. I tried to do that with German, but I was so bored, that there was no way I could “stay on task” and not drift away after a bit. Listening to something that bored me also took too many spoons from my willpower bucket. I replaced the news with podcasts talking about social and political issues in Germany, filled with the kind of voices I was genuinely curious about what they had to say. I didn’t understand so much at the beginning, but every day I did more. I would play something in the background, while me and the baby would start the day, as I knew that the later part of the day would descend into chaos.

In the evening, my body and brain yearning to rest, I’d watch German TV documentaries on YouTube. They were dramatic in a way TV can be, covered simple themes, had a predictable structure, and manageable length and taught me a lot about many cultural aspects. Worked for me!

How I am learning Italian right now

Since last autumn I find myself in one of those times in life where personal time is almost non-existent. All my mental and physical energy has been going into caring for my family and working the one and half jobs I had until recently(I have only one now 🎉). Language learning has always refilled my cup, so when we returned from Italy this year I decided to sneak in a bit of learning every day. Here is how I answered my questions above:

• How much effective learning time do I have a day or a week?

  The time varies. About 15 minutes would be a realistic daily expectation, but there might be days when that is 0.

• Why am I learning this language? What would the ideal usage be?

  I’d love to be able to communicate with my extended family and have them get to know me. The ideal usage would be a comfortable daily language production level(B1), and a a bit higher comprehension level(B2). I need to work both on grammar and vocabulary to get there.

• What kind of learning task can I do when I have both willpower and cognitive capacity, and what can I do when I am low on either, or both?

  Using the phone is the most practical option for me at the moment, as I need to be able to spontaneously use a short window of time opening. As I am learning from scratch, a language-learning app is appropriate. When I feel like I can spend more minutes and have a clear head I can take on new material, and when I need a cognitively easier task I can review what is due.

• Is there any media that I could consume that would serve both a learning and entertainment purpose? What would if not recharge, not drain me?

  At this current stage since I am at the very beginning, consuming any media that isn’t tailored to language learners would be difficult, so this is something I will consider in a month or two.

In practical terms, this means I have been using Babbel as my main learning material. I have been learning for a month and a half, and I am somewhere in the middle of the A2 course. I don’t change streaks, and I find them counterproductive. If you see above, the empty gap in the middle was when I had bronchitis, my husband was bedridden with a high fever, and our child had their first few days of school. I know that in those moments, there is no point in keeping a streak just for the sake of it. Streaks for some of the people vulnerable to it, can provoke all-or-nothing thinking. Use at your own peril.

I am using an app at this very early stage of learning a language since I am unfamiliar with the basic grammar structures and don't have a solid vocabulary base. I have no illusions that this can be my only material. As I am a solid month and a half in, I have already bought a thorough grammar exercise book with a printed grammar companion. I have already started to use it. While Babbel familiarises me with the concepts in a contained, effortless² and fun way and can be easily snuck along my chaotic day, I use the grammar book³ to deepen any of the knowledge I gain. It is useful to change the format of the exercises. Once I finish the A2 level in the app I plan to use it daily, while I help my child with schoolwork. It is an ideal 20 minutes to do whatever I manage.

Beyond that, I plan to make a list of media that interests me and have fun with it. While I call Germany my home, and I am/was interested in the socio-political while learning, it might be that I follow different material in Italian. I read 5 translated books originally in Italian this year, so literature is a great contender. Once I can read books, a whole new world will open.

Is it worth it?

And in the end, is spending precious minutes of your life on something worth it? Is it really worth it to you?

For me, measuring my humble progress, watching the world slowly open beyond what I’ve known and finding joy in tiny linguistic peculiarities⁴ is worth it. But I come from the privileged position to do this for fun.

Sometimes, we must learn and bigger things are at stake than burnout because all work and no play. In that case, I hope you can look at the end goal as something that will bring more quality to your life and get the best of the limited time resources for learning. I am sure you will.

I hope to write more about the different aspects of language learning, especially the sociolinguistic challenges like stress, the immigrant experience, what is trauma-informed language learning and much more. In the meantime, I’d love to hear from folks struggling in any way with (language) learning. What are your experiences where your circumstances were less optimal?

1. The original Jake in my slides was having a hard time learning because of the everyday stress of the 2020 pandemic and everyday uncertainty, as one’s mental health has also a great impact on the ability to stay on task. This is an excerpt from the presentation:

Jake is a 30-year-old, illustrator by trade. Maybe some of you are around this age too, or going to be soon. With the social life closing in, Jake had a bit more time in the evenings and decided to learn Japanese. He downloaded a course, but the progress seems slow and tiresome. Although he played the lesson several times, his mind keeps wandering and all the covid worries press. He's having a hard time finishing it.

…Studies have shown that adults can only learn with active target detection. What does this mean for Jake for example? What do we know about him atm: he is trying to learn a new language during a global pandemic, his everyday disrupted and insecure. He keeps playing the lesson and trying to memorise the phrases, but they somehow fade into the background as his anxiety and overall tiredness take over. He is struggling to stay on task, and really, actively listen. As he has lost the ability to learn by merely perceiving with his senses, things just don't stick. I will open a discussion later about how we can make learning better for grown-ups, so keep this situation in mind.

2. Effortless - as in requires no setup effort on my side.

3. Workbook.

4. You should have seen me when I found out that it is “lo yogurt” because y = iu and that is a semiconsonatic i, so the “lo”.