Immersion is great for language learning. But how do you make progress when you’re in your own environment?
I’m making this list primarily as an effort to build my own habits, but I’m sharing them with you as well.
I’m a person who dislikes routine. That means I have to find a way to study. A way that doesn’t burn me out, but still allows me have continuous progress. There has to be variety too.
It takes somewhere from 720 hours to 1320 hours of learning a language to gain a decent level of proficiency above the survival level. We can argue how we would define proficiency, but the point is this: language learning takes time, effort, and commitment. So why do it at all?
Whether it’s learning a new language from another region of your country or from another country, we all have our reasons for doing so. I’ve compiled my own selection here.
Whenever I stumble across signs in real life, pictures, or movies, product labels, website content, and other content in a language I’m learning and I get to understand some of it, I feel empowered. I gain self-esteem because I know that I’m becoming a better person. I feel that I can achieve more in the world, make my life better, and contribute more—all because of something that I learn and continue to learn.