If you’re reading the title and then looking back at our posts, that’s right, there are some advantages in slowing down your learning pace.
We’ve talked about learning languages faster in some of our posts, and while it is a good technique, in reality, some people can’t achieve that.
Let’s dissect the reasons why you should not learn languages quickly.
People tend to impress other people and not learn at all
Who are you learning a new foreign language for? Is it for a date, for your career, to impress your friends?
If you’re learning quickly to a point where you’re just a database full of words without meaning, you can’t stir up natural conversations.
Especially, if you’re trying to learn a challenging language, you might be burned out.
Don’t just go for a popular language without knowing what your end goal should be.
One of the key factors in maintaining a constant pace in learning is to diversify what you’ll learn per week or per month.
At the end of your learning lessons, you’ll test yourself with speaking, reading, listening, and writing skills with other people (preferably native speakers) to see what your current level is.
You’ll miss on the important rules such as correct gender and noun relationships
Many languages have this important rule to follow verb or noun endings with their correct gender.
So if you’re in a rush and only memorize words or gender rules per se, you won’t see the big picture.
You should learn from the level where you can allocate the right gender endings for simple sentences.
When it comes to knowing when to use a specific conjugation, there is no shortcut other than having memorization techniques.
You can’t leave out these grammar rules, otherwise, you’ll sound really foolish or stupid for native speakers.
Rather than learning a language, you want to earn points and achievements
What sometimes bothers me about flashcards and routine apps is the repetitive and passive feeling of achieving a point or reward for learning a topic.
After a few weeks, students who only rely on achieving a goal without really understanding the language forget the lessons immediately.
According to seasoned language experts, you can’t take that perfect score sheet from your exam and just show it to a taxi driver while traveling.
You must apply what you’ve learned from daily practice and have a conversation with native speakers.
That language is only stuck in your head
The biggest risk that a language student should be aware of is not applying what they learned after countless apps, Youtube series, and audio lessons.
You know that you can remember the words but you couldn’t just create one or two conversations for directions.
And guess what, again, the only way to really engage in your target language is having that much-needed daily practice.
Try finding a language learning partner on Skype for lessons and try to reduce an English-speaking-only conversation.
You can also have your friends help you decide which topics to talk even in basic conversation moments.
Our short tips while you learn languages at your own pace
Language learners are afraid of throwing themselves in hot water by subscribing to lots of online language platforms and returning empty.
If your target language has lots of resources, that’s already a good way to start learning free.
Replace the mistakes with better, more fulfilling tips as you continue your language journey.
You should always be interested in a culture, country, and language for the long haul
I am a language enthusiast who’s very fond of learning all about the country’s history and how it became one.
This is what helps me learn and appreciate the current official language that they have.
Many student learners are like me, eager to become involved with what interests them a lot.
So I study the country’s people, their national food, street smart things to think about if you’re planning to visit that country one day.
Moreover, you should also know how to act in their country’s rules, perspective (in the right way) and also their cultural traditions.
Just to mention, there are many Asian countries that respect talking to others on a minimum level. Even some European countries have this rule too.
Don’t challenge yourself if you know you can’t be consistent
It’s possible to learn two languages at once if you know you have a working method that
At the same time, you should try to avoid multitasking if you can’t focus on a lesson that much.
An intermediate level of German might give you an idea to learn Dutch as a beginner.
But if you can’t even differentiate when to use the articles for die, der, and das, then you should take a step back in your beginner Dutch and review what are your lesson gaps.
Be honest with yourself and only start learning one language at a time.
Most importantly, do the learning for yourself and for developing your own skills.
Learn from the essentials, don’t be afraid to take time
You can always try switching to an “easy” foreign language and think that you’ll do better than your previous lessons.
But, what you are missing is looking for a consistent way to use your skills since it’s not your native language.
Being confident in having a fully thought-of topic for conversations rather than bragging about achieving fluency (which you might be in trouble for) is not a good way to gain friends too.
Be true to what you can really learn and start improving step-by-step.