A Day in The Life of An Ambitious Language Learner

Language learning is a creative pursuit born out of necessity or for the sake of pure fun. Necessity in the case you are required to learn it to pass an important exam or secure a job abroad and when you are looking to learn it out of pure fun, you also add an important skill in your kitty. While all of us are familiar with the day in the life format of many professions through YouTube videos, we figured a similar article for a language learning aspirant would be immensely helpful.

A study suggests that it takes anywhere between 480 to 720 hours to learn a language based on its level of difficulty. Assuming that a motivated student for whom language learning is an absolute necessity will put in 10 hours a day to get a grasp on the language and finish learning most part by the 48th day, here is a sample day in the life of a language learning student.

8 AM – 10 AM:

The day begins with reading a piece of prose and highlighting new words in the target language accompanied by a side of breakfast to fuel through the day. The highlighted words are collected in a notebook or written on flashcards for future use. The session can be alternated with vocabulary review of previous readings and flagging off words that have not yet been committed to memory. The job becomes easier with the use of an online flashcard application.

10 AM-12 PM:

After a small break, the study session can resume with essay writing or alphabet practicing depending on your fluency in both. If your target language uses a script different from the language you use, then you can begin with alphabet writing and practicing words with a single or two syllables. In case you are familiar with the script you can string together small sentences to form an essay or a prose, an opinion article among other forms of writing to help you polish your writing skills. 

12 PM- 2 PM:

It is now time for a big break to fuel up, exercise and if you get a chance to listen to your favourite podcast in your target language then nothing like it.

2 PM- 3 PM:

This session can be used to review some heavy-weight grammar. If you are learning Haitian Creole, you can Learn Haitian Creole Negation from CreoleTutors.com or learn adjectives or different parts of speech according to your proficiency. It is important to note how to apply these rules in sentence structuring both while speaking and writing.

3 PM- 4 PM:

Watch a popular TV show in your target language. You could alternatively download subtitles of your target language while listening to the show in your mother tongue. The subtitles will help you stay focused on the use of the language when a particular dialogue is being spoken. You can pause and play as necessary and also guess what dialogue from your target language will be spoken next.

4 PM-5 PM:

Talk to a friend who speaks in your target language or an online tutor. Do not lose your confidence if you are not able to speak fluently. You must resort to broken words and place emphasis on making sense more than correct usage of grammar in your early stages. You should note what adjectives are being used, the adverbs and any new words that you can learn. For Haitian creole, an online tutor can make you Learn Haitian Negation from CreoleTutors.com on the website itself all from the comfort of your home.

 

Your major task is done for the day and you can take another hour to record, analyse and revise the progress made in the day. If you follow this routine, you will be able to master your second language in no time.