There’s never been a better time to learn another language. The world is more connected than ever before. Language apps, online tutoring, language learning tips, and classes are available at your fingertips. There’s a reason “how to learn a second language” has over three billion results on Google.
However, some language learning strategies are better than others. And though making mistakes is part of learning, using ineffective methods can lead to bad habits and making less progress than you like. Some of these ineffective methods include:
- Not setting realistic goals
- Focusing too much on grammar
- Not practicing enough
- Lacking motivation and consistency
- Not embracing immersion
If you’re just getting started, learning from these common mistakes when learning a new language can help you set yourself up for success. If you’ve already started and you’re not making as much progress as you’d like, any of these habits could be to blame.
Don’t worry though! You can always course correct by creating new habits based on more effective learning methods.
Table of Contents
- Not setting realistic goals
- Focusing too much on grammar
- Not practicing enough
- Lacking motivation and consistency
- Not embracing immersion
Not setting realistic goals
What do you want to do with your language? How quickly do you want to get there? Once you know your goals, it’s easier to create a plan of action based on what you want to focus on. However, if your goals are unrealistic that can set you up for frustration and make it hard to stay motivated if you’re not making progress as quickly as you hoped you would.
Tips for setting attainable goals
To set attainable goals, be specific about what you want to do long-term and short-term. Ideally, these should be connected to your motivation for learning the language in the first place and how you plan to use it. Framing it like this is more powerful than focusing on a proficiency level or the dreaded “I want to be fluent.”
No matter what you want to accomplish, remember that it takes time. Don’t be too hard on yourself if you’re not good at your new language right away. Setting smaller, short-term goals that are easier to accomplish will help if you feel discouraged.
Focusing too much on grammar
Grammar can be challenging for many language learners. It does matter for effective communication. However, if you put too much focus on it or expect yourself to be perfect, learning can feel like a chore. And that makes it harder to stick to it and make progress. It’s best to learn grammar in connection with other skills and coordinate how much you focus on it with how you plan to use your language.
How important is proper grammar for language learning?
If your goals are academic or career-focused, grammar will need to be a bigger priority for your learning process because those settings have high standards. Informal ambitions like travel for pleasure, connection with your heritage, and conversation in social settings don’t need as much of an emphasis on “proper” grammar and speech. In those cases the priority for learning grammar should be “can they clearly understand me?”
How to balance learning grammar with other skills
For non-academic goals, memorizing conjugation charts and studying the rules doesn’t resonate with all learners and isn’t particularly necessary. Most of the popular language learning apps teach grammar in context so the brain picks up on the patterns from real life examples instead of rote memorization. For other real-life exposure to grammar, listen to native speakers in, read, and watch movies in your target language. You’ll notice that, just like in English, the proper rules and how everyday people talk and write are different. And remember, if you’re talking to someone in your target language and they correct your grammar it’s not the end of the world. Taking risks and making mistakes are important parts of learning.
Not practicing enough
“I’ll work on it when I feel like it” is not an effective strategy for learning a language, or accomplishing anything for that matter. If you don’t practice often and on a regular schedule, you won’t make progress. That doesn’t mean you have to be your own drill sergeant, though. The secret is to find a balance, work when you’re most productive, and review what you’ve already learned.
How much practice is enough?
Everyone’s practice needs are a little different depending on how much time you have, how intense your goals are, and how experienced at language learning you are. Educators recommend studying seven hours per week to become conversational in a year. If you need more time or want to make progress faster, you may need to practice more. If you truly don’t have that much time and are fine with making slower progress, no one’s forcing you to follow that schedule.
Keep in mind that you can split those hours up however you want. Practicing your language doesn’t have to be all serious all the time either. Making learning fun and incorporating it into activities you already enjoy doesn’t just make the time go faster. It teaches you ways to use your new language that are relevant to you.
How to incorporate language practice into your life
Language learning apps are designed to fit into your regular life instead of molding your life around learning your language. The most popular ones incorporate real-life examples and use humor to keep learning interesting.
Consuming media that you would enjoy anyway in your target language is another low-effort way to gain more exposure to your language. And that doesn’t just mean reading books and watching movies. Podcasts, subreddits, DIY videos, multiplayer video games, recipes, and news are available in any language and can all teach you cultural context around the language.
Engaging with the community around your target language is always a good idea. Making friends who speak it, online and in real life, gives you whole new perspectives to learn from. Eating at immigrant-owned restaurants and shopping at ethnic grocery stores are both great for learning about the culture’s cuisine and low-stakes conversation. Even simple actions like changing your phone’s language settings, narrating your life at home, keeping a journal, or talking to your pet can count as practicing.
Make sure you practice conversation
Many beginners find speaking a new language out loud and listening to real people intimidating. Don’t let the fear of making mistakes discourage you to the point that you don’t even try. No one’s perfect right away.
There are ways you can proactively get ready for having conversations without jumping right in with a discussion partner. Learning the basic sounds and pronunciation rules for your target language will make saying new words less scary. Reading out loud can get you comfortable with speaking without having to think of what to say. Listening to the news is great for listening comprehension because it’s meant to be easy to understand. If you’re not comfortable talking to other people yet, talk to your pet. Once you are ready to start talking to people, you can find them with apps, social media, and in-person meetup groups.
Lacking motivation and consistency
Staying motivated and consistent are common language learning challenges. No matter what language learning hacks you find, it’s a long game that comes with highs and lows. To get through those low times, it’s important to stay motivated and consistent.
How to stay engaged over time
Your motivation for learning matters for more than setting realistic, compelling goals. The best way to stay engaged in language learning over time, never lose sight of why you got interested in the first place. Whether that was connecting with a culture, career advancement, adding depth to travel experience, watching movies without subtitles, reading books in their original language, or just curiosity and the desire to learn, a strong “why” can keep you working day after day to make it happen.
Keeping a consistent schedule and doing everything you can to make it an easy part of your routine is another way to keep yourself going even when you’re not feeling particularly inspired. If you’re having trouble sticking to a schedule, the problem might not be you. You might just need to change the way you do it.
For example, if you planned on studying before work every day and it’s just not happening, try working at a different time of day. And when you do break your stride, it doesn’t mean you’ve failed. Life happens and you can always start again.
Not embracing immersion
Immersion is the best way to learn a new language. You can learn a lot by diving in and living in target language mode that you couldn’t in a classroom or with an app alone. Many people hear the word and imagine moving abroad and learning everything from interacting with the locals, but you don’t have to buy a plane ticket to benefit from immersion tactics.
Intensive programs, classes and social meetups where you only speak the target language, and creative ways to work your new language into your everyday life (like the ones when we talked about what can count as practice time) are all in the spirit of immersion. Some language learning apps, most notably Rosetta Stone, don’t use any translation at all and present everything in the target language. That’s immersion! Exploring entertainment, arts, food, and literature from the culture you’re studying will take you deeper into the language and simply make you a more well-rounded person.
Now you know a few language learning mistakes to avoid. If you’re using ineffective language learning techniques, like not setting realistic goals, focusing too much on grammar, not practicing enough, lacking motivation and consistency, and not embracing immersion there’s always time to course correct and learn from your mistakes.
Always remember that learning a language takes time and effort, but that doesn’t mean it has to be a chore.
– Luca Harsh is a Chicago-based freelance content writer. They speak a lot of French and a little of whatever language they’re currently trying out on an app.
Rosetta Stone is a property of IXL Learning, Inc.
