"What is the most efficient way of learning a language?". This isn't the type of question I'll attempt to answer here. Lately, I've been more interested in trying to learn a language (in my case Spanish) when you have no strong extrinsic reason to learn it.
It's all about managing motivation
Strong extrinsic motivation (for example, the need to speak a language to get a job and put food on the table) makes a world of difference as to which method you can use. Even if tedious, you have all the motivation necessary to carry through, and you can spend hours every night reading a textbook until you reach the necessary level. In this situation, it's all about finding the fastest way to learn.
But if you're learning a language for fun because it would be nice to be able to have a few basic conversations during your next holiday to Spain, motivation becomes a real problem. After all, if you give up, nothing bad will happen. Everyone knows learning a language is tough, so you won't be blamed for not finding the time to succeed.
This distinction partially explains some debate online regarding learning methods. It explains why someone would ever use Duolingo when clearly they are faster methods out there. This is because if you do not have to learn the language, what's most important isn't learning efficiently, but not giving up. This fact was shared clearly by Duolingo's founder and CEO Luis von Ahn in an Interview with The Verge:
Do you think that there’s a conflict between gamification and engagement — the things that you’re historically successful at — and education?
Yes, there is.
How do you manage that conflict?
Very easily. Always go with engagement.
Really?
Yes.
I mean, presumably, you’ve heard both sides of the argument. Why have you made this decision?
I’ll give you many arguments, but the one that works the most is this: It doesn’t matter how effective you are. You can’t teach somebody who’s not there.
This is absolutely true and an idea I always keep in mind when I think about how I want to proceed with my language learning. Additionally, it's important to realise that motivation fluctuates over time and as your skills change. For example, if you have a holiday coming up in a couple of weeks to Spain, then it will be easier to practise more until that time. Same thing if you have an exam coming up. What's more, as you get better, you get access to more ways of learning your language; you'll become able to listen to YouTube videos, podcasts for beginners, and at one point even TV shows.
Personally, I know the motivation required to listen to a podcast is low, and I don't need any motivation to watch a sitcom. So my goal is to manage my motivation levels until I reach that point. That's where Duolingo is great—the gamification ensures I make slow but consistent progress even during the weeks when I do not feel like practicing. And during weeks when I'm more motivated, I'll do additional work using a textbook or consuming content.
Comprehensible Input
Learning Spanish is a lot easier than I anticipated, thanks to comprehensible input. Definitions vary, but the broad idea is that comprehensible input is content that you can mostly understand. The idea is to have your brain fill in the gaps and gradually become acquainted with new vocabulary and grammar. Because of its indirect nature, it isn't the fastest approach, but it does have two great advantages: building your intuition and requiring low levels of motivation once you find content that you enjoy.
In Spanish, the Dreaming Spanish website is the most popular option, with thousands of videos at different levels. I've found it quite good, although once you've finished the content you find interesting at your current level, you will either have to force yourself to listen to less interesting content or you will need to find podcasts or YouTube channels to continue progressing.
Comprehensible input is also very dependent on the language you are targeting. Very popular languages like Spanish or French have lots of high-quality options, but that is not always the case. And I suspect that for a westerner, learning primarily with comprehensible input Asian languages might be quite inefficient considering how different they are.
Towards consuming content effortlessly
I know that for me personally, I won't need any motivation to learn a language once I'm able to consume most content from streaming services. I won't be understanding everything and I might slow down to 0.8 speed, but if I can reach that point, the toughest part will be done.
Therefore, my goal is to reach that point as quickly as possible without losing motivation and giving up until then. Currently, my approach is as follows:
- Learn some Spanish daily, no matter how small. In practice this is done by maintaining a Duolingo streak. If I only do one lesson on the app, that's ok.
- Master a 1000 words Anki deck that should get me to being able to consume native content (this deck has been built by the team at Refold at I found it really good and worth the 30 euros).
- Consume comprehensible input using Dreaming Spanish or specialized podcasts. I try to always have some content that I will gladly listen to, as I'll be more likely to turn it on in the background when I'm taking care of some errands.
- Have some basic conversations with ChatGPT Voice to roleplay common interactions (restaurant, hotel, doctor, etc.)
- Open a textbook if I feel especially motivated one day.
Together, I feel these give me the best chance of continuing to make progress towards consuming native content while minimizing the risk of giving up before then.
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