How do you find time to study a new language?

[anna3101]

 

It's been a while since I posted this, to be honest I wasn't trying hard at all to learn Dutch back then    It wasn't until January of this year I officially started.   I was lacking a lot motivation back then ( I wasn't sure about so many things, specially my relationship with my then boyfriend and the only reason I was learning dutch).  This year I finally did some progress, but I am ashamed to admit I haven't dedicated enough time to Dutch   So.... eeeek!  Will let you know how it goes in 6 weeks (my basisexamen inburgering)!!

You are so motivated and dedicated  !   I really admire you have the energy to study a language (by reading or listening) after a long day of work.  By the end of the day all I want to do is just lie down and sleep.    I wish I had that level of motivation!  You do good by not sacrificing sleep     I had heard about that before, but I thought they were just joking.  I'm glad I do most of my study at night before bed, I've noticed that is the best time of the day for me to study (too hyper during the morning).  What about you? 

No, actually I'm not that dedicated I try my best but very often I just say "no" to whatever useful and good plans I have and just fall to bed with some silly game on my phone or an extremely mind-numbing women's magazine. Leaving languages, dirty dishes, unsent emails and what else not. I used to mentally beat myself about it and guess what? It made me sad and angry and always feeling guilty but it never helped. It only made things worse. After all, if I believe I'm already a useless zero, incapable of ever learning Spanish or washing the dishes, what's the point of trying to change that? I'm doomed, period, no point in trying.

It was only when I gave up on self-guilt that I actually started to make progress. I now go with "better to do something than nothing, and if I can't force myself today, then I'll try again tomorrow". It works WAY better for me. And when I can make it, I prefer studying in the morning, as my mind feels more "fresh" then but for any repetition or something less difficult evenings are great. But of course that differs so much from person to person.

[anna3101]

Then you are waaaaaaaay stronger than I am or ever be!  xD I am a very indulgent person, when I am done with work I personally love to indulge in some gaming!  Sometimes something as simple as ''Build-a-lot'' but sometimes I go a bit more complex, deeper and scarier and go for games like ''Amnesia''.  I admire those who are strong enough to study languages instead of playing or hanging out on Facebook.  I no longer use Facebook by the way, but I love gaming and checking out sites like the oatmeal...  kudos to you! 

You are a person after my own heart! I also no longer use Facebook and absolutely love casual games, all those time management, build-a-lot and kingdom-for-the-princess types, as well as some strategy and quests.

I also find that, strangely enough, playing a good game often motivates me to other things afterwards. Like take a coursebook and learn some new French words. You feel happy and content, so you are more likely to do good things rather than just sleep or browse silly Internet sites.

[linguaholic]

My answer to this question is pretty simple: Studying languages has always been a part of my career. I studied Translation at the university, so of course almost all my studies had something to do with languages. After that, I started studying Chinese, so then again, my motivation was very high from the beginning because I just had to study that language almost every day in order to pass my exams and homework, etc. And then...my other major at university is computational linguistics, so there again I need to study a lot about grammar, syntax, sentence structures, machine-based algorithms and so on. Languages all the way for me 

 

[Lingua Franca]

If you don't have a time limit to learn, you don't need to spend a great amount of time studying the language. Just 15 minutes a day can make all the difference. If you can listen to some audio recordings on your way to work, you find that this is a invaluable resource.

[Cave Bear]

I use phone apps to study whenever I'm riding on the bus or train back and forth between work and home, and whenever I have a minute or two free. That accounts for about an hour of study per day. I watch one hour of TV per day in the language I am trying to learn. I try to work in about five hours of immersion per week; I used to do language exchanges every week.

[meshellmybell]

I don't like to sacrifice other activities to keep up with languages.  Instead, I try to take advantage of times where my mind is otherwise unoccupied.  I subscribe to the podcast on itunes called "Coffeebreak French."  It's a great tool to use.  Each podcast lasts about 15 minutes, so its perfect for my commute to work or while I'm getting ready in the morning.  The subject matter is fun, too.  It is kind of like listening to an old radio show or something along those lines.  Then, they explain parts of the text in English, so that you really know what is going on.  I have learned a lot of new phrases with this method.

Other times, I'll watch foreign films on Amazon Prime while I'm folding laundry or something.  It has subtitles, which you can choose to pay attention to or just listen to the film and try to follow along.  It's fun!  Also, I like it because I don't have to give anything else up.

 

Hope any of those methods help!  Good luck with the dutch!

[AExAVF]

In learning the Nihongo language, I make use of all available online resources such as Memrise and Nihongo Master.  Whenever I formally enroll in a traditional class, that takes priority.  After all, we are provided with a textbook as well as some study and review materials for us to learn the language.  But whenever possible, I would try to integrate my learning.  As of right now, I am currently not enrolled in any Nihongo language class, but I still go back to my old notes as well.