Put the Textbook Down

Making the most of your free time when learning a language

If two decades of studying languages has taught me anything, it’s this: learning a language is HARD WORK.

I studied French and German for over a decade, at school and then university, and I still graduated without feeling that I was really ‘fluent’. Even when I held my degree certificate in my hands, the voice in my head was whispering “You’re a fraud!”.

Now at age thirty, I’d say I’m mostly fluent in two languages, with a third not far behind. And while most of that was made possible by years of formal study and commitment, what banished the voice of doubt in my head was immersing myself in the languages and speaking and breathing them in my everyday life. Listening to French radio as I fall asleep, watching Spanish dramas and emailing clients in German everyday make me feel au fait with the languages in the way a textbook never could.

I’m not writing this article to suggest any magical shortcuts or make bold claims that you can learn any language in months if you just follow ‘this one secret tip’. Shortcuts are a myth, and believing in them will set you up for disappointment and failure.

But learning a language has to be a gruelling slog, either. You can boost your language skills without sitting in a classroom or with your head in a book. The advice that consistency is key to making a language stick is sound. A few minutes of learning here and there can make all the difference.

So I’ve drawn upon my two decades of experience and am sharing the advice that I’ve found most helpful for utilising your spare time to learn a language. Whether you’re learning Spanish, Arabic or Estonian, it doesn’t matter: you can apply the advice to whatever language you’re learning.

Watching a Nordic noir without subtitles or reading your favourite manga in the original Japanese are great for improving your comprehension and vocabulary, while doing something you enjoy. But you’ll only make tangible progress if you already have a solid grasp of the language. If all you know in Swedish is how to order a coffee and say ‘thank you’, then the dialogue on The Killing will be nothing but white…

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