Should You Move On or Buckle Down?
The age-old question with a simple yet difficult-to-hear answer
I talked about the importance of novelty two weeks ago. Now, it’s time to fight for the other side. Or at least praise the advantage of not moving forward right away.
One of the most common pitfalls of language learners in particular is their belief that “if it matters, it’ll come up again.”
It’s both crucial to believe it’s true and heavily dangerous to do so.
Let me explain.
The most important is unavoidable
Do you think anybody has ever reached a conversational level in a foreign language without discovering how to express a wish or even say “goodnight”? No.
When you start learning a new language, everything is new. Even what seems basic like everyday sentences about the weather or what’s on the menu can be considered real challenges.
They’re also filled with critical information about the language.
Sentence structure. Typical keywords. Pronouns. Conjugation. Particles. Conjunctions. Adjectives.
Every basic but needed information is bound to pop up.
During this period, quantity combined with some attention is a pretty great recipe.
A quick dip into the specific topics you’re curious about can be enough for you to grasp what matters most before you move on to get more and more exposure.
This method can actually work all the way up to a rather high level of fluency.
Is it the best idea though? Now, that’s a different story.
Buckle down on what truly matters
There comes a point where you don’t need to “discover” words like sofa or mug. You’ve come and gone, and how to use adjectives or create long intricate sentences is a skill you’ve long mastered.
And yet, you feel stuck. Unable to improve further.
Welcome to the plateau.
Hell, I’d even say “one of the plateaus.”
This is when no matter how much exposure or practice, your level just doesn’t seem to want to improve.
I’ve been on plateaus countless times. I pretty much always have at least one of my languages on a plateau.
Plateaus are frustrating but they’re also a sign you’ve reached a new level. Now, you’re going to need to farm more to be able to level up. And this time, like you would in a video game, running around fighting any random enemy won’t work as well. You’ll need to find the right enemy and pounce at it.
The one that helps you level up most.
In language learning terms, this means digging into the nitty-gritty of one text, one video, one podcast episode, one conversation.
It’s not about getting the gist and moving on to the next topic. It’s about becoming an expert in that tiny piece of content you’ve chosen. Understanding the nuances, the details you’d have otherwise skipped.
These days, I’ve been diving into translating the lyrics of a few Chinese songs. Normally, I’m satisfied with getting the gist of multiple songs but I’m now actively taking one song, listening to it, trying to figure out its lyrics’ meaning, analyzing every word and pattern I don’t know, and even rewriting them while avoiding to take a peak at the characters.
Final thoughts
No great learner ever slid their way into high levels of fluency with pure quantity. They’ve all had to rely on quality from one point onwards.
Not just quality of resources. Quality of study.
Qualitative study of texts, conversations, or whatever they chose.
Let me insist again. You don’t need that effort to reach a basic conversational level. You will encounter all you need. You will absorb all the necessary grammar patterns and words.
You could go faster by not relying only on absorption, but you can still do it.
Up to a point.
After a while, you will need to anchor down on some tasks.
Once in a while. Not always.
After all, you still need some fun!
Thanks for reading!
Mathias,
An average polyglot