It all started with the Michael Erard’s book Babel No More.
In the process, I improved my memorisation skills, and learned how to make the most of my freetime.
You do not have to study for 3 hours straight
It can be 20 minutes in the morning, 90 minutes at lunchtime, and another hour in the evening. I am writing this article from 4 am to 6 am.
manage my household duties without sacrificing my precious personal time
To give myself more free time, I invested in a dishwasher, a steamer, a multi-cooker, and a vacuum-cleaning robot.
there’s a way to make them more time-efficient. If you can save just 10 minutes for every hour you’re awake, that’s nearly 3 hours of extra free time.
Decide that your private time is really important to you
You will not be able to create anything worthwhile or learn multiple languages if you do not have time to sit and think them over in the comfort of solitude.
no matter what – as soon as she fell asleep, I would go to study. I would not waste my time on anything else.
setting a deadline is the best way to ensure that you get things done
Imagine that your year lasts for 12 weeks instead of 12 months. Doing so will give you four deadlines in a calendar year.
Imagine that each week is a full month, and keep doing something every day. For me, that turned out to be the most effective time management principle ever.
With Skype chats, I reinforced the material I had learned independently
I followed my list of five languages, and focused on one language per day. No, languages do not really mix.
Monday – German
Tuesday – Spanish
Wednesday – French
Thursday – Chinese
Friday was free until August. Then I wrote Czech in the blank.
I had several goals: take my Chinese and German level up to upper-intermediate; refresh my French and Spanish; and start with a new language (Czech). I met all three of those goals.
I would not recommend that you start with five languages, or even three, especially if you do not have a language background. However, it is possible to simultaneously learn two languages quite effectively by doing the following:
Self-learning with good resources (2 hours per day)
One session with a native speaker on Skype (30 minutes per day)
if you have a language learning dream, you have to work for it
Honestly speaking, to live a year on such a schedule was quite a challenge. Without self-discipline, it would have never worked out. From time to time, I had to cancel my lessons simply because I needed to sleep.
- Make a list of all the languages you want to learn.
- Evaluate them based on the following criteria:
- interest in a language (are you passionate or just curious?)
- practical use (do you want to work with this language or ever travel to a country where it is spoken?)
- availability of resources (is it a popular or rare language?)
- Rate the language from 5 to 0 (5 if a language is exciting, promises a better future, or is very popular).
- Total up the scores and pick the language with the highest total rating. Start with this language.
- Create a 12-week plan that covers pronunciation, basic grammar, and basic vocabulary. Start practicing your writing and speaking as soon as possible (Follow Benny's free Speak in a Week course; it works brilliantly!)
- Study at least one hour every day. Then, it’s very likely that you’ll reach A1 in almost any language in just 12 weeks. If you already speak the language, you’ll substantially upgrade your current level.
- After 12 weeks, go ahead and take another language from your list if you still want to learn it. Learn the basics and remember to add Skype sessions to maintain your previous language.
If your goal is quantity, you could learn four languages at a basic level in just one year.
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