Learning a Language - Some Days are Better than Others

 
Learning a language takes a lot of time and energy. Learning doesn’t take place overnight and we can often fall on tough times. It’s really important that any student of English remembers that some days will be better than others and to stick with it no matter what. This blog entry will go over some lessons I learned while learning Spanish 10 years ago.
 
Learning something new is such a strange phenomenon. One day we’ll spend an hour and make huge improvements. We’ll remember all the words from days past, understand nearly everything spoken in English and get into a real groove while we’re talking with friends. It’s like everything is working out perfectly.
 
But some days… we’ll spend the same amount of time studying and it will seem like we’re not making any progress, or even worse we’re going backwards. We talk with the same English speaking friends and come across so many new words that we barely understand what they are saying. We try to communicate and no one understands what we’re saying. You know- the strange look that people give you when you are trying to say something but they have no idea what you’re saying. It’s so frustrating and even, at times, embarrassing. We feel like we’ve taken a big step back and want to give up all together.
 
The key to this roller coaster ride of learning and speaking English is not getting discouraged. We have to acknowledge that there will be good days and bad days and everything in-between. When we experience a bad day we just have to understand that it’s part of the learning process and that another good day is just around the corner.
 
I recommend that when you have a tough day learning or speaking English try one of the following;

• Don’t force the issue. Tomorrow is a new day with new opportunities, let a good nights sleep help you reset and approach things refreshed.
• While in a conversation, listen and ask questions. When people are using a lot of words we don’t know it can be really valuable to just listen and try to understand the context. The experience that was scary can turn into a great source of new words to look up when you get home.
• Do something else. If you’re having a hard time doing one thing it can be very helpful to switch to something else. Play a sport. Watch TV. Have fun with a hobby. Learning takes time so there’s no need to put too much pressure on yourself.