Habits of Successful Language Learners

Why are some people successful at learning languages and others aren’t? It’s not because the successful people are special or just good at learning languages. Well, there might be a few of those, but most of us simply develop the habits needed to be successful language learners.

Habit 1: Don’t wait for perfect circumstances to start learning a language. Start now - even if you’re bad at it.

Successful language learners aren’t successful when they start. They don’t know exactly how they’re going to learn the new language when they start. They don’t know if they’re going to learn it to fluency. They don’t know what mistakes they’re going to make or how they’re going to overcome them. They just start. They start & they figure it out as they go. They use techniques that may have been useful for them in the past with other languages or other studies and apply them to their new language. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t. When what they’re doing doesn’t work, they try something different, and they don’t stop trying until they find a way that works.

Habit 2: Be okay with being afraid & making mistakes

Confidence comes from confronting your fears and learning from your mistakes. People who speak another language fluently got there by practicing speaking even when they were afraid to make mistakes. They only know how to speak well because they’ve been through the stages of language learning of not speaking well and doing it any way.

Fear is your friend and mistakes are your teachers. Fear tells you when you’re about to do something that will challenge you. It tells you to be aware of how you approach what you’re about to do next because there’s some risk associated with it - you might say something you didn’t mean to and feel embarrassed. But that’s okay because the lesson you learn from this mistake teaches you in way you likely won’t ever forget.

Being a successful language learner is not about not being afraid. It’s about coexisting with this fear in a way that allows you to gradually overcome it and develop confidence where that fear used to be.

Habit 3: Be consistent with slow & steady progress

Successful language learners know that fluency is developed over years of practice and that progress is not always visible during the process of studying. They pace themselves so that they can sustain their practice over the months and years, and this begins with daily & weekly practice. They develop a habit of practicing their target language each day or week that is manageable for their schedule & goals and they stick to it. This doesn’t necessarily mean they practice the same way, using the same techniques for all this time because they very likely don’t. It just means continue making the time regularly to practice, and they make progress because they make learning the language part of their lifestyle.

Habit 4: Don’t study too much. Take breaks when you need them.

It’s not productive to study for too long, past the point of being able to retain information. How long is too long is up to you and your personal preference, style, & abilities, but if you feel frustrated or burnt out you’re likely overdue for a break. You may need an extended break for multiple days or just to go take a walk outside in nature for a few minutes. You’ll need to learn how to decide when you need a break and when you just feel like quitting to become a successful language learner. This discernment can be challenging to develop, but once you do you’ll be an even more resilient language learner.

Habit 5: Do other things besides language learning & let them inspire you in your language practice

Allow yourself to play and have fun in, not just language learning, but in life. Explore & experiment with art & outdoor activities that make you feel. Move your body in exercise, dance, yoga, weight lifting, yard work, anything, just move and allow yourself to feel. Then bring this newness, this revitalization into your language practice. Allow it to move though you & inspire you to keep going and make the process your own. Remove the limits you place on yourself one by one as you step into the the version of you that is a successful language learner because you started even without ideal circumstances, because you decided to keep going even when you were afraid, because you made progress even when it was so slow it felt like you weren’t moving, because you took breaks and then kept going. You get to choose to step into this version of you right now.

Book recommendations are books I’ve read that I felt drawn to share with you as I created this blog post. These are affiliate links from Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases❤