Learning Management

Effective learning means putting new knowledge into practice. We can do this in those moments that would otherwise be unoccupied:

• Practise numbers: When waiting at the bus stop or standing at a traffic light, try saying the numbers on passing car number plates in your target language. Or you can combine this with the next idea…
• Practise letters: In the same situation, try spelling out everyday signs using the foreign alphabet — advertising on buses, headlines on posters, number plates…
• Practise colours / vocabulary: While waiting for a seminar to start, at the doctor’s, or in a queue at the supermarket, mentally describe the clothes or appearance of the people around you.
• Make hypotheses: In the evening while brushing your teeth, review your day and speculate on what could have gone differently or what you plan to do tomorrow.

We should go through our daily lives with open eyes and discover where we can encounter the foreign language.

Example: Song Lyrics

How often do we only understand part of a song playing on the radio? It can help to look up the lyrics and follow along while listening. The next time the song comes on, it’s much easier to understand the words — you can even sing along and perhaps remember some expressions to add to your active vocabulary.

Example: Names of Food Items

You could visit Sarreguemines and check out the product names in the supermarket, writing a shopping list in French (which you can then use when you shop at home). This gives your memory a wealth of support:

• The lively experience of the supermarket with all the sights, sounds, smells, and textures,
• Walking through the aisles, connecting movement with these impressions,
• Writing down the vocabulary as you create your shopping list.

And of course, we should consciously seek out opportunities:

• Look up something online in the target language more often,
• Listen to, read, or watch the news in the foreign language,
• Book a holiday or training course in the target country,
• Reach out to people who speak your target language in an international group, and so on.

Who hasn’t felt frustrated by having big goals, only to give up because they seem impossible to achieve?

The secret to successful learning is setting realistic goals and celebrating small successes along the way.

Here are a few examples:

• How much time? To start with, it’s enough to set aside 10 to 15 minutes, three or four times a week. Once this becomes a habit, you can gradually increase the number of days or the length of your study sessions.
• Speaking more fluently? You won’t achieve that in a month – it takes a lot more practice. A realistic goal might be to take fewer or shorter pauses when speaking. If you want to be precise, you can record yourself regularly at the end of each month and see how your pauses improve. Every small improvement is a success and a reason to be proud of what you’ve achieved.
• Expanding your vocabulary? Everyone wants a large vocabulary and to have the perfect word ready in every situation. But that takes a very long time. Often, it’s enough to describe a concept to make yourself understood. This reduces pressure, allowing you to focus on learning just a few words each week.
• Finally getting rid of those recurring mistakes? It’s best to focus on one mistake at a time and understand what needs to change (for example, the use of “discuss” – see  the error log, or learning not to use “information” in the plural in English, since the word has no plural form). Each time you use the word or structure, remind yourself of the correct examples you looked up (e.g. “I found a lot of information”, “the missing piece of information”) and use them. When you feel this mistake happens only rarely, it’s time to move on to the next one…