How do language learners stay organized?
One of the biggest challenges language learners face is staying organized with their language studies. There’s so much to keep track of, that it can easily become overwhelming. From the resources you own, to the strategies you plan to use, keeping track of it all can feel like an impossible task.
But if you’re ready to get organized and create study routines you can rely on, keep reading to learn my best strategies that I teach other language learners (and use myself for my own language studies).
Step 1: Get clear on why you want to be organized in the first place.
As with most things in your language learning journey, it’s so important to dive deep into your WHY. I often call this your Guiding Principle because it’s the reasons that guide everything you do in your language learning journey.
If you’re trying to get organized and create a reliable routine, the first thing you need to do and clarify what you want to achieve and why.
Are you trying to keep better track of your resources?
Do you want to be able to stick to a routine you set with ease?
Maybe you are looking to develop your skills past the stage your currently in (and have been stuck in for a while).
Whatever your reason is, you need to get so crystal clear, the path to getting there is a no-brainer.
When you know your why, you can better manage the rest of your study routine, and what I like to call your ‘study system’.
And even better, when you are well organized, you are better able to keep track of your progress, set goals you’ll actually reach, and the confidence to follow a plan you know is going to work best for you.
You can be more strategic with your time, focus on what you need to do that will actually help you make progress, and avoid wasting time on things that aren’t relevant or simple don’t work for you.
Being organized makes it easier to stay focused and motivated, and to build that discipline and consistency that actually helps you improve your skills as a language learner.
It may seem like a lot of work at first to sit down and get organized, but your future self will thank you!
How do I get clear on my why?
The easiest way to get clear on why you want to get organized in the first place is to ask yourself some questions like:
- What does being organized mean to me?
- What does organization feel like?
- What does an organized study routine look like?
- Why do I want to get organized?
- Why am I going on this language learning journey?
- What do I hope to accomplish?
- How can organization help me get there?
Questions like these will help you dive deep into your “Language Learning Background”, and set you up for success.
So take a moment to jot down and answer these questions for yourself, then move on to the next step.
Step 2: Identify Your Strengths as a Language Learner
Once you’re clear on your “why”, it’s time to identify your strengths as a language learner.
You might be asking, “what does this have to do with organization?”
EVERYTHING.
When you know your guiding principle, you are better able to identify your strengths.
And when you know your strengths, you are better able to anticipate and plan for the challenges you’ll face in your language studies.
Think about it this way:
Everyone learns differently. We have different needs, different experience, and completely different expectations.
Let’s say you are trying to get better at understanding the language you’re learning in spoken conversation. If you know that you’ve never learned a language before, but you have learned other skills like playing an instrument or drawing, you can apply the strategies you used to stay consistent and improve to your language studies.
If you know that you struggle with remembering auditory information, you’re less likely to use Audio-only resources. Or you add in some of your strengths, like transcripts you can read along with, to help support your efforts.
If you are more of a visual learner, you’ll start to incorporate things like flashcards or visual aids as you learn new vocabulary.
Or if one of your strengths is kinesthetic learning, you’ll start adding more movement in your studies, like listening as you walk, or “act” out conversations using your entire body.
Makes sense?
I hope so!
How do I identify my strengths?
One way to do this is by taking a language learning assessment, like this one. Assessments like these can do the work for you in narrowing down what are your strengths as a language learner and how to use those strengths to your advantage. And once you know your strengths, you can craft a study routine that is tailored to your learning style and the kind of supports you might need on your journey.
Another way you can do this is by asking yourself simple questions like:
Do you learn best by…
- listening to audio recordings?
- reading texts?
- writing down the things you learn?
- Repeating and practicing aloud?
- Moving, walking, or acting it out?
- Using visuals to picture the information in a different way?
Take some time to think about how you learn best. Once you have a better idea of your strengths as a learner, it will be that much easier to follow your routine and stick to your study plan. And it will help you to choose the best resources for your language studies.
And if after completing an assessment and asking yourself these questions, you’re still feeling unsure, try experimenting with different study methods. Pay attention to what works and what doesn’t work, and use that information to create a routine that is personalized and tailored.
Step 3: Decide on the Habits You Want to Build Into Your Routine
For this step, it’s time to decide on the habits you want to build in your routine.
I talk about this all the time about habit building and how they are so important to your language learning.
Habits are the actions to take in your language studies to not just improve and make progress, but that reinforce the kind of language learner you want to be.
I talk in more detail here about the differences between a goal and a habit, but to keep it short:
A goal is the milestone you reach that signals that you’re on the right track.
A habit is the behaviors and actions you take in your language studies.
You can learn a language with habits and never set any goals.
But you can’t learn a language without habits.
Because of this, you need to decide what you want to be able to DO in the language. Then, decide what habits you need to build to get you there.
These habits don’t need to be BIG shifts in your life. In fact, they often shouldn’t be huge changes because it’s harder to stay consistent with them.
Think about one task you can work on regularly, or focusing on one vocabulary word or grammar point at a time, for instance. Then, figure out how to make these habits part of your “Life Routine”.
How to Build Habits in your language studies?
The are many different strategies you can use to make a habit regular part of your study routine or study schedule, and here are just a few. You can ask yourself:
- How can I make the study habits I want easier to accomplish?
- How can I make the study habits I DON’T want easier to avoid or let go of?
Whatever approach you take, the important thing is to be consistent with your studies. Habits only become part of your routine if you do them regularly, so make sure to stick with it!
Step 4: Establish Clear Goals as Milestones on your Language Learning Journey
One of the areas that most language learners pay a ton of attention to is setting clear goals.
I tend to think of goals as milestones. They are the signs posted along your journey that signal whether or not you’re moving in the right direction.
And by “right direction”, I mean the direction you want to be going in with your language studies.
You don’t need to set goals in your language studies, but I always encourage my students to do so because milestones are the simplest way to track your progress.
It can be so difficult to see if you’re making progress and improving your skills, especially when you reach that intermediate stage. But if you have goals that are specific and measurable, you can use that as a way to gauge where you are and what your next steps need to be in your language studies.
When you’ve identified s specific target to strive for in your language studies, and you make sure that your habits are aligned with that target, you can also use these goals to keep you motivated when your feeling lost or stuck.
The most important thing to remember, though is this:
You can ALWAYS change your goals.
You can make them smaller.
You can make them larger.
You can shift your focus.
You can decide to do something different.
Basically, when it comes to goal setting (and everything else in your language studies, really) you need to do what YOU need and what works best for YOU.
How do I set clear goals?
Simple!
Ask yourself:
- What do I want to be able to achieve in my language studies?
- What will signal that I’m actually making progress in my language studies?
- What does “progress” mean to me?
You can establish annual goals, quarterly goals, as well as ones for the month, week, and day. The possibilities are endless when it comes to goal setting, but don’t get stuck in brainstorming (which is an easy way to “feel productive”).
Making a decision and taking action is important, too!
Step 5: Determine Your Action Steps and Accountability
Finally, step five is all about determining your action steps and your accountability.
Once you know your Guiding Principle, discovered your strengths, and decided on the habits and goals you want to work on, now it’s time to clearly define WHAT you’re going to do, and HOW you will stay consistent.
That’s where Action Steps and Accountability come in.
Action Steps are the specific ways you will study, practice or review in your study routine. You can be as specific as you need to be with your action steps.
Maybe you’re someone who works best breaking your work into “study session”, “review session”, and “practice session”. Or maybe you like to do all three each time, but you want to focus on one skill at a time, like speaking or writing.
Don’t be afraid to experiment, mix things up, and make it fun. If you find that your current study routine isn’t working for you, it’s a clear sign that something in your study system isn’t working and you need to fix it.
It could be anything from:
- a lack of clarity
- an unclear plan
- unrealistic expectations
- misaligned plan
And More!
(and this is exactly what I help my students with inside The Polyglot Project)
On the other hand, when it comes to Accountability, these are the tools that you use to keep you on track and help you build consistency.
I call them “Accountability Anchors” because they keep you grounded and prevent you from drifting away from your plan.
One way you can do this is by finding an accountability buddy. This is someone who maybe has the same goals or similar struggles with staying on track, and you can work together to stick to your plan and study regularly.
(just like we do in TPP 😉)
When you have these two things clearly established in your language studies, it because that much easier to consistently make progress in the language you’re learning.
And this means that you’re one step closer to being able to USE the language or languages you’re learning.
How to determine your action steps and accountability?
Ask yourself questions like:
- What specific tasks do you plan to complete?
- How will you make sure to stick to this routine?
- Do you have people or groups you can check in with to keep yourself accountable?
- How will you celebrate your wins? Overcome your setbacks?
Set clear expectations for yourself and create a plan that’s easy to follow and stick to, so you can guarantee your language learning success!
Build Your Consistency and Manage Your Time
Once you’ve determined your action steps and accountability, it’s time to start creating your study plan and launching it!
Ready to take action right now? Here are ways we I can support you:
- Take the free quiz to discover your Strengths as a Language Learner + how to use these strengths to your advantage to maximize your results and make progress.
- Download my free guide and learn the exact steps you need to follow to finally build a routine that will work for you (AND help you to learn multiple languages.)
- Watch my free masterclass to hear the six things you need to avoid IMMEDIATELY to make progress and achieve your study goals without feeling frustrated and overwhelmed
- Follow me on Instagram and Tiktok for even more language learning strategies and motivational content.
- Get access to my mini course and discover the key components to a study schedule that you need to have in order to achieve your study goals.
READY TO BUILD REAL CONSISTENCY?
When you’re ready for the next step, to finally get consistent so you can start USING the languages you’re learning, you need to join our TPP community!
The Polyglot Project is all about helping language learners STOP feeling stressed, frustrated, and overwhelmed in their language studies, and START getting clear on what to do next, so you can finally make consistent progress and improve your skills.
Learn more about the program here!