Over the past few weeks, my family and I have been out on the road reconnecting with family and friends. I’ve stopped checking the Twitter feed. I’ve neglected the EDLL facebook page. Last week even, for the first time in nearly a year and a half, I missed posting an article.
I haven’t even touched Turkish.
And I’m okay with that.
Looking back and looking forward.
It’s been good.
It’s been good and has reminded me of the importance of taking a break as language learners. I think especially of those in cross cultural service; the Peacecorp, relief workers, NGOs, missionaries and the like.
Language for many of you is a means to an end and the thought of taking some time away from “working hard” to master your new language seems out of the question. The goal is to get to fluency as fast as possible so rest just isn’t in the equation.
Not for you. Not now.
But rest may be the very thing you need. Taking a week or two away from any interaction with the target language can be just the thing that allows what you’ve been working so hard to master to settle into place.
It has been my experience, that a vacation from language learning every so often can be the very thing that has helped me progress faster. I come back refreshed and ready to dive in again.
I return to find certain elements of the language have locked into place. How I have no idea. But it happens with rest.
Rest is an important part of a healthy life. Wouldn’t it be the same with learning another language?
How has taking a break from language learning helped you move forward?
Ready to get serious about learning another language?
"Aaron consistenly pumps out top quality language learning advice and motivational posts,
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I kid you not, I wrote a post on the same subject on my blog yesterday. So I guess I would have to say I agree.
Absolutely agreed, but not just with language-learning, I find that this goes for learning or even achieving just about anything: if you’re really feeling burned out, you would almost certainly end up being more productive in the long term by stopping and taking a break now than trying to just struggle through it and push yourself even harder.
Chill. The breaks are just as important as the work-outs.
Cheers,
Andrew
I absolutely agree with your point of view. When you’re learning fast and furiously, what you are learning doesn’t really have time to take root. Taking time away from language studies and then returning again within a reasonable period of time helps to cement what you’ve learned. Every time I fly back to China, I dig out my Mandarin books and refresh everything. Every time it’s easier. Thank you for your post.
When I think of the target language, I tend to think of the ‘target me’ as well, that person I’d like to be who has fluency in the language I hope to learn. Because I think learning a language is just as much the growth of a system of symbols as a the growth of the ‘self,’ it makes perfect sense to give ourselves time for reflection on all of our expectations/goals, and especially some time not to reflect for a moment. That’s probably why a needed escape is so important every once in a while. It reminds me of a poem I think I saw once in one of the world’s most erudite and sophisticated publications, ‘Surfer Magazine’:) “There was once a man who’d become unstuck in the world – and he traveled around like a leaf in the wind until he reached the place where he started out. His car, his job, his phone, his shoes – everything was right where he’d left it. Nothing had changed, and yet he felt excited to have arrived here – as if this were the place he’d been going all along.”