GTD in English (and not only): a new look at learning foreign languages

It is not a secret for anyone that knowledge of one (or more) foreign language opens up new opportunities for a person to find work. The world is changing rapidly, and more and more companies are opening offices in different parts of the world. They need people who are not only specialists in their profession, but also can easily communicate on workers (and not only) issues with foreign colleagues. As for economics, marketing, programming, then for specialties from these areas it is simply necessary to know English, since most of the related literature is published across the ocean. Add here tons of unique content from world-renowned English-speaking specialists, which can be obtained "first-hand" and used for the benefit of their own development. This, of course, provided that you do not give a damn about your professional level and competitiveness.



Could not learn a foreign language, but want to work in large international companies? Do you dream to get into Google, Facebook and others like them? Or maybe you are a freelancer or an entrepreneur who wants to expand its customer base and cooperate with foreign partners? Then this article will certainly be useful for you.



In our blog SmartProgress, we have already published articles on both motivation and procrastination. These two phenomena are inextricably linked to most of the goals that we set for ourselves. Therefore, today we would like to consider them under the prism of learning languages ​​- a task that many still cannot cope with, despite the time and effort spent - and how our service can help you with this difficult task.

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Years of study and no result? Yes you are lazy, my friend!

The overwhelming majority of the people with whom I had occasion to communicate said that they had to devote years (!) To learning a foreign language. This was usually a prologue for the final: “But I don’t speak it. I would like to know a foreign language, but ... ". And then, as a rule, there are a number of excuses, why is it not lucky for a man to overcome at least one language? Believe me, for many years I happened to hear them more than you can imagine: there is no good teacher, no time, I can not find a suitable textbook for myself, the method does not work, I get tired at work and much more.

Simple arithmetic: we consider "pure hours"

And if you have been studying a foreign language for several years (at school, at the university, at the courses), but still you don’t speak it, forgive me, all this time you have suffered with garbage. No need to deceive yourself. You did not dedicate enough time to training (effective time, not sitting on your pants!) And did not approach it responsibly. But the most important thing is that you could not find enough motivation in yourself and did not catch fire with the idea of ​​knowing a foreign language.







Having thought carefully, from all your “years of hard work” you can approximately calculate the number of productive hours of training. If your goal is spoken language, then we consider the hour of conversational practice (with a fuse and a desire to learn) to be an hour of productive work in achieving its goal. In this case, the grammar will have to be considered with a “half” coefficient. As for listening to music in a foreign language, these “efforts” go to zero (for me, for example, the Beatles' grandmother and grandfather respected them very much - they never had a chance to learn the words “in England”). Audiobooks and reading literature without detailed thoughtful analysis of the material is more likely one of the methods to keep yourself in good shape than the possibility of effective learning. This approach will help dispel the myths about the complexity of the language and many other excuses with which people tend to cover their lazy mother. Let's look at a couple of examples:



Example 1



So, suppose that at school you were stuffed with five academic hours of English-French-German for five years in a row (I don’t remember that there was something else in addition to this). If you were learning a foreign language was not interesting, and you were taught only "to pass and forget", then all your 270 hours are reduced to zero - you, in fact, did not work, that's why you know as much.



Example 2



Imagine that you are working “with the drive” and spend an hour every day learning a language. At the same time, you give five hours a week to what is of higher priority (for example, speaking), and two to writing and grammar (here we count them with a factor of 0.5). Then we get 6 hours of work weekly, which bring results and remain with you.



Comparison



As a result of simple calculations, we find that 270 hours over five years can be accommodated in ten months of not particularly hard work. Devoting two times more time to learning a language, you can cope with it in less than six months - this is real for everyone. As a rule, if a person does not have enough time for something “trite”, it means that he simply does not know how to dispose of him and plan his day (we will also talk about this later).

But what is the problem then?

All excuses are usually called upon to show how the forces of the whole world, including the damned grammar and vocabulary of a chosen foreign language, were on the way to learning it, rather than elementary human laziness and lack of motivation.



Oh well. Suppose we admit that our reluctance to learn is to blame. Or, as a self-critical reader, proudly wrote in comments to one of the past posts: I'm lazy, and that's it. The next step is quite logical: fight it, if you want to achieve anything at all. Yes, it is easier said than done ... The only question is, how on the sly do not fool yourself with an additional portion of completely convincing, but empty excuses? From the experience of my polyglot friends (as well as my own), I can assure you that without the right motivation to learn a foreign language, porridge cannot be cooked.







It is very important to fall in love with a language or something related to it. Find yourself an idea that would make you treat learning as a favorite hobby: something that you associate with the language and makes working with it enjoyable and desirable. The ubiquitous Internet will help you learn more about the countries whose languages ​​you learn: about their traditions, culture, history, literature, art and much more. It is quite possible that you will be able to find something inspiring for yourself. Make analogies. Want to get a job at HP, but you need to learn a language to do this? Then for you HP and knowledge of a foreign language must be identical. Do not separate them.



Studying English, I just fell in love with my teacher - it gave me an incentive at first, and then I fell in love with everything related to the language - from English literature and music to bright phraseological units and magnificent British pronunciation. With such a fuse, it took me half a year to learn to speak fluent English, read foreign literature and watch films in the original (although I confess that I can still row and row before I can master my language).



If we want to find the motivation to learn a foreign language, then it’s time to search for reasons for this (so that you don’t have to look for excuses for your own failure in this field). Each of us will have our own list, but I will give you a few that will suit most of us.

Why is it worth learning foreign languages?

1. Work or business abroad, cooperation with foreign partners, etc. I would also include here the possibility of faster career growth due to the fact of knowledge of the language and access to foreign literature and other educational resources related to the specialty.
2. Learning a language helps improve memory and better concentration. Move your brains now, and this can save you from cognitive impairment in old age, my friends!
3. Opportunity to find friends in other countries, expand your own borders, meet new people and cultures, learn new countries.
4. Knowledge of foreign languages, as a rule, inevitably entails a rich professional experience, erudition, experience of communication with people from different countries, travel and many other things, which will contribute to your development as an interesting personality and an amusing interlocutor.
5. The ability to read books, listen to musical compositions and watch movies in the original language, which is always much better conveys the essence and beauty of the work than any, even very talented, translation.

Get things done

Try to love the language as your hobby, which gives you joy, but at the same time treat it as a serious working draft with clearly defined objectives, plan and deadlines. Take the time to create a reasonable schedule that you stick to. Do not deviate from it, do not build excuses, do not engage in procrastination. Treat classes like a daily hike to work. You do not argue every morning, go to your office or still “do it tomorrow”?



So I have been throwing Japanese for three weeks already from day to day. But I have a great excuse: now for myself I have found a new super-interesting hobby, to which I give every free minute. And the truth is that in two weeks of well-planned daily work I have achieved far greater results than in two months in the “how it goes” mode. However, as you understand, my Japanese absolutely does not share my new hobby, and learning the language is standing still - this is wrong.







What is the most effective schedule? It all depends on how much time you are willing to devote to the language. The bigger, the better. But the most important thing is systematicity. It is better to study for half an hour every day or an hour every other day than three hours, but once a week. The best time for mental activity: morning hours to 12 days. I understand that not everyone has the opportunity. I once tried to get up early to learn (5-6 in the morning, then I had this for a couple of hours). If you are not capable of such heroism, then find the most convenient time for yourself. And another thing: two hours a week is too little if you want to achieve tangible results in a short time.



Try to do this: set deadlines. For me, this method has proven very effective. When I taught my second foreign language, I immediately bought a pile of textbooks: from zero to level B2. I counted the number of lessons in each (as a rule, the lessons in the textbooks are balanced - they occupy approximately the same number of pages, grammar and vocabulary are given equal attention, etc.). Then I decided that I would be pleased with myself if I learned a certain number of lessons in a week. The first week was experimental and proved that I calmly cope with this volume. And this meant that in half a year I should finish the work with the last textbook, if I consistently carry out what I have planned (micro-deadlines, if you please).



For the sake of fairness, it is worth noting that the process stretched for another couple of extra months, as fiction was added to the textbooks (which, in turn, helped me retain motivation and contributed to the enrichment of vocabulary), and at some stage I had to restructure the plan. Do the same! Calculate a reasonable deadline, throw in some time for the buffer and boldly go to your goal!

Language Learning and SmartProgress

If you follow our blog, you know that the service is a convenient tool for setting goals and maintaining motivation at the proper level. This is undoubtedly very important for any undertaking, especially such as learning a language. And many of our users successfully apply it for these very purposes. Language learning is a long-term project, so it is quite possible to lose the fuse along the way. Yes, it is possible to learn a foreign language at a high level and for three months, but taking into account more realistic expectations, this takes on average up to six months. We will help you make a reasonable training schedule, set adequate deadlines and not lose motivation thanks to our mentoring system and communication in the online community. Our task is to help you reach your goal on time. Good luck!



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