¡Hola y bienvenidos, dulcitos!
Welcome to part three of Before You Begin! You may wonder “how much time do I need to study?” Well, how much time do you have? You’ve settled into your why and your objective, and it’s time to look at your daily schedule. Most of us are busy with a full-time job, side hustles, a partner, a family, watching Netflix and chilling…so learning another language seems insurmountable. But, it’s absolutely possible even if you only have 5-10 minutes a day. Now, you may not be fluent this year if you’re only spending that much time studying each day, but you’ll definitely learn more than you think. The key here is consistency.
Consistency is more important than intensity.
a wise person
My Spanish journey has truly taught me this lesson. I am currently (at the time of writing this) 8 months into learning, and for the first 3ish months, I didn’t do anything but Duolingo for 5-20 minutes a day. Now, most proficient language-learners would not recommend this, and I wouldn’t necessarily either if you’re trying to learn really quickly. But! The great thing about Duolingo specifically is that it built a habit for me (I will give y’all my thoughts on Duolingo on another day), and that is key when you’re first starting. I know that I’m pretty bad about sticking with something long-term, so getting into that daily habit of just doing something Spanish-related was a game-changer. Since I started, there hasn’t been one day that I haven’t interacted with Spanish in some way.
The Forgetting Curve
As a new learner, it is very important to interact with Spanish every day. Most of us have heard about the learning curve, but there’s also a thing called the forgetting curve. It allows us to understand the rate at which we forget information. Here’s what wikipedia knows about the forgetting curve:
“Hermann Ebbinghaus discovered that information is easier to recall when it’s built upon things you already know, and the forgetting curve was flattened by every repetition. It appeared that by applying frequent training in learning, the information was solidified by repeated recalling. Spending time each day to remember information will greatly decrease the effects of the forgetting curve. Some learning consultants claim reviewing material in the first 24 hours after learning information is the optimum time to actively recall the content and reset the forgetting curve.[8] Evidence suggests waiting 10–20% of the time towards when the information will be needed is the optimum time for a single review.[9]“
Knowing a little about how our brains work will allow us to understand why some things just aren’t sticking. For instance, it took a full 7 months for me to remember what the word for “snow” is. It’s nieve. It wasn’t until I saw what the word looks like spelled out, and then I made the connection that it resembles “nueve”. So, I kept saying to myself over and over, “nueve nieve”, and now it’s in there forever. Using repetition over a period of days/weeks and connecting it to something I already knew actually worked!
¿Cuánto Tiempo?
Okay, back to our question: How much time should I study? There’s all kinds of opinions/data(?) on how long one needs to study each day to learn a new language. Many sources say 1 hour per day is ideal, but some say 20 minutes a day will do. So, since the results are all over the place, I’m just going to say the dreaded “it depends”. It depends on how much time you have, how much attention you can muster to dedicate to studying, and the quality/interactiveness of your studying. Please remember: studying doesn’t have to look like books and notepads and highlighters. It can look like listening to a Spanish podcast, using a language-learning app, listening to Pimsleur and speaking out loud to yourself, talking with a Spanish-speaking friend, or watching a Spanish movie. The more types of input you have, the better.
If you need a more concrete answer, then I would say between 30-60 minutes of studying per day is excellent. Studying 1 hour a day could get you to a level of conversational fluency within a year (based on what I’ve read). This “sweet spot” time frame allows you to hopefully practice multiple types of usage (listening, speaking, reading, writing) along with not turning your brain to mush from too much input. Studying for multiple hours straight (also known as cramming) can actually have an adverse effect on your learning as it increases stress and decreases comprehension. If 30-60 minutes is out of the realm of possibility for you, then that’s okay! It’s important that you manage your expectations of how quickly you’ll progress, but please do not discount the importance of spending 5-10 minutes learning whenever you can. Remember, consistency is key!
* A Word of Caution!
There are a lot of YouTube videos, social media people, and ads for courses that suggest that you can “learn a language in a week” or something similar, and this is simply and completely not true. You may be able to say a few phrases in said language, but please do not fall for this click bait, or worse – think that there’s something wrong with you because you aren’t at the level they say you should be at. Trust me, I’ve watched too many YouTube videos of polyglots or people learning Spanish on their own who are leaps and bounds more fluent than I am in a much shorter amount of time. But, I don’t know their background (i.e. if they’ve had exposure to Spanish earlier in life), nor do I know their study habits/time commitment. Also, I am not them; they are not me. I cannot compare myself to anyone else because this is my journey. And same goes for you!
So! What this boils down to is… find what works for you. Try a little bit of everything – find 5 minutes here or an hour there, and try to pick up something from each interaction you have with Spanish. Also, do your best to commit it to memory by recalling it sooner rather than later. Everything counts, I promise.
¡Feliz aprendizaje!
Em
