- What if I told you that learning a language
could be the most enjoyable part of your day?
Well, in this new video series from Coffee Break Languages,
we're going to be helping you
maximize your language learning
by turning your down time into your "do time".
We have a number of language courses,
including French, Italian, Chinese,
German, Spanish, Swedish,
and English, Coffee Break series,
where you can learn a language on your coffee break.
And that's a key thing for us because we believe it.
It is possible to use these times of the day
that we have available and do something really useful,
like improving your language skills during those times.
So let's think about this,
because we asked our language learners,
our community of Coffee Break learners,
"What is the biggest challenge that you faced
when you started to learn a new language?"
So what's the biggest challenge that you faced?
And the answers were very enlightening.
So first of all, people talked about fear and doubt,
and doubt that they'd be able
to achieve the learning of that language.
Other people mentioned the fact that they find
the opportunity to practice the language
that they're learning a real challenge,
because perhaps they don't live in an area
where the the language is spoken
or they don't have easy access
to the language in a spoken form.
And other people mentioned the whole idea
of maintaining motivation, keeping up your motivation.
Once you start learning,
of course you're full of enthusiasm for the language,
but keeping it up when sometimes it can get quite tricky.
That can be more of a challenge.
Many people referred to past experiences
of language learning, perhaps negative experiences,
and also the expectations that they have about being able
to speak, being able to use the language.
But probably the point that most people brought up
as a challenge was finding the time to actually
maintain the language, to use the language,
to keep the practising going.
And that's what we're going to be focusing on
in this video series,
helping you to find the time to make the difference
with the language you're learning.
And I'm going to be giving you,
over the course of this series,
a blueprint to help you maximize your language learning.
So we've put together this new series in which we'll be
looking at tips to help you maximize your learning.
And of course,
each one will last just the length of a coffee break.
So let's get straight into our first tip today.
And that's all about planning ahead.
Planning ahead.
Now by planning ahead, I don't necessarily mean
that we are focusing on scheduling sessions of learning.
That's important, but what I'd like you to think about
in terms of planning ahead is not just about the schedule,
but what is actually going to be happening
in those learning sessions.
So for example, if you think,
okay, I need to work on my reading.
Perhaps you should think,
okay, I'll plan maybe two or three sessions
of 15 minutes this week in which I'm going to be focusing
specifically on my reading.
So that means that you might want to have
some reading prepared in advance.
So something that you've looked out,
perhaps something online that you've found,
or a book that you're working through,
or a text in the textbook that you're using,
or the app that you're using.
But that way you know that you're going to be doing
this reading and you can also therefore accompany
that reading with some listening practice at other times
in the week or perhaps some conversation practice
or vocabulary review.
And in terms of all of these individual skills,
we're going to be looking at these later in the series.
So planning ahead means,
yes, looking at your schedule,
but also about what you're going to be doing in that time.
So your sessions that you're going to be taking,
these 15 minute sessions that I'm suggesting,
you could be thinking about when you're going to take them.
When does it suit you best to take your learning sessions?
Some people like doing it first thing in the morning.
And other people like doing it last thing at night,
when you're lying in your bed and you do a little bit
of reading or perhaps do some vocabulary on an app.
It depends entirely on you.
You will know what you like best.
Of course, you can try different things.
So it's definitely worth planning some experimentation
into your language learning schedule.
But if you plan the sessions,
then you can very easily think,
okay, after lunch,
perhaps I have got maybe 10 minutes or 15 minutes
before I need to get back to work
or get on with other duties that I need to do.
So perhaps in that time,
you could do some reading or some conversation practice,
or some listening or even watching part of an episode,
or listening to a podcast.
And of course, there are always these kind of time wasters
that we have in life.
For example, perhaps after lunch you are thinking about,
maybe I'll have a quick flick through social media
to see what my friends are up to,
or a quick look at the news on Twitter
or something like that.
And you can very easily replace these 15 minute time wasters
with something very practical, like language learning.
And the other crucial thing about planning is about having
what you need with you when you're ready to do it.
So that means you need to take your kit with you.
And we'll talk again about your language learning kit
in a future episode of this series.
But that might mean that you have your notebook ready to go
because it's handy.
You've got it on your desk or you've got it in your bag,
and you have the ready to go
when you're ready to do some learning.
Or you have the apps downloaded or the podcast downloaded
to your phone already so that you know that that's ready
to be used when it comes time to do some learning.
So if you're prepared, you've planned ahead,
you've decided when you're going to do it,
you've also decided what you need in order to do it.
The other thing is that you need to be ready to use these
surprise times that arise during the course of the week.
And if you're prepared for these opportunities
by having your content downloaded to your phone
or having your notebook close at hand,
then it will make all the difference
to how you achieve your learning in the course of the week.
So use these surprise times.
Well, perhaps you miss the bus and you're waiting,
and you think,
okay again, what should I do?
I get my phone out, start looking at social media and so on.
No, get your phone out and use the thing
that you've already prepared because you thought,
ah, maybe I will get a a surprise bit of time
in the course of the week ahead.
So there you have it.
Our first tip is all about planning ahead.
And that way you will be ready to make the most
of the time you have available by having everything at hand,
ready to use,
and knowing when you're going to be doing your learning.
If you've enjoyed this video, give it a like.
Let me know how you plan your learning in the comments.
And of course,
so that you don't miss any of the future episodes
in this series,
make sure you subscribe to our channel here on YouTube.
Thank you very much for watching.
And as ever, happy coffee breaking.