1. Change ISOLATION to INTERACTION – Often, even after hours of chatting with people online, we are left with a sense of loneliness. Communication behind screens is a poor substitute for real, face-to-face communication in the living presence of another human being. There are so many rich social cues and signals that our minds are designed to take in. Those impression nourish and teach us, especially when it comes to language learning.
TACTIC: Join a weekly language meet-up!
2. Change PASSIVITY to PURPOSE – When we access technology, we often receive a lot of input (think about TV shows, movies, and short YouTube videos), but we aren’t actually engaged with the material much of the time. Imagine a teacher who just shows a movie as opposed to one who builds a lesson around a movie clip. Receiving input passively is obviously going to be part of the process to an extent, but we shouldn’t let it take too much of our valuable time.
TACTIC: Choose an online platform you can go to, as part of your normal technology use, where you can add to the conversation and engage thoughtfully.
3. Change ADDICTION to AWARENESS – You must have heard the saying, “Technology is a wonderful servant, but a horrible master.” If we are simply addicted to our technology, we will be at the mercy of companies that do not have our best interests in mind, doing ourselves much more harm than good. Technology addiction will give rise to a host of health problems that will undermine our language learning by undermining our sleep, memory, and energy levels, just to name a few. We should be aware of how much time we spend on technology, on which platforms, and what we’re actually doing there. Are we actually learning our language?
TACTIC: Try using one of the apps from this list, to wrap your head around and manage the time you spend online and on the various apps.
4. Change DISTRACTION to DEDICATION – This is related to point 3, but different. One of the ways tech sabotages our language learning efforts, and really most learning efforts, is that it is so easy to be distracted. Notifications, vibrations, pop ups, phone calls, and more, constantly tug at us, interrupt us, and break our focus. To learn best, we need to be in a flow state and do deep work. The cost of switching between different activities is so terribly high.
TACTIC: Try methods such as the Pomodoro Method (there’s also an app), where you set a timer and only check things unrelated to your studies during specified break times.
5. Change DEPENDENCY to DIVERSITY – Dependency of any kind carries the seeds of its own destruction. If we are too invested in one methodology, such as learning languages with tech, we will be completely beholden to any and all disadvantages of that methodology. (In this case, we miss out on the richness of real-world connections.) It’s like monoculture crops for hundreds of acres, versus a garden brimming with variety. Diversity in your study methods will make you more well-rounded, skilled, and able to withstand adversity and setbacks. As far as I’m concerned, the greater the variety the better. Just be careful not to become a jack-of-all-trades and master of none!
TACTIC: Add a physical language learning game into your language learning routine, such as Language Guardians! We have a print-and-play PDF game available that works for any target language and makes learning with friends so much fun. The 5 points above can be remembered with the acronym IPADD.
Thanks for reading! If you found these ideas novel or helpful, feel free to share this post. Also, I would love to engage with you in the comments section below!
