How would you study a language with 3 hours per day?

[AML]

We all have different approaches to acquiring our languages, and many of us don't have more than 30-60 minutes per day to dedicate to language learning. But what if you had 3 hours/day for the next year to dedicate to a single new foreign language (maintenance of your current languages happens outside these three hours)?

Assuming you were at a beginner level (0/A1), what language would you focus on (just one!), and how would you realistically use the 3 hours/day for the next year? How would your plan change as you progressed from beginner to intermediate and, possibly, advanced levels?

[smallwhite]

I used to average 2 hours a day, then 2:30 and now it's about 3:05 (EL, TR). It happened naturally so I can't say what there is to plan. I noticed, though, that one thing I can do that others who study less per day can't, is that I can start SRSing words on the same day that I had learnt or mined them. I typically mine about 50 new words per day, which takes about 100 minutes, and I start SRSing them usually late evening, which takes about 10 minutes. I still remember the context for most of the words except maybe bland words like "also, with". In this sense I probably have to plan to gather more resources sooner compared to people who learn 1 hour per day.

I can probably also plan less revision. What others learned 3 days ago and have forgotten, I learned this morning and still remember. It's probably easier for me to connect dots.

It's probably more important in this situation to evaluate yourself frequently, since you'd be making noticeable progress every single day and would thus need to "move on" rather frequently.

[patrickwilken]

My aim would be to start with native materials as soon as is reasonable. I have no initial interest in talking to people or writing, so my process is pretty simple:

1. Use Anki to learn maybe 2000 high frequency words.
2. Learn some pronunciation via Anki also.

then:
3. When I know enough words, start reading sentences, perhaps via Anki to reinforce things.
4. Read a basic grammar so I can parse sentences and recognize past/present/future etc tenses.

then:
5. Start watching shows.
6. Start reading books.

[Ani]

For Russian I was doing something like 1/3 course, 1/3 vocab/SRS 1/3 tv. I didn't always have 3h/day but I would have made better progress if I had. It's what I'd continue to do in my fictional 3 hours a day next year.

I have close to 3h/ day for Spanish and that's where I plan to be (time wise) by Christmas, even if the next couple months are more difficult. My plan is just to watch cartoons. Nothing else.

[Axon]

I daydream about this all the time anyway, so I might as well put it into writing.

If I had to choose an entirely new language it would probably be Korean. Egyptian Arabic, Tamil, and Hungarian are strong contenders.

I would listen for a long time. These days my actual study routine is heavy on listening, so that's where my mind is. This hypothetical plan has me doing at least two hours of listening a day.

I'd definitely start with Pimsleur and Pod101, but I would also look for "slow Korean" type things to reinforce what I hear with authentic material. I'm vaguely aware of different Korean resources but I don't know the pros and cons of all of them right now and if I go looking for resources now, well, we all know where that leads. In any case I know I would re-listen to basic dialogues many, many times.

After the first twenty hours, when I'm beginning to get a handle on some words and have committed some common phrases to memory, I'd start looking at the alphabet and transcripts of what I was hearing. At that point I'd begin chorusing to build my accent. Something like 15 hours of chorusing at 30 minutes a day should be a good start, then I'd move into Glossika and shadowing. The rest of my study time each day would just be focused listening and re-listening.

So now we're about six weeks in, and my plan shifts a bit. This is where the first big re-adjustment likely happens depending on my perceived level. Maybe I need to start memorizing words more. Maybe I still can't get a handle on all the sounds. Assuming everything's progressing well, I shift my focus to an hour of Glossika, an hour of podcasts for learners, and an hour of vocabulary and grammar study each day.

Sometime around the three-month mark I'd begin introducing "authentic" listening materials with Korean subtitles. I would have almost definitely been watching Easy Korean videos before this point, but I'm guessing that's when I'd start watching YouTube videos and studying vocab through the subtitles.

At some point well into Glossika and shadowing I would try having a conversation. Conversation ability is actually not a huge goal of mine but I know it's important. I'd start out with a language exchange and then see if I needed to shell out for tutors or not.

Basically after the first six to eight months I would shift into just learning more and more from native materials. I'm confident in Glossika's ability to get me to internalize a lot of the language, but of course I would be thinking about the grammar and if I wasn't sure what I was doing I'd look it up explicitly. There would definitely be a plateau where I should keep actively learning vocab but just settle into a routine of partially understanding native materials. It's happened before and it'll happen again.

[smallwhite]

We all have different approaches to acquiring our languages, and many of us don't have more than 30-60 minutes per day to dedicate to language learning. But what if you had 3 hours/day for the next year to dedicate to a single new foreign language (maintenance of your current languages happens outside these three hours)?

Assuming you were at a beginner level (0/A1), what language would you focus on (just one!), and how would you realistically use the 3 hours/day for the next year? How would your plan change as you progressed from beginner to intermediate and, possibly, advanced levels?

OP, I'm wondering if I misinterpreted your question. Do you mean How would you study with 3 hours per day as opposed to 1, or do you mean How would you study, or maybe How would you learn a language in 3 x 365 hours?

[AML]

We all have different approaches to acquiring our languages, and many of us don't have more than 30-60 minutes per day to dedicate to language learning. But what if you had 3 hours/day for the next year to dedicate to a single new foreign language (maintenance of your current languages happens outside these three hours)?

Assuming you were at a beginner level (0/A1), what language would you focus on (just one!), and how would you realistically use the 3 hours/day for the next year? How would your plan change as you progressed from beginner to intermediate and, possibly, advanced levels?

OP, I'm wondering if I misinterpreted your question. Do you mean How would you study with 3 hours per day as opposed to 1, or do you mean How would you study, or maybe How would you learn a language in 3 x 365 hours?

I mean how would you, personally, go about learning a language with 3 hours/day for a year, if you were learning a new language?

[Deinonysus]

I honestly wouldn't. 1.5 hours is enough for me to use three different courses, half an hour a day. Add maybe an optional extra half hour for researching the language and its culture, and that brings us up to 2 hours some days. Sometimes I'll do over half an hour of Duolingo per day if I'm really excited about a language, but that's rare.

I have an easier time setting up routines than tracking time. I do Pimsleur in the car. I do Assimil before bed. I do Duolingo when work is slow or when I'm having breakfast or something like that. I do Memrise or Anki or Clozemaster when I'm in line for something or while I'm on the toilet.

Maybe I could hit 3 hours in a single day once in a while if I'm super motivated, but if I do three hours a day every day for an extended amount of time, I'll burn out. That's too much at once to sink in, at least for me.

[iguanamon]

As an experienced learner, it can be difficult to put yourself in the place of a monolingual beginner. What I do now is affected by all the experience I have had up to now. As a beginner, it takes time to figure out what works best for you personally. That's why courses exist. Despite their issues, and every course has its issues, it's a good place to start for someone who has never learned a second language before.

I described what I would do in my signature post link, if I were in your shoes. One of the issues as a beginner is burn-out. I would worry more about doing my tasks for the day than I would worry about the time. I would pick two complimentary courses- something like Assimil or FSI/DLI Basic and add in a complimentary audio course like Pimsleur/Paul Noble/Michel Thomas/Language Transfer, etc. I'd do one in the morning and the audio course either throughout the day or at a later time. I'd also devote some time to figuring out some native text... something short, like a paragraph, a song or a tweet. I'd try and test myself if my course doesn't. I wouldn't worry so much about perfection. I'd move on. For Pimsleur, for example, the instructions talk about moving on if you have mastered 80% of the lesson. To me, that sounds a bit low. I'd probably want to have at least 90%. The problem for many learners is feeling they have to 100%. Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. I have seen learners who have been derailed by perfectionism.

Eventually, as you progress, you find out where your weaknesses are. Then, you know better how to address them. Self-learning is not just about learning a language. It's also about how you learn best. It's a journey of discovery not only about the language and it's culture(s) but also it's a self-journey. That's one of the reasons why it's generally easier to learn the next language than it was to learn the first one.

If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.

In this case, the enemy is your mind's resistance to learning a new language. Knowing yourself means knowing what works best for you in learning. As a monolingual beginner, if you have chosen good resources from which you can learn, that helps to take care of the first one as it gives a guide to follow to break down that resistance. As you progress, you start to learn about yourself. Sun-Tzu was writing about the "Art of War" and what I quoted, I believe is relevant. In language-learning, two of the often undervalued and overlooked important precepts are being consistent and being persistent. While putting in the time is critical, being consistent is just as important. Though we can't always be consistent (because sometimes life gets in the way), being persistent allows us to stay in the game until we can be consistent again. Being consistent will win the game. Good luck with whatever language you choose to learn.

[smallwhite]

OP, I'm wondering if I misinterpreted your question. Do you mean How would you study with 3 hours per day as opposed to 1, or do you mean How would you study, or maybe How would you learn a language in 3 x 365 hours?

I mean how would you, personally, go about learning a language with 3 hours/day for a year, if you were learning a new language?

I'm sorry I thought you were asking How would you study with 3 hours per day as opposed to 1.