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

[zjones]

If I never could find three free hours in my day, I would be very excited by this question and most likely give you a giant list of fun and ambitious things I would do with that time.

Fortunately and unfortunately, I do have three free hours every day (and many more)... and I can tell you that starting a language with three study hours per day would be torture for me. I wouldn't do it.

When I started learning French, I had as much time as I wanted for study. However, I only spent about 1 hour intensively studying the language. I spent a lot of extra time thinking about the language and making sentences in my head, but that just came naturally as a result of being extremely passionate about French. In the very beginner stages of learning a language, I don't think that having three hours a day is way better than one hour, but I guess it depends on what kind of learner you are (other learners, like smallwhite, know how to make good use of the extra time).

Now that I am utilizing native materials, I can spend a lot more time using French. If I read a lot of Harry Potter and then watch a series or a movie, I can easily rack up 3 or even 4 hours... but that's not really study, and doesn't necessarily apply to a beginner.

I just started Greek, and I have three hours in my day to study it, but I won't start doing that on purpose. I'm even part of a the 6 Week Challenge that requires me to track my hours and encourages me to spend more time on Greek. However, I'm just doing it for fun and to see if I can increase my Greek time by a little bit.

[Dragon27]

but that's not really study

And that's essentially my main method of acquiring languages. What is "study", anyway? If by "studying" people mean working intensively with courses, grammar exercises, vocabulary Anki memorising and that sort of stuff, then I barely do any "real" study at all. I do have free three (often more) hours a day, and I devote them to acquiring my current target language (Spanish) by, for example, watching telenovelas (Latin American soap operas), or reading books. I enjoy the process, and feel the progress, but I don't "study" in the sense of sweating my way through formal exercises, or the like, because I don't like this kind of learning.

[garyb]

As a beginner in a genuinely new langage: 1 hour of intensive work (courses or equivalent). I doubt I could manage any more than that in one day even if I had the time, so I'd just find something else to do.

As intermediate or above, or beginner in a language close to one I already know: probably that hour plus two hours of extensive activities. Mostly listening, a little reading, and a little speaking if I had the opportunity.

[fcoulter]

Regarding 6 months, I was assuming Assimil simultaneously with Pimsleur. Since Pimsleur is 30 minutes/day, that leaves 2.5 hours or less for Assimil. Thus 6 months seems quite doable based on what I've read from other forum members as well as Luca Lampariello and my own experience.

That's an optimistic estimate for Pimsleur. The courses you seem interested in have five levels, with thirty lessons per level. That's a total of one hundred and fifty half hour lessons. Pimsleur doesn't recommend going on to the next lesson until you've competed a lesson at 80% accuracy.

To complete Pimsleur in six months, you'll only repeat 20% of the lessons, and you'll only repeat the lesson once. So far (based on my experience), that seems optimistic. However, you could be better at this than I am.

[reineke]

They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth...

Or they can do Pimsleur for six months!

[jeff_lindqvist]

In the very beginner stages of learning a language, I don't think that having three hours a day is way better than one hour, but I guess it depends on what kind of learner you are (other learners, like smallwhite, know how to make good use of the extra time).

Now that I am utilizing native materials, I can spend a lot more time using French. If I read a lot of Harry Potter and then watch a series or a movie, I can easily rack up 3 or even 4 hours... but that's not really study, and doesn't necessarily apply to a beginner.

I know what you mean. I rarely do anything language related for more than ~15 minutes, and if I do, it's reading or listening (or simply making up for a lost session the day before ).

---

I think the optimum study time (per session and per day) depends a lot on the focus, the level and possibly the experience. Professor Arguelles has mentioned learning and maintaining multiple language in 15-20 minute slots throughout the day. Forum member Expugnator also works in short bursts (I think there was a post where he mentioned that in case of a "sudden extra 20 minutes per day" he'd probably add another language rather than spend the extra time on one of his current ones).

The "extreme" case of long sessions would be listening-reading / L-R. The original instructions suggested listening to something like a 10-hour audiobook a number of times over a long weekend.

AML, how would you use your three hours? Have you seen Xmmm's topic about reaching A2 in 20 minutes a day?

[smallwhite]

I wonder how you can't-learn-for-3-hours-a-day people survive work and school? Are 8-hour work days and 6-hour school days torture for you? Or do you manage to sit there but just can't learn anything after the first hour? How did you study for exams? How do you survive parenthood?

[Xmmm]

I wonder how you can't-learn-for-3-hours-a-day people survive work and school? Are 8-hour work days and 6-hour school days torture for you? Or do you manage to sit there but just can't learn anything after the first hour? How did you study for exams? How do you survive parenthood?

Diminishing marginal utility. Check it out!

And yes, 8 hour workdays are torture. I read in sapiens: Краткая история человечества that the Agricultural Revolution was a giant con. Hunter gatherers only worked 4 hours a day and ate better food than all the suckers who moved to the farm.

[Decidida]

The only time I make serious progress with a language is when I am spending 3+ hours a day on it. I barely maintain at an hour.

The Quick and Dirty Guide to Language Learning is a 1 hour and 15 minute schedule that I have found helpful. I am roughly following this with both Spanish and Creole every day.

15 Minutes review as soon as you wake up
15 Minutes on 5 new verbs
15 Minutes on 15 new nouns and other supporting words
10 minutes on grammar rules with one major grammar rule a day
5 minutes on five new phrases
15 minutes review before you go to bed.

I have a 1st edition pdf copy of the book. I'm not sure how different the new version is.

I need to use multiple curricula to learn a language. I have learned what works for me and it is not what works for other people. Yes, I am progressing slowly, but when I switch to what others demand, I slow down even more.

I get overwhelmed if I try and learn too many new things in both languages on the same day. I just review and mindlessly follow a curriculum for one language, while systematically hitting personal goals in the other one.

Youtube is a good SUPPLEMENT. I can google a topic using the keywords in my main curriculum. I take detailed notes on the youtube videos, and organize the notes in the order of the main curriculum.

I'm getting into a groove, learning both languages at the same time. I am having to schedule them as a priority, like they are for-credit college classes. I need them as much as my for-credit classes. I need to treat them as equal. I have some end goals that are MY end goals. The school goals are a PIECE of my end goal, not the CENTER of my end goal.

There is a book called Morning Miracle of something like that. It talks about hitting YOUR goals in the morning before getting sidetracked by the goals of others.

There are days I roll out of bed after just 3 hours of sleep, and just sit paging (not testing) through the byki mobile app for 15 minutes for Creole, and then 15 minutes online with Spanish with Paul, while downing a bottle of water, before hitting the shower. The train commute to school is about 1/2 a Pimsleur Creole, and the trip back is 15 minutes Michel Thomas Spanish. I try to make sure I have some no excuses things scheduled, and then I find I am more likely to schedule and complete major lessons, also.

[Adrianslont]

I wonder how you can't-learn-for-3-hours-a-day people survive work and school? Are 8-hour work days and 6-hour school days torture for you? Or do you manage to sit there but just can't learn anything after the first hour? How did you study for exams? How do you survive parenthood?

I was waiting for your comments, smallwhite - I knew they would run counter to the flow!

I did find many six hour school days and eight hour work days torture!

However, the torture of school days was mitigated by the fact that we had to get up and change rooms every forty minutes, by PE and by recess and lunch. And if we were lucky, by good teachers who made the subject compelling and scaffolded learning, building on what we already knew.

I think most of the comments here are assuming (perhaps incorrectly but mine included), a three hour session and starting from scratch - and that does sound like torture to me.

Breaking it up into short bursts 15-30 minutes, varying activities cleverly, grading resources accurately, knowing what you are doing all help to make it doable. But I’d still rather start with 60 minutes maximum and work up to three hours over some months.

Parenthood? The ultimate test. I have seen many people who are successful in other demanding parts of life brought to their knees by parenthood. That woman dragging her feet in the supermarket with the glazed eyes and slumped shoulders isn’t like that because of assimil or pimsleur. That man who likes to train for marathons every day rather than bathe the kids and put them to bed is taking the easy option. Parenthood kills more marriages than paid employment or language study. For me, what made parenthood so hard was the fact that you often don’t get a break for hours, that’s why three hours of many things requiring concentration and no dopamine hits seems hard.

I don’t know how Ani does it (big family, home schooling and language learning).