The Natural Language Learning Cycle & Why You Should Embrace It

I've always found that there's a natural cycle that we go through with our language studies where we fall in and out of them over time – particularly when studying multiple languages. Today I want to talk about why I think this is a GOOD THING and why we should embrace the cycle 😊

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My first ever Mandarin Chinese conversation:

[mr.sushi]

It’s frustrating. But every time I learn something or recognize something I didn’t before it feels good. It’s a process.

[Ellary_Rosewood]

It's funny this video came up. I've been beating myself up over not studying Japanese for many years, even though I spent around 5 years of time and effort dedicated to absorbing every little thing I could about the language, country, and culture. Right now I live in Mexico, and so I've been trying to focus on Spanish, as well as studying Swedish on the side. I have no idea when I'll go back to studying Japanese again, and it feels like I've lost so much of it. I can't even form basic sentences anymore because my brain has been so hard wired to Spanish over the last couple of years. But I know that that's life and everything happens for a reason. I also know that once I pick it up again, it won't be as bad as I think it will be. 😉

[hillarykaelomolebatsi]

This is exactly what I needed to hear cause I have been having difficulty with my French

[sharonoddlyenough]

On Monday (3 days from now) it will be 100 days that I have been studying Swedish. I haven't stuck to one hobby for so long in years. I think allowing myself the flexibility to take easy days (only some input, very little focused study) really helped. Sometimes my energy is just not there, but I have videos that I really like listening to, and I catch something new every time I watch.

[roots_and_ruin]

I recently got back to French after an 8 month break and didn't know where to pick back up because I wasn't sure what I had 'lost' in those 8 months. I remembered you saying that you'll start from the very beginning again when you get back into a language so I thought I'd give it a go too, although I thought it would probably feel quite tedious. Well - I got a few surprises! I haven't really 'lost' anything besides listening some listening comprehension, I somehow gained vocab which could only have been through VERY passive listening (music) and reading (social media posts) and although starting fresh does feel a bit tedious, it's allowing me to find gaps I might not have noticed otherwise and things I couldn't understand before seem to make sense now. Plus I decided to use just one resource for now (Babbel) and it's much less stressful and chaotic :') Maybe a break lets things marinade a bit in your mind while it just waits for you to wake it up again!

[RomeJuanatas]

I love how you're telling us that there's a cycle in language learning and in maintaining them and that it's okay to start over even with materials that we have long finished. I now feel more motivated to go back to books I've finished studying in the past.

[tomrains]

Eb and flow... absolutely. Normally my biggest “up” moment is shortly followed by a whopping “down” moment. I too agree that sometimes you just need to take a step back and go over things rather than just forever charging ahead.

[IowaLanguages]

Food for thought. Debating returning to the beginning in my language. 💕❤️

[lagoon]

I like to think of it like your brain being primed for learning. From experience you know what to expect, you know what you like, you have a better sense of direction, you know what not to waste time on.. and most of all forgetting is a beautiful thing. Once you go back to it, your brain will remember it longer next time around. I think you will do a great job

[owl]

This video was in my recommended section today. It's perfect timing because I'm coming back to studying Japanese after a very long break, and I was feeling disheartened because I felt I needed to go back to the beginning and review. After watching this video, however, I'm really excited to learn! Who knows, maybe there's stuff I missed the first time around!
Thanks for this video.

[irenemcnamara]

I got a subscription to Skritter for a year. I am very satisfied with it. Its not too easy, nor too hard. So now I am studying Chinese. Who can believe that?

[YogaBlissDance]

YOu got so so funny at the end..."yehhhh nah I think I finished!" thats how I am now with Italian I was racing ahead but felt the sand behind me just covering my path...realized OMG I need to review the basics. And I know my brain will be like "ahhh yes, we've seen this before....we understand..."

[philiphubinette]

Your content is so motivating, I really enjoy watching them 😊 When will you be uploading again? Cheers

[bunnyteeth]

I feel like I haven't really been experiencing too much of an ebb and flow with Hebrew. I had very bad depression and anxiety, so I just let myself get exposed to Hebrew for a couple of years. Mainly through music. I obviously made nearly zero progress, but I don't count that as studying. About two years ago I slowly started introducing things that are more like regular studying. After several months of that I started to have a more regular study routine. Ever since then my progress and studying habits have been fairly consistent. I think it helps that I have a fairly simple life. I sometimes feel like studying other languages, but it seems like Hebrew keeps popping into my head. Maybe I'll be able to study other languages when my Hebrew level is more solid. I sometimes dabble in other languages, but I never stick to it. I think it helps when I get bored and frustrated with Hebrew. Overall I find everything is easier and more consistent when I stick to one language at once.

[stepheng]

This totally feels like my experience. Thanks for putting this message out

[Silroc]

I have this learning cycle/pattern with new activities I'm learning - instruments, art styles, language, etc. It's how I learn best. My oldest kid seems to be the same way. Nice video.

[mannymoonstone]

Wholeheartedly agree. With the new year I went back and started over with my Japanese for one month. I learned a lot reviewing, I just had to make sure my ego was in check and not rush. There was always something new to learn.

[AdoptMeIndia]

Love your honesty Robin. It's refreshing to see the tackling of these things in a positive but realistic way.

[seiyadalucas]

Hi Robin, interesting topic and I totally agree with you.
I'm learning English, Spanish and Italian, and my native language is Japanese.
Exactly, I feel this "cycle", this ebb and flow. Before I was learning Catalan but now I don't. However, I don't mind, we should embrace the cycle. As a Spanish phrase says, "Quien tuvo, retuvo". Even if we quit, we will remember what we got once, so we can resume.
Thanks for a great video :)

[linakryletskaya]

Thank you soooo much for the recommendation of the resource about Korean! I've been struggling to find something for quite a long time by now.