Leaning into microlearning
In this month’s translation industry updates we’ll be thinking about how shorter bursts of studying can sometimes be equally or more effective than studying for longer periods of time. We’ll also be sharing some tips on incorporating language learning into your daily routine.
There are numerous reasons why bite-sized study sessions can be useful. First of all, we often retain information better when we encounter it frequently but for relatively short spaces of time, which is why regular studying normally turns out to be more effective in the long run than cramming the night before an exam. In the case of studying other languages in particular, being presented with new content regularly is more akin to the way we naturally acquire languages in our everyday lives.
Microlearning also has practical benefits in a world where most of us are currently balancing multiple demands on our time and attention, which means that by incorporating studying into our existing routine we often have a better chance of turning it into a regular habit.
Lastly, studying for short bursts is often less daunting than mentally committing to an extended study session, which means that if we plan on studying for a short, focused period of time then we’ll at least learn something versus procrastinating on a longer studying session and therefore ending up learning nothing.
For many of us, the perfect time to really sit down and study hard will rarely come along, which means that we have to maximise whichever opportunities we have to fit learning around other opportunities. With all of the above thoughts in mind, here are some top tips on incorporating microlearning into your daily routine.
Tip number one: Keep things varied
Even if you only have limited time and resources for studying, try to mix things up by exercising a different skill each time, whether that means reading a news article, watching or listening to short-form social media content, or writing brief journal entries in your target language. Draw on as wide a range of learning materials as you have access to, since encountering the same information through different sources can help to reinforce it, and if you tend to lean into a particular learning style such as visual or tactile, try to work with that too.
Tip number two: Always have study materials with you
It’s a lot easier to take advantage of idle moments if you have a book, flashcards, or other similar materials close to hand. If you’re at home or at work then try to always have study materials in your line of sight, either for active learning purposes or as a reminder to study later.
Tip number three: Organise your time in a way that’s meaningful to you
Good time management can go a long way towards helping us to achieve our objectives, particularly if we have a lot of different things to think about. If tactics like the Pomodoro method work for you, it’s worth using these to help map out your study sessions. If on the other hand you prefer a less structured approach then it’s still worth trying to set rough times for when you want to study, keeping in mind your other activities. Also remember that it can paradoxically often be easier to get down to something if you have another thing to do afterwards, so you might find that a spare half hour before leaving the house provides you with the perfect opportunity to catch up with your studies.
Tip number four: Make time to consolidate your learning
Even if you’re only able to study for relatively short bursts, it’s still worth making time to go back over topics that you’ve covered previously since whenever we encounter the same content on multiple occasions it will typically sink in better. Also remember that it can often be helpful to learn things in context, such as learning new vocabulary as part of example sentences, so it’s worth using more than one learning resource if possible.
Tip number five: Incorporate more focused study as well
As with any learning strategy, the microlearning approach has strengths and weaknesses depending on the situation. Microlearning can often be better for picking up basic rote information such as learning verb conjugations or vocabulary lists, but in order to progress your studies it’s probably worth setting aside some time for a deeper dive into more complex aspects of the language such as grammar, particularly if you’re working with a language that operates very differently to your home language(s).
Tip number six: Trust in your progress
Even if you feel you don’t have as much time or mental energy to dedicate to your studies as you’d like, believe that you’re making progress providing you’re doing the work and trying to make a consistent habit of your studies. Often it can be hard to gauge our own success in learning another language and many of us tend to underestimate ourselves. If you feel like you’re not moving forward, looking back at your old study materials or anything that you’ve written in that language will often help to reassure you that you’re still making progress.
Tip number seven: Start small
Set small goals since there’s always the chance that you’ll do more than you intended, particularly if you have a tendency to procrastinate when you’re faced with the prospect of larger tasks. Remember that success in a language is the result of cumulative effort and that even small actions such as learning a few new words a day, making voice notes of yourself speaking, or writing a sentence per day in a journal in your target language will still build up over time. Try to use resources that you’re already genuinely interested in and that capture your attention, such as social media content or songs, and remember that if you’re really lacking in motivation then even just laying out your study materials on the table can help put you in the right frame of mind for studying.
And lastly, don’t get discouraged! In the words of Medium writer and microlearning advocate Krystyna Trushyna, sometimes the real key to learning is showing up even when you don’t feel like it. If you continue to go through the motions then things will get easier and your confidence and your natural enjoyment of your other language (or languages) will build on itself.
We hope these tips have been helpful but we’d be interested to know whether you’re a fan or an opponent of the short-but-sweet approach, so if you have alternative suggestions then we’d love to read them in the comments.
Happy translating and learning, and thank you for reading our monthly updates!
Sources
Lindie Botes
Making time for languages in a busy day
https://lindiebotes.com/2020/03/25/making-time-for-languages
Medium | Krystyna Trushyna
The Science of Microlearning: How to Learn a Language in Just 10 Minutes a Day
Medium | Krystyna Trushyna
Microlearning Lovers vs. Haters: Who’s Actually Right in Language Learning?
Together We Learn More
Microlearning In Language Learning
https://togetherwelearnmore.com/microlearning-language-learning
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