Feeling lost with your language learning journey? Try decluttering your resources

Photo by Darwin Vegher on Unsplash

We’re living in a world that grabs everyone’s attention in any way possible. There’s no denying that we’ve entered a “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” kind of environment, in which options are limitless, or they may seem to be.

Ten years ago, I decided to study Italian as a recreational hobby. At that time, I had no intention of living in Italy for the long haul. I was always on the move. For the succeeding semester I was heading to Paris (France), but I still chose to pick up a language that I can learn for fun while I was travelling around Europe.

“Anyone of us can accelerate our learning curve like Super Mario, but just like the game itself, we need to focus on what lies ahead rather than second guessing whether we need to go up, down, left, right, or even backwards. Confusion drains our mental capacity to grow.”

How could I sustain my language learning journey in and out of the country? I was committed to accumulating some books, and other resources to keep the fire burning during one of my brief stays in Italy. The problem, however, was this – there weren’t much free or accessible materials then compared to today. Furthermore, the content they sold abroad to help you learn Italian weren’t similar to those sold in the country of origin.

In the past I had to scout in every local bookstore for textbooks, and novels that may fit my interests and proficiency level, yet it seemed as though I was looking for the “golden egg”. Teachers back then were quite pricey. Moreover, I struggled self-studying using textbooks that were supposed to be used in a classroom setting.  Supply that jumpstarts one’s language level from beginner to advanced was still scarce then compared to what’s on the market today.

Fast forward to today, language learning feels like a breeze. Unlike before, we now have online courses, podcasts, graded books, YouTube videos, apps, more textbooks, and other materials, which can help us learn our language of interest according to different levels. While it’s all so great to be given a stream of options, we need to accept that our ATTENTION, ENERGY, MONEY, and TIME have boundaries.   

But what if we implement productivity hacks while amassing all that content we’re getting?

Sadly, this won’t do you any good. Studying an unfamiliar language is already a challenge itself. By jumping from one material to another incessantly, you begin to feel as though you’re floating with no direction in sight, making the process more frustrating. Anyone of us can accelerate our learning curve like Super Mario, but just like the game itself, we need to focus on what lies ahead rather than second guessing whether we need to go up, down, left, right, or even backwards. Confusion drains our mental capacity to grow.

What if we make language learning more effortless? By cutting down the must-read or must-do lists to the essentials, we can make language learning less of a distraction and more of a hyper focused journey worth participating in.

And so, you might be wondering, what are my go-to resources as I master the Italian language?

To manage my limitations, I re-examined my priorities. I looked for materials that were fun and engaging, and that worked for me. This meant committing to an online teacher and sticking to a book, a comic, or a podcast for a month, aside from exposing myself to the Italian language at home and outside it. These may not sound much but they enable me to stay focused (and not anxious) about the many resources I need to pick my brains on every single day.

So, tell me, what kind of Italian language learning materials do you lean on using?

Share with us your favorite materials at theitalianescapepodcast@gmail.com, or better yet, join our Patreon community so that you can receive our monthly newsletter, which contains recommendations on what to read, watch and listen to. Hopefully we can also have a more personal conversation in due time as the community grows!

Extra content:

• Deep Dive with Ali Abdaal: Productivity Expert on How Productivity Ruins Your Life – Oliver Burkeman

• Time Ferris: Greg McKeown — The Art of Effortless Results, the Joys of Simplicity, and More

• Robin MacPherson – A Guide to Minimalism for Language Learners

This journal entry was written by Angelique Lusuan.