The 4 Vital Elements Of Successful Language Learning Used By Polyglots

Insightful tips from a language mentor, who focuses on systems rather than talent

I was ten years old when my Russian language teacher told my class that we were going to learn the Russian National Anthem. Due to the tight Hungarian-Soviet relations in the 1980s, this shouldn’t have surprised us, yet we looked at each other in utter shock. Why should we learn the national anthem of another country?

However, I was beyond excited even if I wouldn’t have dared admit it.

I’ll finally get to memorize a context in a different language — I thought.

Ever since I was little I was drawn to the idea of speaking another language, although my enthusiasm took a drastic hit when I started to learn German a few years later.

My fairly decent progress in Russian came to a sudden halt and was replaced by never-ending German words, complicated grammar rules, and unstructured lessons.

Fast-forward eight years and I found myself in Italy then later on in England, where I live today. What was common in both experiences was that I couldn’t speak either of these languages, but achieved a native fluency within a reasonable time.

However, the learning curve was different and language acquisition happened at a different speed.

Lydia Machova — A Slovakian language mentor, who speaks nine languages doesn’t believe in traditional teaching methods and decided to find slightly unconventional methods to teach herself instead.

“I’ve learned all these languages in Slovakia without ever living abroad, attending courses, or paying for teachers.”

So, what’s the secret? Why is it that some struggle for years without tangible results, while others learn several languages within a short time?

When Machova went to a polyglot gathering event in Berlin, she was curious to find out what other people did to achieve proficiency.

A man called Benny Lewis said speaking from day one was what worked for him. He ignored the mistakes he inevitably made and concentrated on practicing the language instead.

“It’s okay to make mistakes. Go out and make them! As many and as fast as possible.”

Another polyglot Lucas added random Russian people to his Skype account. He would type in a basic question such as: “ Hi, how are you?” and whatever response he got from others, would copy and paste into the reply box and send it to the previous one.

We all have our preferences when it comes to learning. Whether you learn the first two hundred words of your chosen language or fight your way through the verbiage of a textbook, it doesn’t matter.

What matters is that you find enjoyment in your method that gives the motivation to carry on. This brings me to Machova’s first element:

Find Enjoyment In Whatever Technique You Choose

I remember watching the first film in Italian. Although I couldn’t understand a word, the storyline was fast-paced and held my attention. While the conversations were blurry one question was repeated many times over. “ Che successo?”. It had a certain tune to it and quickly stuck in my mind. By the end of the film, I finally learned that “che successo?” means “what happened?”.

This is just one example, but the possibilities of picking up new vocabulary are endless. And the best thing is that most of the learning happens when you do random activities. Like listening to a podcast while cleaning, or watching YouTube while cooking.

Machova read Harry Potter and watched Friends in Spanish and while she found it boring at the beginning by the time she finished the third season dialogues started to make sense to her.

Motivation and accomplishment are the heart of learning. And what better motivator can you find than an activity you enjoy?

Apply Different Methods To Retain Information In Your Long-Term Memory

As Machova says: “ If you want to achieve fluency in a foreign language you also need to apply other methods”.

If you sit down to memorize twenty words in an hour, they’ll be stored in your short-term memory. That’s if you’re lucky. However, soon enough they’ll start to fade, and retrieving them will be hard if not impossible.

This is where revision or spaced repetition comes into play. By recalling familiar information regularly over a long period, the data will eventually stick in your long-term memory.

German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus carried out a study on memory and he was the first to discover the context of the learning curve. He studied the speed at which he was able to memorize “nonsense syllables” (a consonant-vowel-consonant syllable) and traced the time when the information started to “decline”. As a result, the idea of the forgetting curve and spacing effect was born.

The emphasis is not on the amount of time you spend on learning but on the frequency you engage with the language. It’s up to you which technique you choose. Be it flashcards, textbooks, or videos. Continuous effort is the gist of gradual improvement.

This brings us to Machova’s next point.

Create A System That Works For You

This could be easily the trickiest part since we all try to juggle so many things at once. You may have young children, or a demanding job but dedicating a fraction of your time daily can still be manageable.

Who wants to sit down for hours to memorize words, after all?

Or listening to audio lessons.

Isn’t it the goal to find a way that can be easily integrated into our daily routine? Where we don’t have to sacrifice another activity to do our learning.

I always have a pen and sticky notes when I read before going to bed. When I spot a word that I don’t know the meaning of (and that’s a lot of the time) I write it down. I keep it simple and stop myself at four words. Once I jot down the meaning I stick it on my kitchen cupboard the next morning.

This way I simply can not avoid seeing these words, which I then connect to pictures, activities, or put into context. Whatever helps me retrieve them successfully later on.

But you might find that waking up 15 minutes earlier gives you enough time to watch a cooking video in German or reading a book in French. Or perhaps you might prefer listening to a podcast while driving to work.

Find creative ways to do your learning and once you do stick with them.

Have Patience, You’re In It For The Long Haul

Congratulations, if you got this far, but your work isn’t over yet. The last and possibly most crucial element in Machova’s (and other polyglots’) method is patience.

Patience is a virtue that’s incredibly hard to master. Especially nowadays, where we can get things at a click of a button. But language learning doesn’t work like that.

It took me four months to achieve a level in Italian where I was able to make myself understand. And no, my grammar wasn’t brilliant. On the contrary. I cringed whenever I used the present tense to describe an event that happened in the past. I used the same words over and over again since my vocabulary was incredibly limited. But overall, I learned Italian relatively easily and quickly.

My English learning journey was much harder. After two years of diligent studying (that included films with subtitles, language school, and a private teacher) I still felt that my progress was stagnating.

Going to the bank or the library still felt like a chore, but despite all that, I kept exposing myself to interactions with natives. I enrolled in courses that sounded fun, practised speaking whenever I could, but more importantly, I mastered my listening.

I discovered that listening was a powerful tool and that helped me spot flaws and improve my accent and grammar.

Over time I finally noticed a speckle of progress and figured out that what I thought was non-existent had been there every step of the way. And the level I achieved wasn’t the result of talent or luck but the compound effect of sheer practice and consistency.

Do you still think that talent is what you need to speak another language?

You might want to think again. Work on your systems and cherish every milestone.

“The faster one learns a language, the faster one forgets. So don’t learn in haste. “ Luca Lampariello (The Polyglot Dream)