So there are people way more equipped than me to talk about How To Support Learning. But following up on my post from a couple weeks ago about what makes self-directed online learning difficult, I wanted to think about how to ease some of the issues I was talking about.
The two things that came to mind are defining the why and finding community.
I know I can’t shut up about Duolingo, but it’s the thing I’ve had the most success with, so I’m gonna keep chattering about it. I mentioned in my last post that I was getting frustrated with Italian, feeling kind of stagnant — my grammar wasn’t great and neither was my vocabulary. There weren’t exercises available to me for composition/writing/speaking, only for comprehension/reading/listening.
So in the past two weeks or so, I’ve switched to French.
And it’s really working! I’m doing more lessons in a day, making noticeable progress through the Rookie section of the course (the overall course is more than two hundred units, yeesh — I’ve finished about 2.5). I’m not in anything advanced yet, starting from total basics, but I’m feeling more motivated than I have in a while.
Why?
Well, the first part is probably just plain old novelty. Switching things up reinvigorates me, and I can get excited about something new because it’s easy to feel like I’m making progress when I’m still in the beginner phases, before I reach the frustration plateau of “not complex enough to feel like I’m really achieving anything but still complex enough that I don’t really get it”.
But parts two and three — the why and the who — are the reason I picked French, and the reason I’m excited. And they’re sort of the same reason.
I didn’t actually pick up Italian to talk to people. Of the few people I know who understand Italian, there’s not really anyone in my life who I would regularly use it with, either because they’re not particularly practiced either or because I see them very infrequently. So I didn’t pick up Italian because of community, but because a character I was playing in my Shadowrun TTRPG speaks Italian, and I thought it would be neat to try. Which isn’t the worst reason in the world, but it wasn’t as if I was going to use Italian in the game, just that I was going to learn it in addition for fun. No further purpose.
But unlike Italian, I have several friends whom I talk to regularly and who also speak fluent French. I can speak French around the house, and get feedback on my pronunciation and grammar. Like I said, I’m still in the little leagues, so my vocabulary is limited, but “Are you eating? I’m eating with you,” and “Look! A dog!” feel like they’re pretty applicable to everyday life nonetheless.
Having a community of people who you can use your skills with, to have fun with them and get excited about stuff, to learn from and to learn with, is a huge boon to learning. Understanding your own goals helps you stay motivated and remember why you’re doing it. And if those two things can overlap, so much the better. In any case–
Au revoir, arrivederci, and see you next time.
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