Hello everyone,
I hope you all are having a great year so far. I wanted to see what everyone’s thoughts were on how each of you break up your studying / learning in terms of time spent per study/learning session.
Obviously, there are a few factors that can influence our average time spent learning.
Your current level in the language – In my experience, the more skilled you are at your target language, the less strain it has on your mind and therefore the longer you can study / learn at any given time. It also happens to be more fun when you are at a higher level which can keep you going for longer periods of time.
Health / Rest State – Your current condition can affect effectiveness though much of the time we may not notice this. How much sleep we are getting, our hunger status, emotional state, and other factors can be an influence.
Type of study activity – Another factor is what we are doing in the language… such as listening, speaking, reading, or reviewing grammar. Depending on the activity, how straining it is, our skill level, and how motivated we are can impact our average study time.
Personally, I have noticed that as my language skills have improved, the time I can spend learning has increased. That said, a lot of studies have shown that human’s capability to concentrate effectively really starts to exponentially decrease after 15-20 minutes. Thus, if we are studying for hours and hours in one go we are reaching a point of diminishing returns.
Speaking – I can do 1-hour conversations pretty easily but after that I find my mind starts to wander.
Listening – After 15-30 minutes, my concentration and effectiveness starts to decrease.
Reading – 15-45 minutes similar to listening. My reading skills are better than my listening skills and so if the material I am reading is interesting I can go for longer.
Grammar – 15-30 minutes.
I have been trying to break my study sessions into shorter bursts and I believe it has been helping a good amount. Sometimes, we are motivated to study longer and that’s great but as a whole I really do think our effectiveness starts to decrease past the hour mark.
What are your thoughts? How long do you study/learn for or maybe it’s simply random!
Have a great week ahead, stay positive and enjoy the journey!