3. The Good News

The Good News about Deliberate Practice

Dear Students,

Learning a new language is the best thing you can do. Learning a new language can be fun. But it is also hard. It takes time and it takes effort. They say about going to the gym: “If it doesn’t hurt, you’re not doing it right.” And the same thing is true about language learning. It’s fun. But not every minute of it can be fun. You have to put in some effort to get the wonderful reward of being able to speak to someone in their own language. And then hear and understand what they have to say. Read about new worlds, find out about different ways of thinking.

That’s the bad news. You will have to put some effort in. Most of the time it will be fun. But sometimes you will have to force yourself into it.

But here’s the good news. Just like anybody can develop stronger muscles, anybody can learn a language. Young and old. And surprisingly, older people can be better at it than children. Because they already have experience they can build on. Children learn a language through brute force. They repeat, try and fail for years and years. They do almost nothing else. Teenagers and adults can go about it the smart way.

This document is about the smart way. The way that is based on experience and science. The science that can help you is called Deliberate Practice. Deliberate practice did not invent a new way of learning that nobody ever thought of before. It came out of studying how top performers actually learn all they need to become good at what they do. Chess players, musicians, athletes, doctors, even language learners. Deliberate practice is not something new for them, it is just a description of the techniques they already use to be the best.

Deliberate practice showed how the people who are really good at something get that way. But the real breakthrough was the discovery that deliberate practice can help anybody. No talent is required. You may need talent to become the very best but you’re not studying to be the best at speaking a language. You’re studying to be good at it. And with deliberate practice, anyone can become good at language. And then a little better.

So if you’ve ever said to yourself “I’m not good at learning languages”, now you have a much better thing to say. “I haven’t discovered a good way to learn a language, yet.” The process of discovery can start now. And if you’re already “good” at language learning, lets see if you can get even better.

Language learning does not require good memory, high IQ or some mysterious ear for languages, it requires time and effort. You still have to put in both, but you can go much further than you imagined, if you make your practice deliberate.