I like a combination of 3 approaches:
- Learning tool such as pimsleur, rosetta stone, or duolingo
- Watch movies, shows, read interesting material in the language of your choice, change facebook/twitter to spanish etc
- DSSS - this is Tim Ferriss method for learning languages
Deconstruct - what are the minimal learnable units you should start with?
Selection: pick the 20% of the language that is used the most frequently.
Sequencing: how do you choose the order you want to learn things? (this is covered well by programs)
Stakes: How do you set up stakes so that you have incentive to learn? i.e. plan a trip to visit another country that speaks the language, make a bet with a friend, etc
That seems like a solid approach. Do you have any personal experience with this?
A little, but I always fall off the wagon. To me the most important part is stakes: having a reason to continue studying is pivotal.
Question though: do you prefer 30 minutes a day or a longer session a few times a week? It's easy to get into a rhythm with 30 minutes a day but I think longer sessions are more likely to promote flow states that may lead to better retention.
That's a really good hypothesis. A lot of times, we end up doing more than one 30-minute lesson per day, but at different times throughout the day. As a general rule, I'm doing it every day of the week, though. I think it ensures that the lessons don't get forgotten from day to day.
did add stakes to our Spanish learning. We said every time we don't do a daily lesson, we have to contribute $5 to our travel fund. That fund could ONLY be used to travel to a Spanish-speaking country.Ah, Tim Ferriss, gotta love that guy! He knows how to hack the hell out of everything it seems lol. Interestingly enough, @shenanigator and I
I'll have to see if switching social media sites to Spanish is doable at this point. I remember doing that for fun in high school once and couldn't figure out how to switch it back! lol