So, for one reason or another, you are learning a foreign language alone – without a teacher and without classmates to team up with either in class or outside of it. And you know, that’s awesome. Now you can learn at your own pace, do learning activities you find meaningful and enjoyable, and do it all at a time convenient for you. But despite all the advantages, there are still potential problems. How do you stay focused on the goal? How do you set that goal in the first place? And how do you know what things to spend precious learning time on and do it effectively so that the results are visible soon? Read on for tips on how to study alone better.

In our article “Fun-Tastic Strategies to Make Language Learning Enjoyable” we wrote about the importance of the right mindset, activities and habits. In this article, we’d like to build up on that, so if you haven’t read the previous article, please do so. Here, we’ll try to map out the road for you which can lead you to your goal – becoming a better, more effective independent language learner.

Tip #1. Set the Time

Examine your schedule and find the time you can allocate to studying. Don’t tell yourself that you don’t have time because that’s most probably not true. Sure, you have time. We all do, and the amount of time we all have is the same – 24 hours in each day of the week. What we fill that time with is a different story, and it’s all about priorities. If learning a language is one of your goals, you need to make time for it. You just need to. So, let’s go back to the beginning. Look carefully at your schedule and find a time during the day that you can realistically spend learning. It doesn’t have to be a long time slot, but it’s better if it’s a time when you can be focused, uninterrupted and not too tired. Set yourself a reminder about this slot and get down to studying today. No procrastination because there is no time like the present!

Tip #2. Go the Extra Mile

As if it’s not hard enough to stick to the learning schedule, you might think. And you’re right – it’s not enough. But do you remember what we said in “Fun-Tastic Strategies” about the use of negative descriptors like “hard” or “impossible?” We need to learn to replace them with positive ones like “interesting,” “challenging but rewarding,” and so on. Going the extra mile would be any learning activity on top of your regular learning session. Do you have half an hour on the bus? Watch a few educational videos on YouTube to review what you’ve been learning or review vocabulary with a flashcard app. Not only will it reinforce your learning, it will also make you feel good and proud of yourself. It will show you that you can do it and that you are indeed rocking this self-study gig, which will give you additional motivation to carry on.

Tip #3. Reward Yourself

What can boost your motivation even more is a little bit of self-rewarding. Did you have that learning session as planned after a hard day at work? Pat yourself on the shoulder, say how great and organized you are, and treat yourself to something special – an episode of your favorite show (in your target language, perhaps? No pressure here, just kidding), or whatever feels like a healthy and satisfying treat to celebrate your progress. Keep your eye on the prize – you will eventually look forward to those learning sessions even if you don’t right now. Once you make a habit of them, you’ll feel weird if you don’t have them – like something is out of place. They are going to feel fun and rewarding all by themselves, so stick to the schedule to make this happen faster.

Tip #4. Take Notes

Note-taking is a good idea not only because it makes sense – after all, it’s hardly possible to do exercises mentally without putting anything down. But even if you have a workbook with exercises and/or prefer to go paperless, typing things rather than writing them down, we’d still recommend rethinking that approach. The thing is, handwriting seems to help memorization, according to Science News Explores and our own experience. Also, if you have a designated grammar notebook, where you’ll have a page or two for a particular topic with information on the meaning and form of a grammar structure, as well as ample examples that are easy to understand and refer back to, it will be very helpful. That notebook will become a sort of reference book, easy to use exactly when you need it. It may also make sense to have a vocabulary notebook, but you’ll be able to read more on that in our future posts.

Tip #5. Use it or Lose it

Studying a language alone can become quite lonely. If you are more of an extrovert, you’ll probably be looking for interaction with other learners anyway, but if you are an introvert like me, you might think that you can do without speaking partners altogether. However, how can we learn to speak a language without ever trying to speak it? Studying alone can work miracles for lots of skills, but if we never get to use them, what’s the point? And even if there is some point, speaking a target foreign language is still essential – that’s how you really get to apply almost everything at once: vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, listening, not to mention soft skills like active listening (more on that in future posts), etc.

So, since speaking is so hugely important, make sure you find opportunities to practice it. Have a lesson with a tutor at least once a week just for that (trust us, that can make a world of difference because a teacher can always give you feedback on what you say and how you say it – that’s an enormous advantage), join some sort of a speaking club, or explore other options that may be available online or in your community.

The bottom line is to make sure you have a chance to practically apply what you are studying because without practical application you’ll be forgetting what you’ve learned. Our brain only stores what we need, according to The Human Memory. So use it or lose it.

Which of the tips do you find the most useful? Which ones are you already applying? Do you have any other advice? We’d be happy to hear from you in the comments! Thanks for reading and till next time!