So, this post has been inspired by another great language learner I follow. Today Jonathan Seabolt over at Seabolt_Speaks decided to delete all his language learning apps that involve "Gamification" that is, making learning a language like a game.
At first I was surprised that Seabolt came to this decision, but in thinking about it a bit, I am no longer surprised, in fact given the right circumstances I would do the exact same thing. In my experience (Which is admittedly only one small datapoint), The strategies I needed to use to learn changed as my level in French increased. Let's dig down and explore this.
When I began learning French; and when I study Norwegian or any other new language, I rely heavily on apps which involve "gamification". For me the game-like aspects of these apps are a huge help for me in building a foundation in the language and reducing my level of burn-out. I strongly believe that you should not shy away from game-like apps when you are building a foundation in the language. These features of language learning apps help the foundational stages of language learning feel less like a slog through grammar and vocabulary and more like well... a game.
For me, the transition away from game-like apps came a short time after I finished the French tree on Duolingo. I found that my gains with Duolingo were diminishing. So I began to transition from Duolingo to listening to French podcasts, reading French news websites; and most importantly, practicing with native speakers. I found an amazing native French speaker, who is now a very close friend. I have some favorite French shows and podcasts, and a small library of French books on my shelf. These learning strategies (podcasts, books, movies, and practice with native speakers) are still my main mode of study for French.
I still sometimes return to Duolingo and other game-like apps with French because its important to me that I maintain a strong foundation in French, but the reality is that my learning in French, while still progressing every day, is largely a secondary focus. My main focus right now in language learning is Norwegian, and my primary learning strategies right now are game-like apps; Duolingo, Memrise, Babble, Drops, and Free MOOC courses such as those offered at Futurelearn. I suspect, though we will have to see once I have a solid enough foundation in Norwegian to do it, that I will transition away from Duolingo and other game-like apps, and move towards more advanced learning tools like the ones I cited above.
So given this, I think I would do the same thing as Seabolt; especially if I felt the game-like apps are a distractor to me (Which he has said was the case). However for me they are not too much of a distractor and I think the reason they are not is because I have a primary and secondary focus... Even a tertiary focus some weeks.
And this brings me to another thought which I think will probably be a huge can of worms I cannot address fully here. That can of worms is "How can I, or should I, study more than one language at once?"
For me the best answer is "You can if you want to." However the more complete answer is that I do not think many people can actually study more than one language at once with the same focus and expect equal gain.
Let me explain.
Technically speaking I am studying three languages right now. Norwegian, French, and Irish. (Super-technically speaking there are 4 because I am still learning things about English I did not know... But that's a bit pedantic.) However the amount of time I spend actively learning each of these is very different, and so it would be more accurate to say I am only studying one language at any given time. It's not like I am studying Norwegian on Duolingo while at the same time texting my French language buddy and listening to the Motherfoclóir podcast. There have been times when I have been doing two of those things at once and my performance in both suffers if I am doing it for more than a few minutes at a time. We can go into exactly how I juggle three languages at once in another post, but let's just say for now that I have three focus stages in my studies, main focus, maintenance, and back burner.
This whole conversation, when the rubber hits the road, comes down to this for me. You need to do what is best for your language learning. "You do you." is an apt phrase here. You all know, if you have been reading my blog for any amount of time,
that I believe very strongly that a learning strategy is only wrong if it is not working, and even then, it's just wrong for you. Language classes in the traditional mode have not been successful for me, however they work amazingly for others. So do what works for you, fair reader, and your language skills will increase and your level of burn out will stay low. Be open to following your feelings about your strategies. What worked for you as an absolute beginner may not be effective when you are at a more advanced level. However the thing that I want you to remember above all else that you will ever hear me say is this:
You can do this.
You can learn your target language.
I believe in you,
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Also I hope this was not too scattered,