According to the US Foreign Service Institute, it should take around 600 hours of study to learn French. But you may have been studying for years and still not feel fluent!
This is the language learning plateau – when despite your best efforts, you feel like you’ve hit a wall. No matter how hard you try, you just aren’t making progress.
First of all, you’re not alone!
The language learning plateau is a common experience, and there are plenty of things you can do to make sure you keep developing. Read on to understand why the plateau happens, and how you can overcome it!
Logic dictates that if we study at a consistent pace, our learning will develop at the same rate. If you keep your language study regular, the chances are a plateau isn’t actually happening – it’s just how it feels. Here’s why.
On day one of learning your target language, you may learn:
You practice how to understand, say, read, and write these terms. That feels like a huge jump from the day before!
Skip to month six and your lessons may look more like how to conjugate verbs in the imperfective tense. As this is a more complex topic, it takes longer to absorb, which feels much slower.
A language learning plateau often occurs when we feel overwhelmed by a language. At this stage, we may start to grasp how little we actually know. Despite having studied for a year or more, you may be hit with the feeling that you’ll never know it all.
Are you able to use your spoken language regularly? If so, people may kindly respond slower to you in the beginning.
As your speaking abilities progress, however, native speakers may relax and speak more naturally around you. Then, even though you’re much better than before, you feel just as lost.
By the time you’re months or years into language study, the challenge isn’t remembering new things. It’s not forgetting the old. Your progress may feel slower as your energies are divided between retaining the old and absorbing the new.
As you can see, the plateau isn’t a lack of progress. It’s the feeling of seeing your progress in a more critical light.
So don’t give up! You’re still learning. Intermediate and advanced learning will always be more challenging, and feel slower.
What can you do to get yourself out of a learning funk? Try these three tips to keep up your progress.
No learner is equally skilled at speaking, listening, reading, and writing. If you’ve sped ahead in one area, the others could be holding you back.
To ensure you progress at a more even and sustainable rate, focus on your weakest area.
In your weakest area, your progress will feel more tangible. Focused study on that area will also support the other three without you realising it. When you practice another area again, you’ll see how much more comfortable it feels.
Many advanced learners focus heavily on language rules. Understanding a language’s more complex rules is essential for speaking like a native. But if that’s all you practice, you’ll feel the plateau particularly strongly.
Don’t forget to keep learning new words. If you’re in an environment where you can converse with native speakers, continue to ask them what new words mean when you hear them. Otherwise, look them up yourself. This ensures your vocabulary keeps growing at the rate needed to support your proficiency.
The opposite is also true! If all you focus on is learning new words, not the rules that dictate how to use them, you’ll feel stuck.
Specialised intermediate programs like Kwiziq’s French and Spanish lessons are the perfect way to drill these rules in bitesize chunks. And as the lessons are written by native speakers, you know you’re learning the rules you need for real conversation.
The language learning plateau is actually good news – it means you’re an intermediate-to-advanced learner! And with these tips, you’ll see that the plateau isn’t a plateau at all. It’s a sign that you’re starting to genuinely understand your target language.
So keep going! Study, practice, and watch how your skills develop – even though it feels slower.
For more international tips – whether food, travel, or language – stay up to date with MBWrites’ exclusive articles here!
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