Learning a new language can be such an incredible experience and also very intimidating. In this article, I’ll be guiding you through the process of designing your own language study plan from home.
I will be going over everything from which language to pick to how to structure your home study plan based on your personal schedule. This post is all about how to study a language on your own.
1. Pick the Right Language
When deciding which language to learn, you need to ask yourself a few questions. The first question is “why do I want to learn a new language?”. When you picture yourself speaking a new language what are you doing? Are you using it at work, at home, while dating? Are you visiting a certain country? Really zero in on your “why”. This will be crucial in deciding which language is right for you
The next question you need to ask yourself is “how much of a challenge am I looking for?”. Depending on what languages you already know, some languages will be more difficult than others. For those who speak English as a native language and don’t speak any other languages, the FSI Language Ranking can be a great reference tool to determine the difficulty of various foreign languages.
Here is a breakdown of the different difficulty levels with examples of common foreign languages with level 1 being the easiest and level 5 being the most challenging:
Level 1: “Languages closely related to English”
“Languages that usually require around 24-30 weeks or 600-750 class hours”
Spanish
French
Dutch
Italian
Afrikaans
Level 2: “Languages similar to English”
“Language that requires around 30 weeks”
German
Level 3: “Languages with linguistic and/or cultural differences from English”
“Languages that usually require around 36 weeks or 900 hours of instruction”
Indonesian
Swahili
Malaysian
Level 4: “Students usually need around 44 weeks or 1100 class hours”
“Languages with significant linguistic and/or cultural differences from English”
Russian
Thai
Vietnamese
Greek
Hindi
Level 5: “Languages which are exceptionally difficult for native English speakers”
“It usually takes 88 weeks or 2200 hours”
Chinese
Japanese
Korean
Arabic
Cantonese
2. What Are Your Language Goals
Now that you have hopefully determined which language you would like to study, it’s time to set some goals! This is one of my favorite parts of this whole process because you get to decide what you are going to do with the language after you have achieved some level of fluency.
CEFR Levels
Speaking of “level of fluency”, that is what we need to determine first! There are varying levels of fluency that you can reach in a language and whichever you want to aim for is just fine! I like to use the CEFR levels to set my language goals. There are tests you can take to determine if you have reached the level you are aiming for, but they aren’t completely necessary unless you really want to make sure you are at the level you are wanting. There are other ways to measure the level of your language ability.
Here are the levels and common benchmarks for each (here is the link to the article where I found this information, it lays it out so well!):
A1: Beginner
“At A1, you can:
Use everyday expressions and basic phrases
Introduce yourself and say where you come from, where you live and what you do
Tell the time and ask for it
Talk about the weather
Ask for simple directions
Describe and ask basic questions about family, work or hobbies
Use present simple and limited past simple and future to talk about everyday topics”
A2: Pre-Intermediate
“At A2, you can:
Understand and use frequent expressions relating to work, shopping, travel, and hobbies
Understand simple but natural speech
Communicate on familiar topics, such as your home, job and interests
Use present, past and future tenses but with a limited degree of fluency
Describe your immediate environment and needs”
B1: Intermediate
“By the end of B1, you can:
Talk about yourself and your family in a clear way
Develop your ideas when talking about familiar topics and give reasons for them
Talk about your life experiences, events, and plans with appropriate grammar and vocabulary structures
Lead a simple discussion, give and clarify opinions, agree and disagree
Make and respond to requests
Ask for and give advice
Talk in a structured way, using rather clear language and pronunciation”
B2: Upper-Intermediate
“At B2, you can:
Listen to the news and understand all the main points and details, even if you still lack some vocabulary
Discuss unfamiliar topics, even though you’re still likely to hesitate at times
Explain your point of view and give the advantages and disadvantages in support of your opinion
Communicate with native-level speakers without strain
Produce clean and well-organized writing texts and use some academic language”
C1: Advanced
“By the end of C1 level, you can:
Follow an academic university course without any strain
Communicate effectively in a wide range of demanding situations
Better understand irony, sarcasm and implicit meanings in reading or listening tasks
Produce coherent spoken or written text with a variety of linking devices, colloquialisms and grammar structures
Speak fluently with only occasional hesitation and repetition”
C2: Mastery
“At C2, you can:
Read and understand almost anything that you hear or see, whether a life show or a recorded news program
Express yourself in a spontaneous, fluent way with precise vocabulary to express your ideas
Give clear, detailed and structured presentation on a complex subject
Employ intonation patterns used by native speakers
Understand sensitive issues and the most nuanced expressions”
Timeframe
Another thing you’ll want to think about is if you have a timeframe for reaching your language fluency goal. This is completely optional and you can just shoot for consistently studying the language for the foreseeable future. However, if you have a trip coming up to a foreign country where the language is spoken or you simply want to set up a language learning challenge for yourself, you can set a specific amount of time in which you want to reach a certain level of fluency.
3. How Much Money Do You Want to Invest in Your Learning?
When it comes to learning a foreign language, I am a big believer in the fact that you don’t need to spend a lot of money to do it successfully. I do think that you will have an easier time learning a new language if you invest some money into different language learning tools however.
Here is a breakdown of resources you can use based on your personal budget:
$0: Duolingo (there is a paid version as well), online textbooks (look up “(your target language) online textbook free pdf” to find one), YouTube, language exchange (there are lots of facebook groups dedicated to connecting people who want to swap language practice), Anki (there is also a paid version), streaming (not technically free, but if you already have it, simply change the language into your target language and either change the subtitles to the target language or English)
$30-$100: Textbooks/workbooks (I like to find ones that are a textbook/workbook combo that have audio files and an answer key), short stories books in the target language, writing practice workbooks (if the language uses a foreign writing system), iTalki/Lingoda/Preply (the price can vary depending on which tutor you choose and how many lessons you take)
$100+: Rosetta Stone (I’ve never used it, but it is known as one of the “fancier” language learning programs, private language tutor (you can hire someone to come to your home and personally tutor you)
4. How Much Time Can You Commit to Studying?
If you’re anything like me, you might have the tendency to set really high, unrealistic goals. I have been found guilty of this multiple times when it comes to studying languages specifically. One of the ways I’ve found to combat this is to look at what is taking up my time already and then see where I can squeeze in my language study or see if I need to swap something out.
It is really important to use your own daily life to figure out how much time you can realistically spend learning a new language. Do your best to not compare your study plan with anybody else. There are two different ways you can structure your language study plan (there are probably more than just two, but for the purpose of this article, we will only be covering these two as they will apply to the most people). First, you can decide how much time you can devote each day and then map out what your daily study plan will look like. Alternatively, you can look at your week and see how much time you have and then plan accordingly (i.e. I have 3 hours free on Monday and 30 minutes on Tuesday).
The first plan will work well for those who like routine and don’t mind doing the same thing each day. It will also work well for those who have a pretty consistent schedule. The second plan will work better for those who like having more variety in their study plans. It also will work better for those whose schedules change more frequently.
5. Language Study Categories
Now that you know which language you want to study, what resources you have available to you and how much time you can devote to your language study, we are ready to build your personalized language study plan! In order to do this we are going to look at a few different language study categories that will be the building blocks of your language plan. The categories are as follows:
Reading
Writing
Listening
Speaking
Grammar
Culture (optional)
Decide which activities you would like to do to work on each category. For example, for reading, you may want to learn the alphabet first and then start reading in your short stories book. I have always loved the quote “language without culture is dead” and that is why I included it in my list of categories. You can decide if you want to do something to learn more about the culture since it technically won’t improve your language skills, however I would strongly recommend getting some culture in somewhere.
6. Example Language Plans
Now I will go over some example language plans with you to help inspire your own personalized plan.
Example 1: Sarah works 9am-5pm and can devote 30 minutes a day to language study with a little extra time on Saturdays and Sundays
Reading: Mondays–read a short story and answer the questions afterwards
Writing: Tuesdays–spend 30 minutes practicing writing in the workbook and make a short journal entry in the target language
Listening: Wednesdays–listen to a podcast in the appropriate CEFR level you are currently at
Speaking: Thursdays–Do a 30 minute iTalki lesson with a native speaker practicing conversations
Culture: Friday–spend 30 minutes on tiktok looking up stuff about the culture of the target language
Grammar: Saturdays and Sundays–spend a few hours studying from the textbook and complete the exercises in the workbook section
Example 2: Fred is a college student and can spend 2 hours per day studying the target language and takes iTalki lessons on the weekends
Daily Schedule:
Reading-Read for 15 minutes in the short stories book
Writing-write a journal entry for 15 minutes
Listening-Listen to a 15 minute podcast in the appropriate CEFR level
Grammar-study in the textbook and complete the exercises in the workbook section for 1 hour
Culture-spend 15 minutes reading an article online about the culture of the target language
Weekly Schedule:
Speaking-Do 1-2 iTalki lessons over the weekend
7. Language Study Supplies
There are going to be some general language study supplies that will be helpful while on the road to becoming fluent in a language.
List of Supplies:
Notebooks
Folders
Binders
Pens
Pencils
Highlighters
Pencil case
Sticky notes
Notecards
Notecard organizer
Daily agenda/planner
Journal
Backpack/bag
8. Conclusion
I hope this article was helpful to you! I am such a language fanatic so I definitely enjoyed making this post and learning along with you. If you ever have any questions or are needing some help making your own language study plan, don’t hesitate to reach out! Thanks for reading!
This post was all about how to study a language on your own and make your personalized language study plan.
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