so you want to learn a new language in 2025. maybe it's not new, maybe you've been trying to learn the language for a while, or you've been thinking about it. so what's standing between you and this goal?
that's what I want to talk about today. hi guys, my name's Elysse, and I'm a polyglot, which means that I speak several languages, and I have a lot of fun doing it. the fun part is actually optional in the definition, for some people.
for me it's not. I like to think of myself as the anti-flashcards and textbook person. I've already been through the weeds, I've been learning languages nearly all my life, so today I want to pass on six tips, mindsets, habits, whatever you want to call it, that are going to help you learn this language in the New Year.
*finally. * and I know this is going to feel like a lot of information overload at once, so don't feel overwhelmed, and don't feel like you have to adopt all of these habits at once and totally transform the way that you learn languages like that. it takes time to change habits, y'all, so even if you just walk away from this video with one or two new things to think about and to start implementing into your learning process, I consider that a win.
let's go! so first, talking about goal-setting. I don't think that goal setting is everything in language learning.
there are some people that don't do it at all, and they kind of just like to float in the primordial language goop. I see you. I am you sometimes.
and that kind of person will still have a lot of success if they're dedicated, if they're disciplined, and if they make an effort on a weekly and sometimes daily basis. if you do like to set goals and you want more of a constant push, start by setting a small, specific goal first. I've had a lot of success with this.
I'm actually going to move over. do a little shimmy. will you shimmy with me?
over are the days of, "oh I just want to get to C2 or I just want to get to B1 or ABC 123. " it's like a Jackson 5 song and it never ends. you can't.
. . in my eyes, you can't call that a goal, because it just really takes you nowhere.
it's a good eventual, like, long-term huge goal, but having only long-term, huge, vague goals that kind of just loom over you -- they can actually demotivate you in the long term because they take so long to reach. we are human. at least I am.
and and we need to feel progress and the satisfaction of accomplishing something more often, especially if it's kind of a longterm journey like learning a language. I always use the metaphor of building a house. you build a house out of bricks.
you need these individual building blocks that will eventually make up the big picture, the final product. not that there is ever a "final product" in language learning, but you feel me. when you're able to reach a smaller, short-term goal, it feels really good and it's going to propel you to the next thing.
that's the motivation! so something like this, having small goals, is way better for your motivation in the long run instead of having this looming, huge goal over your shoulder forever. so if you want want to downsize your goals and start with something more tangible, I'll give you some examples of how you can do that.
instead of "I want to improve my French vocabulary", what if you said, "okay, this month I want to learn about three different vocabulary topics: travel, health, and hobbies"? that's a lot more concrete and easier to convert into actionable steps that you can take. instead of "I want to improve my listening in German", what if you said, "I want to be able to listen to a German podcast episode at full speed"?
see what I mean? you get small, you get specific, and with these small specific goals you are still working towards that long eventual goal. just.
. you know. .
microdose the goal. think about what you really want to accomplish on a molecular level and follow that. it turns into a fun little mini side quest.
you know we love a side quest on this channel. I am the Bridge Troll giving out side quests. now, talking about fun and side quests and all of that, you should be having fun learning this language.
if it's painful, if you feel like you're dragging yourself to learn this language, that's a sign that you need to re-evaluate your methods and find a way to enjoy the process. controversial statement, I know. we do get in this headspace, there's so much pressure.
the pressure not to make mistakes, pressure to make progress all the time. my priority when I learn a language is to enjoy the process. I want to demystify this idea that all language study takes place at a desk, or that it's even always "studying" at all.
sometimes language "study" is just cozying up in bed with your favorite show in your target language. sometimes it's doing a crossword puzzle in your target language. you know me, you know that I'm all about my crossword puzzles.
or sometimes language study is doing a hobby that you already do, but doing it in your target language, if you feel me. the more you start to have fun with this language and make it something to look forward to instead of just another thing to check off your to-do list every day, the better that your journey is going to be with this language in the long run, because if you're enjoying the process. that's really, really motivating!
if that resonates with you, I just launched my Polyglot Playbook with over 60 of my favorite language learning activities, including some that I've invented myself. hmmmm. so that you can spend more time learning than stressing about what you're going to do to learn.
because honestly, we spend so much time stressing about our methods, and I just. . that's why I created this.
to put an end to that. think of it like a language study menu. it is chock-full of all the methods I've used to learn all of my languages, plus tons of resources and tips to get the most out of these activities.
that's what I think you guys know me for. you know I am the anti-flashcards and textbooks person. and I'm not one to do fomo, I mean, this is going to be available forever, but just look at all these nice things that people have said about it.
so yeah, I guess this video, in a way, is sponsored by me. now, this next step is not for everyone, but it's something that I swear by and it's one of my biggest goals in 2025, to be consistent with this practice. weekly planning, and a simple weekly plan!
this takes me no longer than 15 minutes every Sunday. so in general, I plan all of my language studies for the week on Sunday. should I just demonstrate this for you guys?
I'm going to-- okay, let's pull out the document. so we have the language up top here, uh there's actually two examples here, so look at whichever one you want. the language up top is Spanish, C1.
so first I decide what my focus is going to be that week. so my focus just means like a weakness or kind of where I noticed that I need the most help. so in this case, I wrote speaking, comfortability.
. . .
that's not a word. and I actually really hate when people say comfortability. Comfort?
why did I write that? I hate that. anyway, so my focus for Spanish this week was speaking comfortably, and vocabulary.
so yeah, just some background: I am pretty much fluent in Spanish, but I definitely get overconfident and don't practice it enough. so therefore I get rusty. so I kind of am just in a phase where I want to maintain my speaking comfort and not lose vocabulary, so that's the focus here.
and then I also have this interest/vibes section. this is kind of just for making it interesting for me. so if there's any specific topics that I want to learn to talk about, or any specific content, or if there's like you know a current event or something that's happening in the world of the language, I'll throw that in there so that I can integrate it into my studies for the week.
so for this week in question apparently, it was: I wanted to read about some type of social trend and I wanted to watch something with Gael Garcia Bernal. I have such a big crush on him. lowkey.
High key. all the keys. minor key, major key.
so yeah, the focus, or what I need to work on, that's not the only thing that dictates my studies for the week. and then from there I just decide for each day of the week what my studies are going to be, what activities I'm going to do, and I try to combine the focus section and the interests/vibes section. so for Monday I put: I want to watch a video about a social trend, and also read an article about it, and then record a video of me speaking about it.
so some input and some output. Tuesday, practice new vocabulary with ChatGPT. write a few paragraphs about the social trend.
and Thursday, my plan was to go down a Gael Garcia Bernal YouTube rabbit hole. oh, and every Friday, I have an italki class. or Preply or Lingoda or whatever platform I'm taking the class on.
but I try to have a speaking class every Friday. also, keep in mind that I don't plan anything for Saturday. I kind of don't plan my studies on the weekend.
if it happens it happens, but I pretty much only plan during the week. I just like to let myself completely relax on the weekends and not have any pending things that I need to do. I should also mention: when I'm making this weekly plan thing, I am pretty much always pulling from my Polyglot Playbook as well.
that's another pro of it that I didn't mention: it makes planning for the week or the month so much easier. it really is like a grab and go, you know? you can just grab activity ideas and go.
I hate overthinking and planning. I don't hate planning, but I hate wasting a lot of time planning because I think it's something that should be really simple. I don't like the scramble and overthinking, like, oh no, what should I do today, you know?
I can just go in, grab an activity that sounds good, and keep going. so by just taking like 10 to 15 minutes on a Sunday, I get to relax about it for the rest of the week, because I already have it all planned out for me. later in the week I feel more sure that I'm doing the right thing, because it feels like it's already been decided for me by some omniscient, benevolent language God.
. . that's me.
life hack! and if you're learning multiple languages, not just one, you might be thinking, "well what about me? what if I like to learn multiple languages during the week?
" mmmh, personally I don't do that. I feel like a week is the perfect amount of time for me to spend with a language where I feel like I'm getting quality time with it and I'm able to hone in on what I need to improve, but also, it's not too long that I get bored of it and want to go on something else. so a week for me really is the perfect period of time.
so what I do is this shuffling method. so people always ask me how I balance my languages and I end up not neglecting them, it's because of this: shuffling my languages weekly, and then doing my weekly plan. so I have a list of my languages in order, like you guys saw on my language planning thing.
it'll say at the top what the language is, so that comes from them taking turns because of an order that I have. so I just make them take turns turns every week, and that ensures that I'm getting quality time with each of them. okay.
when you learn multiple languages, you are a parent. you have to take. .
. you can't have favorites, you have to take care of all your kids equally. just kidding, you don't have to, but I definitely like to, because I'm at a point where I don't have any specific language goals.
so my goal is just to maintain all of them and give them equal attention. it's been really really good, and I can recommend it. so, your priorities and your goals might be different than mine, but I feel like this is a fail-proof method regardless for making progress without thinking about it too much.
so if you're unsure of what you want to do, just default to something like this. next, so, honestly I am starting to worry that I'm rambling too much for my own liking, because we have reached the 45 minute point on this video. so these last two are going to be a little bit more rapid-fire.
uh, long story short, you need to be learning vocabulary in context. all that means is, in the context of full sentences and paragraphs. not just learning a word by a flash card with a word on it, because you're learning a word in a vacuum.
your brain needs to hear, see, and produce this word in its natural habitat to fully comprehend it. some people might not like this comparison because it's not exactly the same thing, but think about when you were a baby. you didn't learn the word "water", for example, by your parents showing you a flash card with the word water on it 100 times.
you learned the word water from them asking you, oh, do you want water? are you thirsty? you're hearing the word in the context of a full sentence, you're hearing it in relation to the word thirsty, and that gives it meaning.
you made connections to other concepts, and to other words, and from there you learned the word. and it's the same thing now. when you learn new words, write practice sentences with them.
journal with these words, practice speaking by yourself using these words, you know, while you're doing the dishes or while you're in the shower. make a word web with related words. this is one of the activities in the Polyglot Playbook, by the way.
and also, prioritize active use of vocabulary rather than passive recognition, because doing something like journaling, or talking to yourself, any of the activities I just mentioned, it's always going to prove more fruitful for your vocabulary practice than just doing a flash card passively, or, you know, any type of recognition of a word rather than producing it. the key here is just application, not memorization. and from there, your vocabulary is going to skyrocket and your recall is going to be a lot better.
okay, now, finally the big question: let's address the topic of time in language learning. and I'm making this so broad because I just get a lot of questions related to time in language learning, like, "how often do you study per week? how much time do you study every day or per week?
how long did it take you to get to C1 in this language, or how long is it going to take me to learn French? how much French can I learn in 6 months? " you feel me?
it seems that everyone is awfully concerned with time, but I personally do not consider it a part of my thought process when it comes to language learning at. all. AT ALL!
! ! !
in fact, you know, this might seem harsh, but I cannot think of a more useless metric when it comes to language learning than time, because it's so subjective and it doesn't translate to effort. if you're the type of person that thinks, okay, I need to study for 2 hours every day or 10 hours every week, just think about this hypothetical really quick: so if you have a job, right. .
. if your boss asks you at the end of the week, okay, what did you get done this week? and you tell him, oh, I worked 40 hours, he's going to look at you sideways, because that doesn't tell him anything about what you actually did, and what you actually accomplished.
so in that same line of thinking, just because you study a language for a certain amount of time every day or every week, that doesn't necessarily mean that that study is getting you anywhere. for example, let's say that person a does exercises on their favorite language learning app for 30 minutes. you know, just clicking and matching and whatever.
multiple choice. this is passive. but let's say person B, however, practices German for 30 minutes by speaking to themselves while they're doing the dishes or something like that, or having a class.
that is active. my mic died in the middle of filming, so here we are. so even though, theoretically, both people, Person A and Person B both practice their language for 30 minutes, that's not the same amount of effort and exercise from each person.
clearly you see that, so my point is, when you're trying to plan your language studies and you're trying to plan out what you want to do to study this language, don't think in the frame of time, and don't just slap a random amount of time on it and think that that itself is going to do something or mean something. what matters is that you're investing your time into high-effort activities. that doesn't mean that I don't think passive activities are valuable, you know.
you're not always going to feel like doing something active. you're going to want to just watch a show in your target language or do something passive from time to time. there is a time and place, and those are good activities.
I just mean that not all language practice is the same, so that's why measuring your studies by time isn't useful. do you feel me? I just don't like this thought process of quantification, like, I have to do this many hours per week.
like, what is this, community service? prison? you know, "how much time did you do?
? " like, what? ?
I always say, if we're quantifying, let's quantify tasks. let's quantify book chapters, or, I want to do five journal entries this week. focus on tasks completed, not time completed, and you're going to see a big difference in the way that you study and how you feel after you study.
that's where you're going to feel yourself getting excited for your weekly language study, and not having this looming time requirement over your shoulder. so friends, i hope these tips have helped and keep helping you in 2025. they're the mindsets that keep me sane, keep me grounded, and remind me that language learning doesn't have to be so complicated.
the most important thing is to enjoy the process, have fun, stay disciplined, and be consistent in your efforts. wow, i'm so inspiring. .
. yeah, don't forget to hit the like button and subscribe, because, believe it or not, even in 2024, soon to be 2025, that still helps. like and share?
? I'll see you next year, tschüssi!
