How To Overcome The Language Learning Plateau
By: Aj Krow
Tags: Books, Education, Creativity, Language, Productivity

How To Overcome The Language Learning Plateau

Use the four areas of language proficiency to improve fluency

Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash

I noticed the difficulties of becoming fluent in a language by observing my ESL (English as a Second Language) students. I also experience difficulty in language learning, as I am a beginner Italian speaker. Most beginner language learners do not progress after learning basic vocabulary. A beginner trying to move towards being an intermediate learner becomes a difficult task.

To overcome the beginner language plateau, you need to address the four language proficiency areas (writing, reading, listening, and speaking) and change your learning style to overcome the beginner plateau.

1. Practice your writing

I never understood the use of language grammar books. I tried using them, but they are very wordy, boring, and lack character. Grammar and sentence structure books make learning feel like a chore. Language should be about going on an adventure, or as a friend of mine likes to say, it’s about making love to it.

If you feel stuck after countless hours of learning vocabulary, practice your writing. Show yourself where you stand and what you still need to learn.

Spoiler: it won’t be good.

You will probably use a bilingual dictionary or a translator more often than you think. This is very common among language learners. I’ve seen my ESL students grab a bilingual dictionary from the back of my classroom and use it to write down their thoughts. Regardless of where they stand in proficiency, they use the dictionary often. Their goal is to make as few errors as possible.

My beginner ESL students take longer to write but write less than those who are intermediate or advanced. They rely on the bilingual dictionary more so than my intermediate or advanced students.

If you feel you are using the dictionary too much, it’s fine! Using a dictionary while writing helps you in the long term, as looking up a word more than once helps that word transition from your short-term to long-term memory.

When it comes to writing, feel free to write about how your day went, or use writing-prompt websites for language learners or elementary students. This way, you have plenty of subjects to write about while applying the vocabulary you learned.

2. Read chapter books

Some polyglot YouTubers recommend reading your favorite books since you already know the plot of the book. According to them, it is a matter of absorbing it in a new language.

I am not fond of this idea as most adults tend to read at a higher reading level and usually consume longer text.

Let’s say you pick up a copy of Hunger Games or Harry Potter. The reading level and the unique vocabulary in those series make it difficult to comprehend them in a foreign language. There are many words invented by the author in those series that do not have a translation. Using a bilingual dictionary becomes near impossible. By choosing a high-level book, you will eventually lose interest in reading out of frustration.

I noticed when I visited the library at the high school I work at, some of my beginner ESL students choose books at an elementary grade reading level. They find high school level books difficult, so they select lower-level books because they experience less frustration in looking words up in a bilingual dictionary.

My recommendation is to read elementary level books in your target language. If you have ever read books like Charlotte’s Web, Captain Underpants, The Magic Tree House Series, or Dr. Seuss’s books, look them up in your target language!

If you are learning Italian, you can order a copy of Dr. Seuss’s The Cat in the Hat. If you want to order this book or any other book in your target language, visit amazon.it for Italian, .de for German, .es for Spanish, .fr for French, or .jp for Japanese. That way, you can access the Amazon store from that country.

The disadvantage of shopping on Amazon in other countries is you might be subject to shipping costs. If you prefer to be a little more budget-friendly, you might be better off purchasing the e-book to avoid those shipping costs.

3. Listen more

Another recommendation polyglot YouTubers make is to watch your favorite shows or movies in your target language, especially those you have seen multiple times. This way, you know what is going on — all you have to do is translate it.

This is another example of why people become frustrated with language learning and cannot overcome the beginner plateau. If you try watching The Mandalorian in a foreign language, you will struggle to comprehend what they are saying, as this is a show with higher-level vocabulary.

When I watched the film The Incredible Hulk, released in 2008, I noticed at the beginning of the film the main character was watching Sesame Street in Portuguese while looking up words in a bilingual dictionary.

Instead of watching Grey’s Anatomy in French or CSI: Miami in German, where their unique vocabulary set would likely befuddle and frustrate you, try watching lower level shows. You can watch Sesame Street on HBO Max and practice your listening skills. Full episodes of Peppa Pig in Italian are available on YouTube, according to their canale ufficiale (official channel). Phineas and Ferb is available on Disney+ in German, Spanish, French, Italian, and other languages. And of course, who could ever forget using SpongeBob SquarePants as a language learning resource.

4. The hardest of all — practice speaking

This is the area my ESL students struggle the most. The best suggestion I can provide is this: practice.

One option is for you to meet people locally who speak your target language, or eat at a restaurant, like a Mexican taqueria (taco restaurant) for Spanish or an authentic Chinese buffet for Mandarin or Cantonese. However, going to a restaurant will cost money, so this is not the best option to practice your speaking.

The second option is to go online and use a video chatroom (and hope for the best), but this choice is not great. You are not guaranteed a productive interaction or conversation. YouTuber Xiaomanyc creates videos where he practices his Chinese with native speakers using Omegle, a video chatroom, and shocks them with his speaking ability.

Another option is using VRChat. This is not something I have explored, but polyglot YouTuber Ikenna has done multiple videos where he practices his speaking with people around the world.

The fourth option available are apps that allow you to practice your speaking, such as HelloTalk and iTalki. Here, you can speak to natives in your target language, and in turn, they might ask you to speak in your native language so they can practice as well.

Conclusion

You need to use level-appropriate material to overcome the learning plateau. If you use difficult material, you will quickly become frustrated. You will likely need a break or might give up learning, so stick to material that is closer to your proficiency level. As long as you address all four language proficiency areas, you will overcome the learning plateau and will achieve fluency.