Atomic Habits by James Clear is a fantastic book that I find myself going back to again and again. It’s an international bestseller that’s become a reference text on habit science. The central idea of the book is that all you have to do in order to accomplish goals of any size is to put in place meaningful daily habits. I’ve found that the concepts and strategies discussed in Atomic Habits are very useful for learners who need to establish productive habits for language learning.
Lessons from Atomic Habits, And Why You Don’t Need Superhuman Willpower to Learn a Language
Many people think that learning a language takes a lot of willpower. But experience has taught us that that’s not really the case.
Of course, having strong motivation helps. But motivation can be inconsistent and unpredictable…
So what about all of us who don’t have a will of steel? Are our long-term goals doomed to fail?
No, willpower is not the silver bullet for learning a language. What you really need is to turn learning into a habit. Why?
Because habits are great allies when it comes to learning. When an activity becomes a habit, you can do it on autopilot – you don’t have to think about it or work up the motivation to do it. We don’t ask ourselves each morning whether we’re going to brush our teeth. We do it without really thinking about it because it’s an ingrained habit.
So, why not transform your language study into a habit, and take advantage of “autopilot mode”?
That’s exactly what we’re going to talk about today – how to build a strong learning habit that will allow you to make consistent progress over the long term.
The “4 Laws of Behavior Change”
In the book Atomic Habits, Clear summarizes what it takes to build a strong, lasting habit:
- Make it obvious
- Make it attractive
- Make it easy
- Make it satisfying
The 1st Law of Behavior Change: Make it Obvious
In a previous article, we underlined the benefits of applying the “1% Better Every Day” approach, also known as the “Kaizen” approach, to language learning.
To recap, small amounts of effort repeated over a long period can produce incredible results. In order to guarantee this repeated action, you need to establish a daily habit.
Let’s start with two simple, yet powerful strategies.
Strategy #1: Make a plan of attack
The best way to launch a new project is to set a goal and plan how you’re going to reach it. This is called an “implementation intention.”
Start by deciding how you’re going to create your study habit using the following formula:
- I am going to [study my target language] for [10] minutes [at 7:30 am] in [my kitchen].
- I am going to [study my target language] for [15] minutes [at 8:30 am] on [the subway].
- I am going to [study my target language] for [20] minutes [at 7:00 pm] in [my living room].
Strategy #2: Build off of existing habits
- After [having my morning coffee], I will [review my MosaLingua flashcards].
- After [brushing my teeth/taking my shower], I will [learn 10 new words or phrases].
- After [eating lunch], I will [listen to dialogues in my target language].
Start learning a new language today
The 2nd Law of Behavior Change: Make it Attractive
We say this all the time, but it bears repeating: learning a language shouldn’t be boring!
Something that all polyglots have in common is that they enjoy the process of learning languages. They aren’t necessarily geniuses – they just dedicate time to learning and improving every day.
You don’t need to turn learning languages into your life passion, but there are strategies to make it more pleasant.
Strategy #1: Group your habits
This strategy consists of linking an activity that you enjoy with another task or chore.
Here are a few examples that you can tailor to your own life:
- While you eat breakfast, review your MosaLingua flashcards.
- Sit on your porch/balcony/in the park, and listen to a podcast in your target language.
- Watch a Netflix series (in your target language, preferably without subtitles) and work on your listening comprehension.
- Read the news or a book in your target language.
- Learn more about one of your interests (cars, cooking, animals, home improvement, etc.) by reading/watching/listening to content in your target language.
This can be combined with the strategy mentioned just above: building off of existing habits. A few examples are:
- After [SOMETHING YOU ENJOY], I will [OBLIGATION].
- After [OBLIGATION], I will [SOMETHING YOU ENJOY].
- After [eating dessert] I will [study my target language for 10 minutes].
- After [drinking my favorite drink] I will [study with MosaLingua for 15 minutes].
- After [reviewing my MosaLingua flashcards] I will [watch a video on YouTube].
- After [learning new cards on MosaLingua] I will [eat dessert].
Here, the idea is to link your learning to activities you enjoy, which can serve either as a signal or as a reward that will make learning irresistible.
Strategy #2: Spend time with other language learners
Another very powerful strategy is to surround yourself with people who have the same or similar goals as yourself.
We tend to imitate those around us. In this case, spending time with other language learners can inspire you and also bring some healthy competition, helping you to keep up your progress.
Here are a few suggestions:
- See if anyone in your social circle is currently learning a language or is interested in starting. Ask them to study with you or to report on your progress to keep each other honest. You can even try to convince a family member, friend, or roommate to set the same goal so you can work together.
- Look for groups in your area or online (Facebook, conversation groups, etc.) to find other people who are learning languages.
- Watch videos by polyglots and language learners on YouTube for inspiration and helpful advice.
- Follow social media pages dedicated to language learning (like our Instagram) for daily doses of motivation.
The 3rd Law of Behavior Change: Make it Easy
The law of least effort
Every action requires a certain amount of energy to complete. We all know that energy is a precious resource – our brains are wired to conserve energy, so we try to expend the least amount of energy possible.
That’s why it’s a good idea to eliminate whatever obstacles exist between you and your desired behavior. Otherwise, your brain might make it too easy to make excuses.
This brings us to another useful strategy:
Strategy #1: Remove the obstacles between you and learning
Make it so that your daily language study is as convenient, and takes as little effort, as possible. Here are a few examples to adapt to your own life:
- Choose a tool you can use anywhere, anytime (like our courses, which are available for smartphones, tablets, computers, even offline).
- Capitalize on idle time during your day, which doesn’t require you to carve out any special time for study.
- Set a language learning website as your browser homepage.
- Move your language app to the first screen on your smartphone and turn on notifications.
This way, you’ll come up against fewer obstacles, and your language goals will never be out of sight.
Less resistance = better chance of meeting your daily study goals.
Strategy #2: Use the “5 minutes” rule
This rule suggests that any new habit should take no longer than 5 minutes.
If you say “I’m going to study Spanish for an hour,” you risk losing motivation and feeling like you don’t have the time to meet your goal. On the other hand, if you say “I’m going to study Spanish for 5 minutes,” it will seem so quick and easy that you can’t say no!
This shouldn’t seem unrealistic – anyone can find 5 or 10 minutes to learn, even the busiest people.
For this reason, we often talk about the “micro-session” approach: instead of putting stock in long learning sessions, focus more on shorter spurts, totaling at least 10-15 minutes per day – every day.
Does that seem like too little time spent learning? It isn’t:
- Studying 10 minutes per day adds up (70 minutes per week ➡️ 6 hours per month ➡️ 72 hours per year), and over the long term, this can produce amazing results.
- These manageable sessions will help you establish the habit. If you want to study more, then by all means do! But remember that optimal study sessions range from 5 to 25 minutes because concentration does wane after a point.
Strategy #3: Use the power of a subscription
Do you have trouble working out regularly? Give yourself some financial motivation by purchasing a one-year gym membership. You’ll probably make a point of going, simply to avoid wasting your money. No one likes that!
In the same vein, you can opt for an annual subscription to a language learning course (we hope you’ll choose a MosaLingua course). This small yet mighty commitment will push you to study regularly.
Committing to something like this is very powerful because it helps us stay consistent when motivation inevitably wavers.
The 4th Law of Behavior Change: Make it Satisfying
The cardinal rule for making behavioral changes: Reward yourself right away
In his book Atomic Habits, James Clear illustrates what he defines as “the cardinal rule” for positive behavior change:
“What is rewarded is repeated. What is punished is avoided.”
This law is based on a simple fact: our brains like instant gratification.
How else do you explain the fact that some people smoke, despite knowing that it increases their risk of developing illnesses later in life?
The immediate pleasure of the cigarette is stronger than the delayed punishment of illness. There’s little we can do to change this trait.
It’s pretty much the same for languages and other healthy habits. We know that it’s better to study than to scroll aimlessly on our phones. But one offers instant gratification, while the other is much farther in the future.
Thankfully, we can make this fact work in our favor!
Strategy #1: Make sure you get an immediate reward
The first way to make a habit more enjoyable is to link it to an immediate reward.
For example, you could say: after each learning session, I’ll reward myself with something I like. This could be eating or drinking something you like, watching a YouTube video, giving yourself 10 minutes of social media time, etc.
If you use MosaLingua, you know that you get an immediate reward after some study sessions, like bonuses with fun facts about the countries where your target language is spoken.
This way, in addition to the long-term reward—mastering your target language—you’ll also get some instant gratification every day.
Strategy #2: Track your habits
Tracking your habits is fundamental because it can provide you with an immediate reward. Having a visual reminder of your progress is very motivating.
The simplest way to do this is to use the “chain” technique: write an “X” on your calendar after each study session. After a while, you’ll have a nice visual streak going that you won’t want to break! There are other forms of visual tracking like progress bars, logs, etc.
In our courses and apps, we help you track your habits by displaying the number of consecutive days you’ve studied on the home screen and giving you access to your stats.
You can also use other apps to track your habits. Personally, I use HabitNow, but feel free to test a few to find one you like.
Strategy #3: Find a “guardian angel” to hold you accountable
This strategy is very simple: ask someone you know to become the “guardian angel” of your habit. With this person, you make a serious commitment to study your target language every day, and get a “penalty” if you don’t.
This way, if you break your habit, you will face two immediate negative consequences:
- you lose face with your guardian angel (and nobody likes that),
- you get the agreed-upon penalty (e.g. pay the guardian angel some money, do a chore you hate, etc.).
You can make this commitment verbally, but it’s best to do it in writing. A variation of this technique is to tell your friends and colleagues, on social media or in real life, that you’re learning a language. The power of public commitment will push you to keep going so you don’t lose face.
Conclusions about Atomic Habits: Now it’s your turn…
Now you hold all the keys to transforming your language learning into a powerful habit. Choose 2 or 3 three of the strategies listed above to start applying right away.
Don’t forget that it’s the sum of your daily efforts that will add up to your results. So start as soon as possible, and make every day count!
Next Steps
If you’d like to learn more about this subject, you can:
- read the book Atomic Habits by James Clear (it’s also available in other languages, so you could make reading part of your practice!)
- watch our 30-Day Challenge video
- read our article Master Any Language with the Help Of… A Self-Help Book?
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