Why Consistency Matters More Than Talent in Language Learning

You know the old adage: a little bit, frequently, is better than a lot, every now and then. And this is particularly true when it comes to learning Chinese. Because Chinese is a character-based language and relies so heavily on tonal inflection, being exposed to the language on a regular basis helps you get used to the sounds, cadence, and rhythms of the language in a way that just doesn’t happen if you only study in fits and starts.

First, studying a little bit each day helps keep you from forgetting stuff. The connections between neurons in your brain that you form when you learn something new get reinforced when you revisit that knowledge on a regular basis, but can grow weak when you don’t. If you can spend even a few minutes a day going over Chinese characters, listening to a few sentences, or practicing tones, it will help remind your brain that this stuff matters, and it should try to retain it. And over time, you will find that it becomes easier to recognize characters, to commit new vocabulary to memory, and the cognitive load of trying to understand written or spoken Chinese gets smaller and smaller. Stuff that used to require a lot of concentration will become second nature, and you will be motivated to keep up the good work. Of course, it’s also true that some days you will be tired, or preoccupied, and your study sessions will be shorter and less productive. But don’t worry, you will still be moving forward, bit by bit, and you will still be building the foundation for later success.

Another reason daily study is superior to occasional cramming is that it lowers the emotional stakes. If you only study Chinese every few days, it’s easy to approach each session with a sense of dread and foreboding. Chinese is hard, and when you only do it every now and again, it can be easy to feel like you’re starting from square one each time. If you maintain a daily routine, however, you will always feel like you’re making progress, even on days when your brain isn’t really cooperating. You will also feel less daunted by difficult material because your brain will already be used to thinking about Chinese, and you won’t feel like you’re starting from square one.

Consistency also helps you build good study habits. I like to think about the difference between motivation and discipline. Motivation is what happens when you want to do something, discipline is what happens when you do something whether you feel like it or not. When you study Chinese every day, after a while it just becomes something you do, like brushing your teeth, or checking your phone for messages. You don’t have to psych yourself up to do it, you just do it, and you can save the mental energy you might otherwise have spent arguing with yourself for something more productive. And even when you don’t feel like it, even when you have had a long day and you just want to collapse on the couch and watch TV, if you just make yourself open up your Pleco app, or your flashcard deck, and do a few characters, you will be moving forward. And that’s really what matters.

Finally, if you commit to studying Chinese a little bit each day, eventually, it will just become a normal part of your life. And when that happens, you will stop feeling like you’re working so hard to learn Chinese, and you will start to feel like someone who just happens to speak Chinese. You won’t be quite so proud of yourself each time you have a successful conversation, because you will just be used to being able to communicate in Chinese. And you won’t feel like you’ve failed when you encounter something you don’t understand, because that will just be a normal part of the process. If you stick with it long enough, you will start to feel like your hard work has paid off, and Chinese has become a part of you.