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Combining language study with work study? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Doogle Newbie United Kingdom Joined 5297 days ago 20 posts - 22 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Mandarin | Message 1 of 9 08 December 2010 at 1:26pm | IP Logged | ||
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Not enough room in the title, but what I really wanted to ask was:
"is there anyone out there working full time, studying for a professional qualification (in my case CIMA) for work, and also studying languages?" I've recently taken on the challenge, and really CIMA has to take priority, as unlike language learning, it is relevant to my current job. As a result my language study is suffering, since I feel that if I have free study time I should be using it for CIMA. Any advice? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| marmite Triglot Newbie Portugal Joined 4991 days ago 35 posts - 57 votes  Speaks: Portuguese*, English, French | Message 2 of 9 08 December 2010 at 1:50pm | IP Logged | ||
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Well, what I do is trying to be flexible. I can't study languages everyday, because sometimes I have to study for other things as well, and there's days when whatever little free time I have is spent *resting*. However, something that does help is keeping a schedule. Draw your class schedule. Add in everything else you usually do, like maybe going out with friends on Friday night or the weekly visit to a relative. Then fill in some hours (be realistic) to study, rest and have meals. On whatever is left add in language study. Of course, you probably won't abide by this schedule everyday, but it's a good guidelin. You can also throw in language study in otherwise free moments. Having dinner? Maybe try practicing your vocabulary by describing out loud the recipe you're cooking. Watching a film? Perhaps you could choose something in your target language (with subtitles if you're tired). Do you commute or drive to school? Take some earphones and practice, or a book.
Of course, be realistic about your times (studying for school, languages or otherwise). Be careful not to burn out, and remember that two hours of good study is better than four hours spent playing with your pencil, staring at the wall and calling friends. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| vickyyuchi Newbie Taiwan Joined 4896 days ago 14 posts - 17 votes Speaks: English | Message 3 of 9 09 December 2010 at 1:56pm | IP Logged | ||
Well, that would be a difficult problem. I have the similar experiences, too. Sometimes I want to do something that interests me, but I'm forced to do something "more important" first. When facing such difficulties,well time management would be the top priority. A schedule book would help a lot. For me, I would put all the things that I need to do in a schedule book, and then give myself a deadline for all the things, trying to have all the stuff done effectively. Actually, I find that even if when walking, taking the bus or something else, there are many things could done as well.If I follow my plans and schedule well, I can somehow find time to do things that I want to. Just give you some suggestions. Hope it would help. :) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| ratis Hexaglot Newbie Germany Joined 4881 days ago 28 posts - 43 votes Speaks: German*, English, French, Italian, Spanish, Latin Studies: Czech, Japanese Studies: Hindi | Message 4 of 9 09 December 2010 at 9:07pm | IP Logged | ||
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Maybe it helps breaking down your language study time into smaller time-boxes. For me,
the 20-30 minutes before I fall asleep and the first half hour after I wake up are reserved for "fun" studies (which nearly always translates as language learning - when I feel like it, anyway.) I already did this when I was still at uni simply because I had the urge to do something free of (serious) purpose besides my regular studies. So my desk is for serious studying and my bed for the fun. ;) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| noriyuki_nomura Bilingual Octoglot Senior Member Switzerland Joined 5118 days ago 304 posts - 465 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin*, Japanese, FrenchC2, GermanC2, ItalianC1, SpanishB2, DutchB1 Studies: TurkishA1, Korean | Message 5 of 9 09 December 2010 at 9:33pm | IP Logged | ||
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How about doing it in smaller chunks, such as one small lesson per day, or even just listen to the audio recordings (if u have), while you commute to school everday (I presume u are still a student :)
I also find it hard to balance between language study, work and my financial studies (I am studying for CFA), and at times, I do feel overwhelmed. As a matter of fact, I listen to the audio recordings that I have in my ipod, in the office and during my commute between office and home everyday. Ironically, I even derive pleasure out of it, and language learning has even become a kinda relaxation outlet from my stressful work and financial study schedules... 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| leosmith Senior Member United States Joined 6328 days ago 2365 posts - 3804 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Tagalog | Message 6 of 9 10 December 2010 at 1:56am | IP Logged | ||
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I tried something similar, and it ended in disaster. I'd recommend dropping language studies until you finish your
other studies. Pick languages up again when you are more settled. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| jimbo Tetraglot Senior Member Canada Joined 6072 days ago 469 posts - 642 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin, Korean, French Studies: Japanese, Latin | Message 7 of 9 10 December 2010 at 2:29am | IP Logged | ||
Same here. I'm constantly looking for ways to jam in a bit of language studying. Flashcards on my iPhone in the elevator. Listening to Pimsleur while going on a morning hike. Etc. Finding work-related material in a foreign language is helpful. For me, it is watching the news or reading newspapers in foreign languages. Earning work related professional qualifications in a foreign language are great. I'm amazed at how many people can pass the CFA exams even if their native language is not English. There are thousands of pages of pretty difficult material to master and the exams are long and dense. I'm sure their English improves along the way. Edited by jimbo on 10 December 2010 at 2:34am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| g-bod Diglot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5760 days ago 1485 posts - 2002 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, German | Message 8 of 9 11 December 2010 at 6:40pm | IP Logged | ||
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Yes, I'm working full time and studying part time for a MSc related to my job. Neither
my job nor my course have any relation to the language I am learning - the nature of it is such that it is really very focused on practice in the UK, so they are all areas of my life that are essentially completely separate. I also understand the guilt - if I have free time what should I be doing? Reading around for my course or studying my language? Sometimes this seems to lead to paralysis on both counts, which I guess is no way to work. I promised myself from the outset that I would review my flashcards every day (this rarely takes more than ten minutes) and I try to have some contact with the language, even if it's just five minutes reading an article online or listening to a podcast, or putting a DVD on when I go to bed. I save learning new stuff for when I don't have any immediate deadlines on my course. Ultimately, learning a language is a hobby for me and therefore as deadlines approach clearly my focus moves onto my course and stays there - as it should be. As such I have basically had to adjust my expectations in relation to how quickly I will progress in learning a language, but I am still progressing nevertheless. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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