Jonathan Huggins

The Building Blocks of Language Learning Momentum

New Year, New Language Summit 2023

Intermediate: Getting Past the Plateaus

The second edition tackled why progress stalls after the beginner phase and how to push through it with motivation and the right techniques.

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About this session

Jonathan Huggins explores how to build consistent language learning momentum, focusing on pre-intermediate to intermediate stages. He redefines physics concepts like mass, velocity, and displacement to help you understand your current level, target,

Key takeaways

  • Overcome perfectionism by realizing it's a roadblock to progress and that making mistakes is an essential part of learning.
  • Define your language learning 'momentum' by considering your current knowledge as 'mass' and the gap to your target level as 'displacement'.
  • Set clear target levels and deadlines for your language goals, just as you would for an exam, to guide your progress.
  • Your required 'speed' of progress is determined by the distance between your current and target levels, and the time you allocate to bridge that gap.

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