Mara Lerner

The Reality of Maintaining Fluency Without Practice – How to avoid language loss over time and what to do when fluency starts to slip

New Year, New Language Summit 2025

Consistency: Building Habits That Actually Last

The 2025 summit focused on the habit engine behind long-term progress — sustainable routines, accountability, and sticking with a language over years.

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About this session

Mara Lerner shares practical strategies to prevent language loss and revive slipping fluency, focusing on consistent passive exposure. Learn how to maintain your language skills even when life gets busy and practice time is limited.

Key takeaways

  • Language attrition, characterized by vocabulary recall struggles and speaking hesitation, begins when a language isn't actively used.
  • Fluency can start to slip in just a few months without practice, with the rate of loss depending on your previous proficiency.
  • Prevent language loss by creating consistent passive exposure through media consumption, following social media accounts, and reading in your target language.

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  • All 5 editions (2022–2026)
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