This learning style is all about being comfortable when learning a new language. The best motivation is knowing that you’re in control of when you learn, and there’s no guilt in saying “maybe another day” when you just don’t feel like doing a study session.
To learn more about how this relates to your unique learning style, keep reading!
Quick Facts:
1.) You can be pretty flexible when it comes to how you wanna learn, but you have to be in the right mood to start your study sessions.
2.) You can find the most pleasure in having options and going at your own pace (not being pushed to follow a specific schedule).
3.) You might feel like learning a language is truly a part of your life journey and it can help you understand yourself better.
Overview:
Generally, this learning style relies on having a language learning mindset, or having the motivation to study before starting a language session. In other words, it’s all about the vibes, and there’s truth to this: some of your strongest connections to language are related to your experiences and emotions. A good relationship with a new language requires being in a good mood when you want to use it.
Maybe you’re not interested in activities that cause you to feel pressure. Activities that don’t have a time limit and are a mix of input (listening and reading) and output (creative writing and speaking) work could maximize how much you learn during your study sessions when you’re finally in the mood to work.
Especially when it takes a lot of effort to find a studying mood, you might not want to do things that could get repetitive and boring. However you choose to study, using real materials, like songs, vlogs, recipes, spoken reviews of your favorite things with captions, or social media captions, could help you find interesting ways to incorporate language learning into your daily life.
Activity Suggestions:
Try to include some of these activities in your study plan:
1.) Find apps and/or resources that connect your preferred methods of studying.
2.) Find and study natural sentences from short and interesting videos. Practice their pronunciation and write down sentences that you think are useful for you.
3.) Check your progress with native speakers or language tutors.
4.) Listen to podcasts.
5.) Post questions or interact with forum-based language resources
6.) Follow instructional videos in your language. For example, follow a video on cooking, workouts, dancing, or DIY projects.
7.) Practice tongue twisters. This could be a great warm up for your sessions!
8.) Find some jokes or common expressions. This is just to add personality to your language skills.
9.) Read a comic book or picture book. This is good for providing context for new words and concepts.
10.) Write shopping lists and to-do lists in both English and your target language.
11.) Do rough song lyric translations. You can compare your rough translations with edited translations when you finish and take notes on colloquial phrases or notes you pick up along the way. Bonus: Practice the song!
12.) Read blogs or watch vlogs for finding more natural sentences to study.
13.) Write short journal entries.
14.) Organize the vocab and grammar that you learned on paper.
15.) Create a script with the phrases and vocabulary you learned.
Pro tip: Pair this with your results from our other quizzes to help set more specific goals, such as how often a week/month you should do study sessions!
Concerns:
The hardest thing about this learning style is that it really depends on you being comfortable before starting your study session. This is fair, life happens sometimes. But be mindful that although it’s good to go with the flow, effective language learning does require some level of consistency. Even if you’re only leisurely learning, it would be best to figure out how often you’re willing to study per week and be accountable for yourself.
Recommended minimum: Incorporate a structured study session biweekly or hold yourself accountable for a certain amount of study sessions per month.
More about Suggestopedia and the Natural Approach:
Suggestopedia is all about making learners feel comfortable and confident when they practice a new language. The worksheets are designed for ease of use, the teaching pedagogy is about being calm and giving passive support, and speaking is encouraged but not required with limited corrections. Music tends to be incorporated into the classroom lessons to maintain a calm atmosphere. The goal is to associate the target language with pleasure and comfort.
The natural approach focuses on learning a new language the same way a child would learn their mother tongue: lots of language input and trial and error. This approach doesn’t focus on correcting mistakes upfront. Rather, making mistakes and self-correcting are encouraged. Speaking isn’t a forced activity, but it’s always welcome. It’s all about using learners’ interests to create a safe space for language practice.
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And that's it!! Check out our other blog posts to learn even more about the other learning styles!!
Psssssst!!!
Need more? Check out our resources for PDFs, resource instructions, and a sneak peak of the content in our Spade Language Playing Cards!
Ok, now it's really done! Happy learning!
Study like a diamond ♢ Practice like a club ♣ Vibe like a heart ♡ Speak like a spade ♠
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