Hi, hola, merhaba, labas, привет, and hej. It’s your favourite language blog with the (probably) final post of the year. And what a year it was! This is the first year in my life when I can safely tell you that I… brushed my teeth twice a day every single day (there’s going to be a connection to language learning, don’t you worry).
Now, before telling me how gross it is not to brush your teeth, stop. I completely agree. And it is not like I would go for weeks before setting up a hot date for my molars a toothbrush/floss/mouthwash. But there was always that one day of the week when I’d just fall asleep on the couch and zombie-walk to bed after some prodding from my partner. And there were other days when I’d rush to work with bad breath I’d try to tame with a double dose of gum.
And then one day (which wasn’t the beginning of the year, but that only shows that you don’t need to start on January 1st) I asked myself: “What if I were just to make it a sacred duty to myself to brush my teeth twice a day, every day, in perpetuity?” After uttering this mouthful of an incantation, dear reader, I never missed a day. If I had a mega-expensive productivity course, I’d probably plug it right here.
The internet is oversaturated with productivity schlock. And most of the advice out there—from “clean your room” to “wake up early to get more done”—is banal, obvious and frankly uninspiring. So I don’t want you to think that there’s any dubious new philosophy you need to bring to make your language learning process more worthwhile. But if you were to introduce one concept, I do suggest “No Zero Days”.
I read about No Zero Days somewhere online. The apocryphal story tells us that Jerry Seinfeld’s sole advice to up-and-coming comedians is to write jokes every day. According to the legend, Jerry has a calendar on the wall where he marks every day he writes jokes with a red X. The goal is to never break the chain. Pretty simple, huh?
I put it to the test with another outlet of mine — fiction writing. For the past few weeks I’ve been writing at least 250 words. I made it my sacred duty, and it stuck. In the future, I want to up the threshold to 500, and then to 750 words. [Shoutout to my accountability buddy
whom I send the number of words I wrote every day.]Why the threshold though? Well, you have to have some definition of what you count as “work”. Especially with language learning. Thirty minutes of comprehensible input? Forty new words? A chapter in a book? It’s up to you to decide, but for it to count, it has to be at least a teeny bit challenging. Otherwise, it’s too easy to start cheating. And, well, there’s nothing that makes less sense than cheating on your own goals.
If you had to No Zero Days your language learning, what would count as a Non-Zero Day? Share with me and the rest of Babel Babble readers!
And we’ll see each other next year. Have a great one.
P.S. If you want to read my fiction, you’ll find it here — https://www.theobservational.net/tag/fiction/
No zero day is a good rule. In my experience, there has to be a limit in time and effort for this to work. I wrote 1000 words every single day for about 4 months before falling behind, and now I only have "write something everyday" without a word constraint. Much easier! It's also harder if you try to cumulate too many things: languages, sport, meditation, cooking, writing... It can get overwhelming!
I think actively reviewing custom sentences is a great starting point, which is why the only streak I keep is my custom anki deck! 😊
I used to have an over 400-day streak with Anki and one day I missed it and lost motivation to do it consistently again for over half a year. While I like the idea of "no zero days," maybe more high-strung individuals like me can do minor adjustments when counting a streak. For instance, instead of aiming for a perfect streak, focus on maintaining consistent progress over the long term — even if it's just FIVE minutes of study a day.
Recognizing that progress is not always linear, and there will be ups and downs along the way, is also crucial with long-term studying. Set realistic expectations! Everyone's journey is unique, and what works for one person may not work for another. 💛