How to Stop the "Forgetting Curve" from Ruining Your Language Learning Progress

You're a serious business professional.

And that means you know you need to learn at least one language.

Not only because it increases your ability to network.

It also keeps your brain sharp and expands your cognitive bandwidth (like we discussed in the previous newsletter).

The problem a lot of language learners face is called the forgetting curve.

First described by Hermann Ebbinghaus in 1885, the forgetting curve shows how your memories decay over time.

If you don't actively reinforce your memories, that is.

Today, we'll discuss a few ways to make sure you're able to reverse the curve. Tailored for language learners.

There are only two hard parts:

1. Getting started
2. Keeping consistent long enough for procedural memory to make the activities feel second nature

Step One: Establish Natural Spaced Repetition

I'm going to talk about dedicated memory techniques in a moment.

But language learning is not just about memorization.

It's about learned content in use. And in context.

Ebbinghaus quickly discovered that you need spaced repetition to beat the learning curve.

In language learning, this is simple to do. You just set up a flywheel of activity that switches between:

• Reading
• Writing
• Speaking
• Listening
• Memorizing

I know, I know...

"How do I read something I can't understand? Why should I listen to babble that makes no sense to me?"

The answer is simple:

That's how kids learn languages. Countless hours of exposure, gradually letting it all seep in.

Adults are too proud, to their deficit.

Just dive in. Even if you don't understand, you're getting tons of exposure.

As you memorize words and phrases, it'll all seep in. I don't need to make an outrageous promise either.

The levels of processing effect is well established. And most adults get stuck in shallow processing because they don't interleave each of these activities.

Step Two: Use "Magnetic" Flashcards

Many language learners fail because they use bland, boring and ineffective flashcards or spaced repetition apps.

True: some people do just fine with them. I can't understand how for the life of me, but it is possible.

But I failed over and over again trying to learn vocabulary using words on cards. Whether on paper or in an app, I needed more.

That's why I started adding Magnetic Memory Method elements to my flashcards, like this:

The key points are simple:

• Use paper cards
• Make sketches that follow active recall principles, like giving yourself puzzles to solve
• Incorporate colors
• Review cards in cycles that will maximize your retention

The specific cycles you set up need to be personalized. I find most generic suggestions useless.

For example, they will say:

• Review new cards within 24 hours
• Revisit the same cards the next day
• Wait until day five to review again
• Wait until day fifteen, etc...

Maybe that can work, but my preference is to build in the next step instead.

Step Three: Select Your Vocabulary and Phrases Very Carefully

The problem with "magic numbers" for when to review information boils down to never being enough exposure.

That's why you need to be reading, writing, speaking and listening as you memorize.

But also choosing what you memorize carefully.

There's a special list of 650 words I usually start with in a new language. They're compiled in the Magnetic Vocabulary Builder of the Magnetic Memory Method Masterclass.

It's not so much a word frequency list, as it is the vocabulary my best friends in the polyglot world shared with me for a language learning project I undertook a few years ago.

While reading, writing, speaking, listening and memorizing, I regularly added new words to my Memory Palaces based specifically on what I wanted to be able to say.

For example, when reading, I would put a dot next to three words maximum per page.

Then, I would either create a highly optimized flashcard, or pop the vocabulary in a Memory Palace.

The words and phrases don't have to be perfectly memorized thanks to the ongoing reading, writing, speaking and listening. They'll naturally reoccur.

Step Four: Use Memory Palaces for Especially Challenging Words (or Vice Versa)

Not going to walk on eggshells here.

The Memory Palace for language learning is a substantial topic.

But the idea is to:

• Keep it simple
• Memorize approximately 10 words per Memory Palace
• Use the Memory Palace for a highly optimized form of spaced repetition called "Recall Rehearsal"
• Add phrases to a select number of words to scale the amount you retain

Step Five: Use Microlearning Principles

Over the years, people have heard me speak in multiple languages and think I spend all day at it.

Hardly.

Instead, I break everything down into small doses of language exposure.

Two or three new words here. An entire phrase there.

15 minutes watching a video interview in my target language a day.

2-3, 30 minute conversations with a native speaker per week.

Daily reading in 10-15 minute stretches.

Writing emails in the language once or twice a day.

Your 90-Day Progress Plan and Beyond

Commitment is key.

And 90-days is a special number because it's tied to lifelong habit formation.

In this case, language learning is one of the finest habits indeed.

Although there's no magic formula, basically try and get close to this:

• Daily vocabulary acquisition (15-30 minutes, can be sporadic)
• Memory Palace/flashcard review (10-15 minutes, can be done in bed)
• Listening and reading (20 minutes, can be combined when videos have subtitles)
• Speaking practice (30 minutes, 2x per week, can also be practiced solo in the shower)]
• Rinse and repeat, no matter how good you get in the language

If you do this, you will build a substantial vocabulary quite quickly.

The key thing is to use a variety of memory techniques to help make the boring words interesting.

In some languages, boredom won't be a problem. I mean... the word for "faucet" in Mandarin basically translates to "water dragon head." Nothing boring about that.

But especially when it comes to numbers, days of the weeks, colors and things like that, high-powered memory techniques are fantastic for getting through the slog.

And if you make sure you rotate between reading, speaking, listening and writing with ample does of proper memorization, a lot of the language will get into your system without you even noticing.

Yes, you'll have to understand the language inch by inch. But unlike a kid, you have adult levels of maturity and discipline.

And if you don't, here's a tutorial on how to use The Freedom Journal as a language learner.

There's no shame in it. I had to use it myself for one of my language learning goals.

And thanks to the Magnetic Memory Method, I've retained far more than I ever dreamed possible from my various adventures in language learning.

Astonishing amounts, in fact. And you can too.

Now that you know how to absolutely demolish the forgetting curve.