京都で英会話を習うなら!四条烏丸より徒歩5分 イングリッシュバフェ

2025-01-15 Increasing Output: Diary

Hi! It's been a while!

I believe most students who have taken my class already know this, but I've been studying Chinese for a bit over 3 years. Since I'm not going to any school currently, one thing I always struggled with was not having enough opportunity to actually use the language. This resulted in the frustrating experience of being able to recognize most commonly used vocab/grammar structures, but often forgetting or struggling to remember them when I attempted to use them.

This happens because if we don't need to use a certain piece of information often, our brain doesn't bother remembering it - this is why output is so important.

Just yesterday someone asked me in class what tips I have for those learning a language. I replied "allow yourself to constantly forget and remember". Every time you remember some information that hadn't quite fixed itself in your memory yet, you're telling your brain "Hey, this is important stuff! Stop forgetting it! I'll need this soon again!"

Considering that, a few months I decided to write a diary entry in Chinese every single day - and it's been of great help! All of those basics words and structures that I kept forgetting are now words that I use every day; every time I had forgotten and tried to remember them, it took me less time to remember, and thus I was able to gradually form sentences more effortlessly.

Another reason why I believe writing a diary is a great method for learning is because it helps you with exposure. "Exposure" in language learning means being in environments where that language is being used, such as watching TV or reading a book in that language. This may sound counter-intuitive; after all, writing a diary is output, not input. But consider this: if I need to talk about something I don't know the word for or the correct expression to use, what am I going to do? Look it up, of course! This means every single day I am using online tools such as ChatGPT, Google Translate, HiNative and online dictionaries to get informed and immediately apply that knowledge. 

After having ChatGPT check for grammar mistakes, I record myself reading out loud what I just wrote, so I can also practice pronunciation and become able to read faster. And guess what? It's working! When I hear recordings from months ago, I can clearly see an improvement in the flow.

Being in contact with your target language as often as possible is key to learning. I've found that giving yourself a daily ritual that has you actually interacting with the language and forcing your brain to work is incredibly effective. 

Why don't you try starting a diary in English as well? 🙂