How often have you thought about learning a new language only to get discouraged by the time commitment? After all, it takes hours out of your day. Or does it? The truth is that it doesn’t have to! What if we told you it’s possible to become a confident communicator in just an hour a day? Stick around as we discuss how to hit a 60-minute daily goal and how a Language Sprint can help get you started!

What’s a Language Sprint?

Learning for an hour a day is an effective, manageable way to improve your language skills. The problem is, it can be easy to slip behind. A day here, two days there – before you know it, you’re completely off track. 

To help you reach your daily goal, Lingoda created the Language Sprint. It’s an intensive program designed to have you speaking confidently in just three months by devoting one hour a day to learning. It’s offered in CEFR levels (from beginner to advanced).

Here’s a quick look at the two versions:  

How it works

You have three months to complete a Language Sprint fully, making sure to follow all the rules. In the case of the Super Sprint, that means participating in a class for an hour every single day for three months. Missing classes, coming late or leaving early won’t get you to the finish line.

If you give 100% of your effort and finish successfully, there’s a cashback prize or you can get class credits of an even higher value! As you can see in the chart above, the bigger the challenge, the greater the reward.

Easy ways to hit your daily goal

It’s clear that Language Sprints are structured to make sure you stick to a pretty rigorous schedule (if you want to be a winner). You need to be diligent, focused and disciplined. Doing a Sprint is an excellent way to get on track when you’re ready to get serious about learning a language.

What about after your Sprint, though? How can you continue hitting your daily goal once the pressure’s off?

Let’s chat about three useful tricks you can carry forward as you progress in your studies!

1. Plan, plan, plan

A Language Sprint requires you to complete a certain number of classes if you want to cross the finish line and get your reward. This means you have to plan ahead to make sure you’re registered for the classes you want – at least a week in advance. As you go through your Sprint, you’re going to become a master planner because you won’t want to leave anything to chance.

To keep hitting your hour-a-day goal after your Sprint, make sure you continue to schedule all of your daily lessons and study sessions to avoid missing days and falling behind.

2. Keep up the habit 

It takes around 66 days to create a habit. Throughout your three-month Language Sprint, you’ll be building a daily habit without even thinking about it! Once that happens, learning for an hour a day will feel like a natural part of your routine.

Just be careful not to break your habit once you’ve finished your Sprint. While it’s great (and important) to rest and recharge, make sure you don’t pause for too long. Use that momentum and keep moving!

3. Break it up

How many people would sign up for a Language Sprint if it were an hour a day for a year? Probably not very many. A Sprint’s three-month time limit keeps you motivated and energised because the intensive schedule is only for a short time: you can see the finish line!

To keep meeting your daily goal beyond your Sprint, you need to do something similar. Trying to learn for an hour a day forever will only make you burn out and give up. 

Divide your workload into smaller, manageable chunks (30 days followed by a short break, for example). Knowing there’s an end in sight will encourage you to power through and keep working at it every day. You could even give yourself a small prize at the end of every completed session.

One hour at a time

Don’t quit before you even try! Chances are, you have enough time in your day to learn a language. Sign up for a Sprint to get the jumpstart you need, and just keep taking it an hour at a time.

Andrea Byaruhanga

Andrea is a Canadian freelance writer and editor specializing in English, e-learning, EdTech, and SaaS. She has a background as an ESL teacher in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia. In her free time, Andrea loves hanging out with her husband and children, creating recipes in the kitchen, and reading fiction. She also loves camping and jumping into lakes whenever possible. Learn more about Andrea on LinkedIn or check out her website.

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