1.Set clear goals.
Once you’ve plateaued, not knowing what to do next can be a big part of the problem. If you don’t know what to do next, your studying will be less focused, so your learning will slow down.
Clear goals will alleviate this by providing you with the focus you need to surge ahead. It’s important to base these goals on your current language level and make them realistic. Setting a specific timeline for your goal is also a good way to keep yourself on the right track.
2.Use authentic material.
Most students will have focused on resources for learners up until they plateau. While this is a helpful way to understand the underlying structure and rules of a language, you’ll need to start consuming more authentic material to make your push towards fluency.
Multibhashi: one of the most Globally famous language learning apps If you’re interested in learning Chinese and a bit about Chinese culture too, Multibhashi is the perfect place to start!
3.Try new methods.
Since your language learning has slowed down, now is the perfect opportunity to change up whatever you’ve been doing. It’s possible that you’re just stuck in a rut with that method. Trying something new could reinvigorate your language education.
Trying creative language learning methods is a fun way to approach this new phase in your learning process. But regardless of what approach you take, the main goal is to do something different.
4.Focus on problem areas.
At the plateau level, bad habits or mistakes start to become more ingrained, so it’s time to correct them.
Taking proficiency tests and assessing your own skills will help you determine what areas you need to work on. Dialang is a particularly useful free online proficiency test because you can test multiple skills individually to see what skills are your weakest.
5.Learn more vocabulary.
Limited vocabulary is one of the main hurdles that keeps intermediate learners stuck in the plateau phase.
Fluency in a language requires words—a lot of words. While an intermediate learner usually knows the most common words, the depth and breadth of their vocabulary is usually lacking.
To push away from the plateau, learning vocabulary is essential.
6.Interact with native speakers.
Most language students focus on a generic form of their target language early in their educations. Once you’ve plateaued, the next logical step is to learn to speak more like a native. Interacting with native speakers is terrific for speaking practice, listening practice, vocabulary building and pronunciation improvement.
This is ideal because there’s a strong chance that your partner has also encountered a language learning plateau that they’re trying to escape from.
7.Build confidence with other learners.
We’ve mentioned confidence a few times before, but it really is that important.
Working on your skills in general will help improve your confidence, but the best way to improve your confidence is to use your target language and use it often.
If you don’t speak, listen to, read and write in your target language often, you won’t have the time to build the confidence you need to continue forward towards fluency. When you’re learning, native-level skills seem impossible. This is why it’s important to use your skills in a supportive context. Get together with or make friends who are at a similar stage in their learning progress. If you’re not sure how to do this, check out some language learning communities.
8.Nip discouragement in the bud.
Once your learning slows down, it can be easy to become discouraged. You may even stop trying to improve your language skills. But don’t let discouragement weigh you down! Learning a language is like a marathon. When you start, it’s easy to move quickly. However, the farther you go, the more your pace is likely to slow. When things seem impossible, it’s important to remember that you’ve come a long way.
