Mountainous landscape - build some margin into your life and breathe in the fresh air. Image from freeimages.com

Building in Margin as Language Learners : Restful Gains for Real-World Brains

Do you have enough margin in your life?

Margin is that bit of extra time you choose not to fill. It is the calendar slack, the breathing space, the room to manoeuvre – the opposite of ‘too busy’. It became a popular topic in the self-help and pop psychology world around half a decade ago. And it is as important as ever.

In fact, for the polyglot community, this band of extreme language learners, it pays to be aware of its importance. For all students, margin can make the difference between resilience and burnout. However, it can feel against the grain. If you love your subject, spending every spare hour of the day on it might not seem excessive.

But brains tire, too.

Funnily enough, that is something my very wise grandmother warned me about many times as a book-obsessed kid. Don’t study too hard! It seemed so counter-intuitive back then. For one thing, the rest of the world was screaming work your socks off, smash those grades! You snooze, you lose! Great, if you have the passion and the energy to keep that pace up.

As kids, though, we lack that regulator switch to tell us when to step back and recharge. We need it less frequently at that age, to be honest; youngsters have seemingly boundless energy and live lives constantly switched on. Nowadays, with a bit more wisdom (and a slightly older corporeal vehicle), I know exactly what Nan meant.

A finite resource

The hard lesson to learn is that brainpower is a finite resource, the brain an engine. And no engine is capable of perpetual motion. Like the body, the brain burns energy to do its work. And like the body, it needs rest and recovery. We can rest when we sleep! I hear you say. True, but building in some idle waking time gives you chance to enjoy it while you are conscious, too.

And so we have the gift of margin.

Sometimes, building it in simply requires a little mindful calendar management. When I first started using tutorial platforms like iTalki, for example, I gorged on lessons out of the sheer excitement of having easy access to native tutors. I would regularly book two – or even three – lessons on one day. They would often be in completely different languages, too. At just 30-60 minutes, I guessed they were pretty small chunks of the day, in any case. There was plenty of time between them.

The issue was that a lesson is never simply 30-60 minutes. There is the build-up, where you are mentally preparing yourself for the face-to-face challenge of speaking in the target language. Sometimes this is barely noticeable. But your brain is working on it, silently, in the background.

Then there is the post-lesson cool down. Aside from the obvious admin, like noting down new words and structures, a lot of processing is going on. Some of this will be purely about content – what you said, what the teacher said. But some of the involuntary replay is more about judging your performance in a social context. Did it go well? Is the teacher pleased with me? Am I even any good? Squashing impostor syndrome gremlins is a universal human task, and it takes a lot of mental energy.

Factor all that in, and two or three lessons are enough to occupy the brain all day long.

Rules for Margin

Now, realism is not a fun-toting party guest at the best of times. Any community of super-learners likes to think in Übermensch terms of anything is possible. And it is, within the limits of our own humanity. Our own amazing, unique humanity, but a humanity nonetheless limited by the regulation physical hardware.

To work with that, I find it helpful to set a few rules.

The first, you can guess: just one language lesson a day. It is easy to stick to that, and quite honestly, makes more sense if you plan your week by blocking your learning time. By extension, I also try to avoid three or more consecutive days with one-to-one lessons.

Similarly, it is helpful to respect the concept of a weekend, even if you follow a different weekly rhythm. Build in a couple of free, study-free days every week, whether they are Saturday and Sunday, or some other combination. Now, where I used to see an empty days as a chance to squeeze in another lesson, I try to savour them as commitment-free breathers. This takes away the feeling of relentlessness that can build up without thinking gaps.

Magical Realism

But here is the magic about margin: leaving time free is not the same as doing nothing with it. Not being committed is not the same as not using the time at all. And what you do in your breathing space might well be language learning itself! The only stipulation about margin is that it is free for whatever you might need it for – contingency time, in other words. If you get to it and have no other plans, maybe you will even feel like a bit of extra language learning. Or a walk in the park. Or a coffee with friends. It’s up to you.

Doing something because you feel like it can be a lot more replenishing and recreational than doing it because it is in your study calendar. In this way, margin becomes a great way to rediscover the joy of random study. Leaf through a book, watch a TV programme in your target language, read a novel. Just enjoy it as a recreational activity, rather than an obligation.

I have a ready list of time-fillers when I feel like a bit of easy language. Of late, I love watching random episodes of the BBC Gaelic programme Speaking Our Language. I’m learning bits and pieces as I watch, of course – but I also simply enjoy seeing different parts of Scotland I’ve not visited yet (as well as reliving early 90’s fashions). In the same vein, I often listen to the odd episode of Greek by Radio (hosted by Kypros.org) in my downtime. The Greek lessons are useful, of course, but those vintage productions have me revelling in those more innocent days of broadcasting. And, of course, there is Eurovision.

Whatever you find yourself pottering about with, make sure that it feels less like work, and more like fun. The most important thing is to exercise that self-care, and make some space for it in your routine.

Margin is a gift to your future self. Build it into your schedule to keep your brain in prime, language-learning condition!

Sunbeams in a forest - pace yourself and go for a walk!

Pace and pause

We’re human beings, not machines. And sometimes, it’s importance to acknowledge that fact by respecting your learning pace, and building in opportunities to pause.

I’ve written before on the topic of learner burnout, and it’s definitely a topic that bears repeating. It’s also easy to forget about if you’re in the thick of something you love.

I’m as guilty of it as anyone else. After a packed February, thanks to the iTalki language challenge, I was buzzing. It was an amazing learning experience; my head was spinning with the mental stimulation. But packing in regular lessons for 5+ languages, as well as work, family and friends, takes energy. I was drained.

Still, I kept going on, and after an equally hectic March and April, the crunch came in May. My head just needed a little bit of rest.

Recognise it

The vital course of action under these circumstances is to recognise it. It can be hard to admit that something you love is tiring you out. Know that this doesn’t diminish your passion for it in any way. We only have a finite amount of energy, and all things – fun and mundane – can tap into that. And it happens to everyone!

Don’t feel guilty

Secondly, there is no shame in it. We all tend to place a burden of expectation on our own shoulders. If you’re driven by achievement in a field that you love, you can sometimes expect a little too much from yourself. Then, when your body and brain start to complain, it’s hard to admit that you need to turn it down a notch. Learner guilt steps in.

However, taking breaks is essential for keeping a steady pace. We are simply designed that way! It’s all a question of mental self-awareness and self-care, and there is a ton of advice online about that. For starters, here are some excellent reasons to shun the guilt when building in time off. Athletes pace themselves; learners must too.

Schedule it

Moreover, a short break doesn’t need to be an unstructured, indeterminate halt to learning. Being proactive about building in pace and pause means planning it constructively. Done constructively, a learning break is less about downing tools, and more about taking a short breather.

Define your break period clearly; give yourself a week or two in the calendar, deciding a clear return / resume date. That way, you can also keep teachers, learning partners and language buddies up-to-date on when to expect you back.

Planning a period of pause can also help you administer apps and services you use to learn. At this link, for example, learners discuss how to pause (or ‘suspend’) Anki flashcard decks during a period of downtime. Personally, I’ve also found it useful to move ‘sleeping’ languages into a separate Anki deck I’ve named “Archived“, with a daily card limit of zero. Whatever learning platforms you use, explore settings and features that can help you organise your rest space.

Try something new

Sometimes, a change is as good as a rest. While you’re resting your language brain, why not try something totally different? As long as it’s not too mentally taxing, going off on a tangent could leave you feeling refreshed. I’ve been following this Udemy course on creating digital art as a distraction lately, and it’s been a great diversion.

It can sometimes seem like one lifetime isn’t enough to cram in all the learning we want to do. But one lifetime is all we have. And making the most of it means respecting pace, and building in pause. Keep that in mind, and you’ll be a better language learner for it!