The middle stretch of learning a language feels endless for most people. Feeling stuck there is normal, not a sign to quit.

CREATIVITY

WHAT THIS MEANS

Beginning is fast because everything you learn is immediately useful. The middle is slow because the gains are smaller and spread thinner, so you are improving at a rate you cannot feel from one week to the next. Almost everybody who has learned a language has spent a long time in that stretch, convinced they had stopped moving.

Change the measurement rather than the plan. Keep something you wrote or recorded six months ago and compare it with today. Then carry on with the dull daily amount, because the middle is crossed rather than solved.

A QUESTION TO SIT WITH

How long have you felt stuck in the middle of learning something?

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