Language Learning for Introverts, Part II

Note: If you’re a regular reader, you might be asking, “Where’s part I?” Did I miss it? Nope. It’s coming. Don’t worry.

There’s been some interest in exactly how I’ve been learning Thai. It is a tonal language, with no similar words to any of the romance languages, and a completely unique written script related really only to ancient sanskrit.

Three weeks in, I’m comfortable navigating most social situations, can listen and understand even unfamiliar phrases, and with a few patient listeners, am starting to have genuine conversations that go beyond basic facts - into the interesting stuff about life, motivations, dreams and fears.

My vocabulary’s about 320 words, and though they’re a very kind people and I take it with a grain of salt, I do get complete surprise when I tell a Thai person that I’ve only been here about 20 days. So something’s working.

Part II, this part, is how I moved from survival mode to serious language acquisition mode.

The biggest problem I had coming out of week two was that the amount of vocabulary I was picking up on a daily basis exceed the time I had to write it out, translate it, draw my awesome colored funny pictures, and then review. In the tech world, we call this a scaling problem. If I was going to be able to handle the number of new words and ideas I was hitting on a daily basis, I needed a better system.

So, thanks to the internet and swayed by recommendation of Fluent in 3 months, I dropped the $25 on Anki, a cross-platform flashcard system of amazing.

I set up my flashcards to have a front (English), back (Thai), and a mneumonic hint (my crazy memory phrases), and got to work. I spent two full days’ study sessions typing out all the vocab I knew, and then caught up from my little red books. I also put in about 20 full sentences, so I could begin having the word order feel natural.

After that was set, I had a daily habit I could handle - after the day’s interactions, I’d spend 15 minutes typing in the new words (and making up strange, punny mnemonics), and then go through a review.

So far, it’s really working - I have a way to keep all my vocab current, and Anki will take care of tracking which things I need to study so things don’t fall through the cracks.

As for that acquisition itself, being an introvert, I’ve just focused on my strengths - being really good in 1-1 conversations about the important things in life. So, I’ve learned vocabulary that lets me engage in that area, asking about the future and the past, connector words like “and then”, making sure all my questions, especially including “how”, “why”, and “because” are on lock.

There’s a really annoying story that’s told about introverts, that we’re bad at interacting with people, shy and mousey and unable to have a conversation. The annoying thing is that it isn’t true. Every single introvert I know is amazing in conversation, genuinely engaged listeners and sharers - exactly the sort of people we’d all love to talk to and be heard by.

So, if I have a piece of advice, it’s play to your strengths. Find a few people you want to develop genuine relationships with, and build those slowly, patiently, day after day. Engage about the things you’re passionate about, and the person is passionate about. Do the stuff you already do well with your friends. What you’ll walk out with is an interaction that energizes you, and makes you want to do it again the next day.

And, a corollary: keep an eye on your energy level, and don’t be afraid to stay in. Yes, it’s also a really convenient excuse to not get out there, and you’ll have to find that balance - but give yourself a genuine break when you need it, and do whatever it is that recharges you. The next time you go out, fully charged, you’ll be happy you did.

So that’s part II. Play to your strengths, keep an honest eye on your energy level, and find a system for vocabulary that takes work off your plate and lets you just worry about the words.

Part I (and III, I assume) coming soon!