5: Use The Daily Learning Cycle
The Daily Learning Cycle is a daily strategy for learning a foreign language originally developed by Peace Corps volunteers serving in the South Pacific. It is a flexible process that can be used anywhere, regardless of whether there are any dictionaries or language textbooks available. It focuses on developing conversational fluency in small daily steps.
The Daily Learning Cycle consists of five steps.
1. Choose a topic
Pick something that will be immediately useful to you, such as negotiating for the best price at the market, buying a new shirt, paying your electric bill, or asking for directions.
One useful technique is to brainstorm a list of 100 different topics in as short a time as possible. For this brainstorming technique to work, it is important to do it as fast as possible and to complete the full list of 100 topics.
The speed forces you to stop self-editing. The quantity forces you to get creative as you quickly exhaust the easy and obvious topics. You can then use this list as a plan or inspiration for future practice sessions.
2. Develop a short dialogue
Using a mentor or other native speaker, develop a short 3-4 line dialogue on your chosen topic. Explain to your helper that you want to learn common everyday language as it is really spoken, not formal academic language.
3. Practice with your mentor
Practice the dialogue over and over again with your mentor until you can deliver it like a trained stage actor. Pay careful attention to your mentor’s pronunciation and speaking rhythm. Try to duplicate him/her exactly.
4. Practice with the community
When you are ready, the next step is to take the show on the road. Walk around your community and practice saying your dialogue to as many people as possible. Try to speak with 10-20 different people. Don’t worry about making mistakes or making a fool of yourself. This is part of the process.
The community will begin to expect and look forward to your regular visits as you make your practice rounds about the town. You will get a lot of practice, and they will get a lot of funny stories to tell their families over dinner. The pressure of these “real life” practice sessions will really help accelerate your learning and make it stick.
While you are walking around practicing, avoid the main roads as much as possible. Take the smaller, less congested paths. You’ll notice a big difference in how you are received by people. The people on the main roads are generally there to sell you something or get something from you. But the people on the side roads in the smaller, quieter neighborhoods will not be so used to foreigners. They will be excited and charmed by your presence. They will also be much more welcoming and eager to talk to you.
As always, pay attention to your safety. It is not uncommon to receive random invitations into people’s houses. Be careful about where you go and who you are seen with. If you are invited in for coffee, you might take them up on their offer, but you might consider sitting with them out in their courtyard and staying visible.
5. Evaluation
Finally, at the end of your practice, evaluate how the session went. You can do this mentally or in a journal. Think about what went well and what you need more practice on. Think about who you’d like to speak with again and who you’d like to avoid. Also, think about what you wanted to be able to say but couldn’t. Use this information to plan future practice sessions.
