I love learning new languages. There’s just something about working on a new way to communicate and explore the human condition. I also strive to make my life more efficient so I can do more of what I love. I’ve bought multiple copies of a book to avoid not having access to it on the go, but that’s not even close to as far as I’ll go. Some things work out, others don’t.
We spend almost a third of our lives asleep, but science is a bit on the fence about learning in your sleep. Whether it works or not, there’s something about the way learn in your sleep materials are made. Something can be wrong for the right reasons just as easily as something is right for the wrong ones.
I’ve found myself working in more “learn in your sleep” materials, but not when I sleep. The content is easy to access, it fits in wasted time, and it tends to be more applicable than traditional media at lower levels. The structure and repetition makes it more accessible as a more passive learning medium. Let’s see what the materials tend to do well and how they can be applied.
Easy Materials
Most learn in your sleep courses are simple. The language is self-contained and accessible. These are the glorified phrasebook courses and similar. You get access to the language, but you don’t learn each and every case or declension or even how to write. The last one is obvious, but it’s still a factor in their usefulness. These audio courses focus on communication, so they sacrifice accuracy for efficiency (e.g. using simpler ways of saying things that native speakers wouldn’t).
The magic of most of these learning methods is that the language is accessible no matter where you are in the course. If you skip a section, you miss out on material, but not any real context for the next section. Each conversational element is contained within a single translation or a tiny sliver of explanatory content.
Once you get to the point you can listen for words in a language, these materials get even better. You’re in a spot where everything helps you learn and progress. The content gets diminishing returns (or even nothing) once you hit a certain level of language learning. The materials are intentionally made easy which means at a certain point they go from enhancement to rote exercises.
Wasted Time
This low barrier to access can work to your advantage in some situations. Do you ever have parts of your day when you work or are otherwise engaged where you have something mindless to do? Sometimes a task makes more sense to have someone manually bumble through rather than automating it.
These sorts of resources fit in great with idle time or less focused tasks. Since the materials are easy, you don’t necessarily lose out on much context. A lot of the “learn in your sleep” language courses (free and paid) I’ve seen repeat multiple times too. If you miss it the first time, it will cycle back multiple times over the length of the video.
You get “an ear for the language” and learn a few words or phrases at the lowest levels. This turns into learning new words and phrasing for slightly more advanced or experienced beginning level students. Intermediate and above students tend to just get a bit of passive language input to reinforce what they already know. This is typically a waste at higher levels though since you can do similar with the news or a sitcom.
Listening to learn in your sleep courses provides linguistic input in bite-size pieces while you do other things. If I miss something because I need to focus or something comes up, I can just keep going. It doesn’t impact my job or my learning. The same can’t always be said for a show or news story.
Advantages Over Traditional Media
Most courses are made with a specific intent. A phrasebook with a CD is going to have a totally different teaching process than a textbook. Learn in your sleep materials tend to be simple with their approach, but chaotic as well.
This unpredictability makes them a bit more accessible. They jump around constantly and introduce fixed phrases rather than building continuously. If you lose track of one part, it really doesn’t matter because within a minute you’re onto the next section. You probably aren’t getting the best resource for every occasion, but you’re getting something easy to work with. You’re getting a tool and not a toolkit.
This limitation is what makes it work so well for more passive learning and listening. It’s easily accessible for any lower language level student. It fits in where I can’t fit more specialized resources. To top it off, it sticks to one specific role. As long as you have the right expectations, these types of resources will help you.
Using “Learn In Your Sleep” Courses to Learn a Language
As long as you take these courses and systems for what they are, they can be beneficial. You’re not going to go to sleep listening to a Chinese course and wake up reciting the DaoDeJing. Depending on how you read the current research, you might just end up harming your sleep if done wrong. I don’t expect them to work as sold, but I have found value in how they’re made which has helped my language learning process.
Learn in your sleep methods are easily accessible, can fill in wasted time, and can be more useful than other media at different stages. This combination means you can mix them into your learning process earlier. They can also be used during times you can’t really commit to other study methods.
You may carry around flash cards everywhere, but that’s not really the best method in many scenarios, socially or educationally. It’s easy to don headphones at most jobs and get some passive listening in, flash cards or even a cell phone app may just not work. I use these materials in times where I know I can’t get a continuous session but want something resembling practice.
Use these materials to help you get extra language practice, but don’t use them at the expense of more relevant materials. It’s a linguistic snack rather than a meal. Sometimes you just can’t digest anything heavier, other times, you just want a little bit to munch on. If you have the right expectations and the right opportunities, these resources can be great. Use learn in your sleep for what they end up good for rather than what they say they’re good for.