It really is perfect, but there’s a catch.

For a perfect study routine, 3 factors have to be considered:

1. How much free time you have;
2. Your current level of knowledge;
3. Procrastination.

Here, I’m talking about a more general study routine.

But what about one that’s focused on achieving fluency in a language?

For that, two elements will determine its effectiveness:

Comprehensible input (CI) and incomprehensible input (II).

In other words: content you understand, and content you don’t.

Let me explain.

CI is content in the other language that you can understand the message of.

II is content in the other language that you pretty much don’t understand at all.

It’s the investment in both that will lead you to fluency.

Now, let’s see how to actually do it.

First, let’s clarify something about factor number 1.

When I talk about your free time, I mean real free time.

The kind of time where you can literally choose to do whatever you want.

It is ESSENTIAL that you map out all the moments in your day-to-day life where you have free time.

Once you’ve done that, we’ll identify the content to use in your study, focusing on 3 key characteristics.

These 3 will ensure your progress in any language during focused study.

They are:

1. Visual stimulus (seeing people/animations acting out a scenario);
2. Auditory stimulus (being able to clearly hear what is being said);
3. Comparative stimulus (being able to compare everything with your language).

After over a decade studying polyglots, neuroscience, and languages, I can say that the best type of content with all three is…

Subtitled videos on YouTube.

Most of them will feature people speaking to the camera, which will allow you to get used to their mouth movements faster (1st characteristic).

They’ll almost always have clearer audio than a movie or series due to the simpler sound mixing (2nd characteristic).

And, when watching YouTube using Google Chrome on your computer, you can use the Language Reactor extension, which adds two subtitles to the video (3rd characteristic).

Just find a video in the target language with subtitles, go to the Language Reactor settings, and set the second subtitle to your own language.

“Great John, so any video will do, right?”

No.

Remember the second factor we need to consider to build the perfect language study routine:

Your current level of knowledge.

There’s no point in trying to watch clips of a movie you like on YouTube with subtitles if the dialogue is too complex for you.

In fact, it’s more likely that this will demotivate you and/or lead you to keep believing that learning another language is way too hard.

So, I divide it into 3 different levels:

For beginners → Children’s videos or simple stories;

For basic level learners → Videos of native teachers speaking in the language;

And for intermediate/advanced learners → Videos on topics of personal interest or professional need.

Remember, always using Google Chrome on a computer with the Language Reactor extension.

In these focused study moments, keep a notebook where you can jot down the most useful phrases and words for you right now.

Doing this consistently will strengthen your long-term memory and help you avoid “mental blanks” in the language.

And before we talk about what to do during other times of the day, please remember what I always say:

Fluency is a HABIT!

If you write all of this down, even test it out for a few days, but don’t keep at it, you won’t see ANY difference.

So, remember, your goal is not just “to watch a video,” but to become the person who lives the language every day.

Now, what about those other times of the day?

The times when you can’t sit down and study calmly.

In those cases, it’s ideal to pair what you’re doing at the moment with something in the target language.

Here are a few examples:

Washing the dishes? Let a video play in the language on the background.

Stuck in traffic? Listen to a song in the language and follow along the lyrics + translation.

Taking a shower? Listen to a radio station in the language using the Radio Garden app.

Resting on the couch/in bed? Check some memes in the language.

Literally any form of exposure is useful, and there’s a reason for it.

Remember what I said at the beginning about CI and II?

I stated that investing in both will lead you to fluency.

But here’s a problem.

It makes sense to watch content balanced with your current level.

However, it doesn’t seem to make much sense to watch content you can barely understand.

Well, I used to think that way too, until I noticed something interesting.

Have you ever considered that we can only say our first words in our native language because of sounds we didn’t even understand?

We heard tons of words during that period, but “daddy” and “mommy” took the cake.

They were said at least thousands of times.

And not only that, we heard them while seeing our parents’ faces.

The smiles, the repetition, the body movements.

All of this gave us context to associate the sounds’ meanings and conclude that we should say “daddy” and “mommy.”

Do you know what this means?

It means that the brain and ears are naturally programmed to quickly associate things they hear often.

That’s why II (Incomprehensible Input) is so important!

It familiarizes you with the rhythm, sounds, and structure of the language, and it also helps you get used to how the language is used in the real world, even without understanding everything.

So, to sum it all up:

While CI builds your knowledge step by step, II exposes you to a broader range of the language, helping with long-term listening comprehension and fluency development.

THAT’S why we need both!

I mean, if we needed this even in our native language, imagine in another one!

But… there’s a problem here.

Many people find this out and get thrilled.

“That’s awesome! So all I can just do whatever in the language, right?”

No, it’s not just ‘do whatever in the language’, it’s about fitting it into your daily life the right way.

This is why many fall into the 3rd factor I mentioned at the beginning:

Procrastination.

And it usually happens for two reasons:

1. We don’t know exactly what to do.
2. We do know what to do, but we think it’s too hard, so we don’t even start.

If you experience the other language in a balanced way that matches your level and interests, you won’t procrastinate.

From now on, you’ll know what to do.

And by balancing both CI and II the right way, you’ll see that it’s not hard at all.

I know that organizing your own study is one of the biggest challenges people face, so I did something beyond this newsletter.

I made a livestream on YouTube with practical examples on how to get organized.

In it, I used the MRE, which is a Study Routine Map, a template we offer students to help with their organization.

I recommend watching that livestream as well, and if you need extra help with your study routine, get the MRE using the link below.

Apply everything you’ve learned here and what you’ll see in the livestream.

I guarantee you’ll study better.

Now, go put it into practice.

Good luck, my friend.

References:

Livestream about how to organize your study routine → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhgvV6TL6q0

MRE link → https://beyondwithjohn.com/vendas-mre/