Bettering your language skills is a great way to land a promotion, get your dream job, or simply better interact with locals while traveling. Arabic is a great language to learn and is in high demand in business. Learning Arabic through online courses offers great pricing structures and flexibility of working around busy schedules.
When you’re eager to start your language learning class and want to schedule ample time to learn, it can be difficult to achieve when life gets in the way.
How do you manage your time so you can successfully complete your class?
Make a Plan
If you find you’re suddenly falling behind or think that you’ll get around to your online course when you have time, you’re destined to fail. Creating a schedule and allotting a block of time each day for your online language course, will make you more likely to “get around to it.” As people are creatures of habit, it is best to allot your school time at the same time each day to create a consistent habit. Making your online language course a part of your daily routine will train your mind into having a need to do it, even when you don’t feel like it.
Look Ahead
If your online Arabic language course has a syllabus, look at it and get an idea of where the class will go and what the overall objectives of the course are. You can also use the syllabus to plan out important dates such as assignment deadlines, meetings with your professor, project deadlines and exam dates.
Look at the Big Picture
When you’re not feeling motivated and you put your online language course low on your priority list, remind yourself why you chose to take the class in the first place. Was is for professional development, for personal enjoyment or being comfortable speaking with locals when traveling abroad? Remembering the skills you’ll learn in the class and how they will help you achieve your language learning goals will give you that desire and motivation to make time to work on your course and the closer you’ll get in achieving your goal.
Limit Distractions
One of the hardest things about an online language program is that you can work on your class anytime, anywhere, including the comfortable confines of your home. By not being in a physical classroom, there is a greater temptation to get distracted by other things.
To limit distractions, it helps to set a specific time each day to only your studies. During this time, turn off the TV and music and step away from your phone. Working in a designated area, such as a home office can also help one focus.
If you have younger children, try to do your courses at night after they go to bed. For older kids, tell them you need to study and that you need few interruptions and quiet. You can ask them to entertain themselves for a little bit while you’re working on your online language course.
Ask for Help and Accountability
There are parts to every language that can be difficult for students to learn. Instead of getting frustrated or scared of falling behind, ask other students and the professor for help. Most online language courses, including Arab Academy have an online communication system set up so you can chat, leave a question on the course forum or have a video call with students around the world instantly. Likewise, students can ask the professor questions through chat, email, and video call.
Instead of getting discouraged and quitting or making it a low priority, reach out with questions.
These online tools also make it great for accountability. If you think you’ll struggle in making the class a priority, ask a fellow student to regularly check in on you and your progress in the course.
If you prefer, you can also ask a family member or friend to hold you accountable during the course of you online language learning class.
When you know someone will be asking you about your course, you’ll be more likely to invest more time, energy and effort into completing your course.
Arab Academy is a world recognized online Arabic language learning program that teaches students of all ages and experience level reading, vocabulary, writing and speaking common forms of Arabic. All our courses are led by native Arabic-speaking professors. Arabic Academy also offers students the opportunity to put their Arabic language skills into practice with a cultural immersion trip in Cairo, Egypt. We’re happy to answer any questions you may have. Don’t miss out on the benefits of learning Arabic any longer. Contact us to learn more about our program and to enroll.
