Language Learning Diary Starter Kit

Language Learning Diary Starter Kit: Write Your Way to Fluency
Diaries – We’ve all kept one at some point.
Maybe yours was a record of those teenage flings, your worldwide travel or just some things
to remember in your daily life.
But did you know keeping a diary can help you learn a language?
Yes, really.
It can help you track your progress, motivate yourself, be smarter about your learning and
more.
A language learning diary can be your closest companion as you pick your way through a
foreign tongue.
Sounds great! But how exactly does it work?
What is a Language Learning Diary?
In its most basic form, a language learning diary is where you keep a record of what you’ve
learned and what you’re learning on your journey to fluency.
Here’s what a language learning diary can include:
 Regular updates. Part of the whole point of a diary is that it has entries at frequent
intervals. The word “daily” comes from the Latin for “day,” but even if you keep it
every week or after each class, the important thing is that you know when you need to
make an entry!
 Your target language. This might sound obvious, but it’s a consideration to take
seriously. If you’re an advanced learner, you’ll probably be aiming to put at least
some of your entries in the target language to help you practice and get into the habit
of organizing your thoughts in your new tongue. However, if you’re just starting out
then it might be a little different. You might decide to challenge yourself to avoid
your native language entirely, in which case it’s a good idea to have a speaker of your
target language check over it from time to time; you may also like to try some
translations or notes on what you were thinking in your native tongue. There are a lot
of approaches – try a few different things and see what works for you!
 Language points you’ve learned. Of course, you may have other exercise books or
places you’re writing down vocab and grammar, but here’s an opportunity to help
things stick in your memory. What was your favourite recent word you learned?
Which grammar point are you finding particularly difficult to get your head around?
A diary should be personal, not just lists of language or language exercises.
 How you’ve practiced. Think of this like a regular diary, where you would record the
things you’ve done or thought about during the day. Did you ask for your cappuccino
in Italian? Write it down! Learned a new Japanese song? Where did you hear it? All
these points give a diary colour, making it an excellent memory tool and a wonderful
record of your language journey.
Every language learning diary is personal and you need to make it your own, but these are the
nuts and bolts of it.
What Can a Language Learning Diary Do for You?
So, why bother? You already have to do writing and reading practice, communicating with
pen pals, learning vocabulary… Why should you have yet another book?
Well, it’s up to you, of course, but there are huge benefits in dedicating the time to a diary,
whether you’re learning in classes or independently.
Benefits for independent study
But what if you’re learning by yourself? That diary is still a great tool for these reasons:
1. It improves study discipline. Hands up – I am the worst procrastinator I know. Even

with something I love, like learning a language, I will find reasons to put it off! But
getting into the habit of keeping a diary is super helpful. If you commit to writing in it
once a week, that blank page will keep you up at night… This helps you stay regular
in your learning and make progress towards your goals.
2. It can help structure your learning, which can be difficult when you’re learning on
your own. Keeping a diary gives the feel of a class without having to be in one. You
can take a look at what you’ve learned with a date for each item, so you can feel like
you’re making progress
3. It helps you to identify areas you might be neglecting, and ones in which you’re
particularly strong. If you read back over the past few weeks and you haven’t been
doing your past tense conjugations, that can be your area of focus for next week.
Meanwhile, if you notice you’re building a really strong vocabulary base around
sports, it’s time to go and chat about soccer with your nearest native speaker!
Keeping a Language Learning Diary: 5 Tips for Success
Hopefully I’ve sold you on the benefits of keeping a language learning diary. But how do you
do it? Here are my top 5 tips.
Tip 1: Make it easy to keep
If you don’t obey this tip, the rest don’t matter. The most important thing about your
language learning diary is discipline, and to get that discipline, it needs to be easy for you to
make it a part of your routine. This means it has to be both convenient and enjoyable!
Some of this comes down to the format you use:

 Some people get a beautiful notebook that they can decorate, doodle in and carry
around in their bags at all times.
 However, if you might find it difficult to do that, just use the memo function on
your smartphone.
 You could also use a cloud-based tool so you can access your diary from any device
at any time.
 Some people choose to keep their diary as a blog in order to share their progress with
others.
Another nice way to make it fun is to take the opportunity to play with the language.
You’re not being graded on this!
It’s silly, but you’ll remember it – and perhaps laugh when you read it back.
Tip 2: Make it multimedia!
Another excellent way of making your diary more interesting for yourself is to mix up the
media you’re using.
This could be as simple as newspaper or magazine clippings stuck onto pages of your
notebook. However, you can think bigger – gone are the days when diaries need only be a
written record of your exploits!
Not only do modern phones have notes functions, but most will allow you to record audio
and save video, too. Practice your speaking and listening, and leave little notes for your future
self.
I’m also a huge advocate of using music as a tool to learn language. Rhythm and rhyme are
some of your best friends. Make notes of the songs you listen to in your target language so
you can go back to them later – and hopefully understand them even better.
Tip 3: Write your goals
A diary doesn’t only need to be backward-looking. Use it to record your ambitions, too. Note
your goals in your diary so you can hold yourself to it! This means you can check in on how
well you feel you’re progressing and tailor your learning accordingly.
For instance, a few weeks ago I recorded in my diary that I had been able to be more
confident listening to a conversation where I knew what the topic was and answering basic
questions, in this case one about British politics. I then noted that my goal the next time I met
with my friends was to ask their opinion on politics – and understand the answer!
Tip 4: Involve other people
Obviously a diary is personal… but you’re not writing about your high school crush here.
Getting other people involved can help you discipline yourself as you have some else to hold
you accountable, as well as improve your learning.
Challenge someone else who’s learning a language to keep a diary, too, so you can meet
up and compare your progress.
If you’re taking classes, you could get your teacher to cast an eye over your diary.
However you do it, sharing is caring!
Tip 5: Read back over what you’ve written, regularly
Of course, the act of writing things down will itself be helpful as if you read over it later.
Make time every month to read back over what you’ve written. This can sometimes just
be the last few weeks. But it’s also worth occasionally going right back to the very beginning
and reminding yourself of some long-forgotten language points.
Rereading the highlights of your journey will help language stick in your mind better. It will
also allow you to revel in your progress.
So there you have it.

What are you waiting for?
Write your first entry today!
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What are the benefits of keeping a language learning diary?

What tips are provided for keeping a language learning diary?

Language Learning Diary Starter Kit: Write Your Way to Fluency

Diaries – We’ve all kept one at some point.

Sounds great! But how exactly does it work?

What is a Language Learning Diary?

Here’s what a language learning diary can include:

What Can a Language Learning Diary Do for You?

Benefits for independent study

1. It improves study discipline. Hands up – I am the worst procrastinator I know. Even

Tip 1: Make it easy to keep

Some of this comes down to the format you use:

Tip 2: Make it multimedia!

Tip 3: Write your goals

Tip 4: Involve other people

Tip 5: Read back over what you’ve written, regularly

So there you have it.

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