Keep the Inconsistency Villain at Bay: Learning Consistency

If you're learning a new language, then you need to know that six villains are out to get you.

Yes, these evil characters will stop at nothing in their quest to prevent you from building learning consistency and becoming fluent in your new language.

But who are they, and how do they lure you into their seductive traps? And, most importantly, how do you stop them dead in their tracks? 

Let's dive into Villain number five and vanquish him forever. After all, your language learning success depends on it.

Miss the other Villains? Discover their evil ways:

• The Grammar Villain
• The App Villain
• The Hoarding Villain
• The Comparison Villain
• The Fear Villain

Who Is The Inconsistency Villain?

This slightly weird villain stays hidden under the sofa or in the closet for days, weeks, even months at a time.

You won't notice him lurking there, waiting to catch you unawares. Until one day, when you're least expecting it, he'll jump out, take you by surprise and destroy your language learning efforts with one insidious sentence.

“You deserve the day off.”

How Does He work?

When you look back over time, have there been instances when you've just stopped studying your language?

Maybe you didn't feel like it.

Perhaps you got busy, or something temporarily disrupted your life?

If you're like most people, then your language learning journey is probably littered with breaks where, for whatever reason, you stopped. That's the Inconsistency Villain at work.

His evil mission is designed to stop you from building momentum in your language learning. He doesn't want you to realise the importance of consistency in learning. That's because he's terrified that once you get on a roll, nothing will prevent you from becoming fluent. 

So, the Inconsistency Villain will stop at nothing to derail your efforts.

Why Does He Get Away With It?

The Inconsistency Villain's trick is to lie tucked away, watching out for your moments of weakness. He's got nothing else to do but wait for that moment when you're feeling a bit down or a week when you're feeling under the weather.

He'll jump out when you're least expecting it and whisper. 

“It's okay. You're busy, I get it! You don't have to study today. 

There's more to life than languages — take the week off.”

Now, he's planted a seed that you just can't uproot. So you think, “It won't hurt to miss studying today,” 

And, just like that, your glorious streak of days, weeks, and even months of progress has been shattered. 

If this has happened to you, then it wasn't your fault. The Inconsistency Villain was hard at work, doing whatever it took to stop you from reaching your life-changing goal to learn a new language.

How Can You Build Learning Consistency and Defeat The Inconsistency Villain? 

Sure, we all have “off days,” but if that day off becomes a week — and then a month — you can undo months of work or progress. 

So, how can you banish this villain into the ether? 

Now that you know about him, you'll be able to spot him when he jumps out. And, you can defeat him with one, timeless piece of wisdom — CONSISTENCY in learning is the key. 

Yes, staying consistent and practicing day after day, week after week, is the most important thing you can do. Because creating a consistent learning experience when you work at your language every day, any problem or difficulty will solve itself over time.

Vanquish The Villain And Enjoy Your Learning

When you hear the Inconsistency Villain in your ear, take a deep breath and say, “NO!”

If you learn how to be consistent in learning a language, you're already half way there! You have a goal, and it's worth the effort to study every day. 

Now, I'm not talking hours here. You can be consistent with just 10-15 minutes, if necessary. What's important is that you come back to it every day.

The materials you're using matter, of course. It needs to be something you can stick to easily, like my StoryLearning method.

With StoryLearning, your big goal is to reach the end of the story. All you do is read every day, and consistency takes care of itself. 

So, when that day comes — as it inevitably will — when the Inconsistency Villain raises his ugly head, send him packing. 

Remember that turning up to learn each day is the most powerful language learning weapon you have. Consistency is key to language learning.

Give yourself the gift of learning consistency, and you'll be amazed at what you can achieve.

Olly Richards

Creator of the StoryLearning® Method

Olly Richards is a renowned polyglot and language learning expert with over 15 years of experience teaching millions through his innovative StoryLearning® method. He is the creator of StoryLearning, one of the world's largest language learning blogs with 500,000+ monthly readers.

Olly has authored 30+ language learning books and courses, including the bestselling "Short Stories" series published by Teach Yourself.

When not developing new teaching methods, Richards practices what he preaches—he speaks 8 languages fluently and continues learning new ones through his own methodology.