Is It Necessary To Take Breaks While Learning A Language To Avoid Learning Fatigue?

You have probably been told that you need to take breaks while studying, and this is especially true if you are learning a new language.

You will be taking in a lot of new information and you need to give your brain time to process everything and more importantly, taking a break is going to help stop you from getting fatigued. 

Taking Breaks When Studying A Language Are Essential

I would say that taking breaks is not only necessary, they are essential.

I will go through some of benefits that taking a break will do for you, which you will quickly see are all going to help you avoid fatigue.

Learning fatigue is a real problem as it drastically reduces your performance and it’s just generally not a nice experience, so doing anything you can lower the risk of suffering it should be essential.  

(You can read more about – What Is Language Learning Fatigue?)

Short Breaks Will Recharge You

The whole point of a break is that it allows you to recover and recharge your mind. You should come back feeling refreshed and full of energy again.

You don’t need to be studying for very long to start to notice that your energy can be drained. A good way to imagine it is like a computer game health bar.

The more you study, the more your health bar will be drained. If it gets really low and starts flashing red …you are getting fatigued. The only way to restore it is to stop and rest.  

Even a little break can help and of course, the longer you rest, the more recharged you will feel.

Breaks Will Keep You Productivity Higher

When we study we want to be productive, otherwise we are wasting our time. Trying to maintain an optimum level productivity is impossible as fatigue is going to get in the way.

The only way to avoid this is to take breaks and come back refreshed. As I discussed above, you need your energy bar to go back up to 100%, where you can then study at a productive level.

Then when it dips to low and you are not productive, you can take a break, recharge, then you can come back capable of a high level of productivity again.  

Breaks Will Recalibrate Your Focus

When fatigue starts to set it in, you will start to lose focus. You will struggle to concentrate and you will become easily distracted which is of course not ideal for trying to learn. 

If you get to this point, you may as well take a break. You are probably not paying attention to what you are studying, so why torture yourself, just walk away from it for 5 minutes. Then when you come back you can actually focus on it properly.

Your Memory Can Become Clearer After A Break

If you are having problems remembering things then this is a sign you could be getting fatigued.

This can be both an inability to recall things that you should already know and also struggling to add new information to memory. This can be extremely frustrating and it can feel like your brain is just not working how you want it to.

The more you struggle with this, the worse it gets and the only way to prevent it is to take a break.

Stop and rest and allow your brain to relax and you will find your memory starts working again and you will feel more normal. 

Breaks Will Reduce Your Stress

Studying can get stressful, although a lot of the stress is actually caused by the onset of fatigue. As the fatigue gets worse, so does your performance.

You will start to get frustrated with yourself. All the little mistakes you are making start to stress you out and it really can be a downward spiral and this is just one reason why fatigue can be so annoying when you are trying to learn a language.

Stopping and taking a break is going to reverse all this and it will keep your stress levels lower. You are less likely to reach that level of frustration where you get stressed.  

Breaks Will Delay Fatigue

If you haven’t quite noticed the trend, I will spell it out …taking breaks will delay fatigue.

Everything I have mentioned above basically boils down to the fact that taking a break will recharge you and help with your studies. You will have better focus, concentration, productivity and memory after a break and this all lowers your stress levels too.

All of this is the complete opposite of fatigue, where all these things would actually be a struggle for you. Taking breaks helps to delays these things from being difficult, and helps keep your performing at the level you need.

You Should Factor Breaks Into Your Study Plan

When you start studying, you need to factor breaks in. Have them pre-planned so you know when and where you need to take them.

You can do this in two different ways. You can plan to do a certain thing and take a break after it, or you can give yourself a time and then when you reach that, you stop and take a break.

It doesn’t really matter which way you do it, so long as you stick to it. You should also factor your breaks in regularly and consistently throughout your studies.  

How Often Should You Take A Break When Studying A Language?

How often you stop and take a break is really down to you and you will need to play around with how often will work for you. You need to pay attention to your body and start noticing how long you can roughly go before you start feeling fatigued, and then you can take breaks before this happens.

However, I would say for most people that at least once an hour is going to be right but as I said, play around with things and see what works best for you, going a little longer or shorter than this may be better for you. 

You may even find that going for a break every hour and a half is fine, or you could be on the other end of the scale where every half an hour is more ideal for you.

There is a famous and very popular study method called the Pomodoro, which gets you to study for 25 minutes and then stop for a 5 minute rest. If you are studying more intensely then this is probably going to work better for you, but if you immersing for example, then you may find you can go longer before needing a break as its not intense.    

How Long Should A Break Be?

How long you decide to break for is again something you need to play around with and doesn’t need to be an exact science.

You need as a minimum a few minutes, I would say you should always aim for at least 5 minutes, but there is nothing stopping you from resting for a bit longer. You could even do a few hours, which I have done and found to be very refreshing.

What Should You Do On A Break?

Ideally you want to get up and get away from your studies. If you are sat staring at your computer, then just changing your browser tab is not enough. It can still feel like a break, but you will feel more refreshed if you get up and walk away for a few minutes.

Use this time to go to the toilet and to go get a drink or something to eat. Just walking off to the kitchen and back can be enough to help clear you mind.

I personally go and make a cup of tea and often go and sit outside while the kettle is boiling. This gets me some fresh air and a change of scenery and I feel this is always very recharging.

You could even go and take a shower, have a nap, do some exercise or meditate. Really you want to do anything that doesn’t require much thought and also doesn’t get you thinking about your language. 

Sometimes even just lying on your bed and closing your eyes for a few minutes and clearing your head is enough to avoid the fatigue from setting in.

Conclusion

Hopefully now you can see the importance of taking a simple break when you are studying. You may think they are a waste of time, but they will help you.

You will find your fatigue levels are much lower and you will just feel like you can get more done and be more productive, which hopefully will mean that you can actually make more progress in your language.

If you are not taking breaks, just do it. You will start to see how essential they are.   

(You can read more about – Should You Push Through Language Learning Fatigue?)