Lesson Transcript

Welcome to Inner Circle. I'm Keijin and I'm joined by my co-host, the founder of
innovative language, Peter Galante. Hi everyone, Peter here. So Keijin, last time
we talked about restarting a language. Yes, and how to set goals that will
guarantee your success. Now today we're talking about the single most important
ingredient in learning a language. That is your routine. Yes. Well before that, why
don't we talk about how routines rule our lives? You know, the reason routines
are so powerful is we're so used to them from when we're small all the way
through our lives. The routines dictate our lives. Good routines usually
result in very good outcomes. Bad routines, things may not work so well. But
why don't we start by talking about and defining what a routine is?
Yeah, what is routine?
Well Keijin, what's a routine for you? Routine, my routine. No, in general. In general.
Let's start with an example. I mean that's something that we do every day, for example,
when we wake up, maybe some people check their phone or they wake up. That's a bad
routine. Give us a good routine. Good routine. Start with language learning podcast, our audio
lessons. Well I'm joking. Let's go back to what you said, waking up. So let's just
kind of set a baseline. So we're talking about and everyone's talking about the
same thing here. Okay, so first we have, I like what you said, waking up. So you
know, if you're waking up at a certain time every day, that can be considered a
routine. Yes. So there's a few elements that go into routine. Number one's
regularity. Right. Okay, the intervals in which you're doing something. Next is
repetition. Right. So regularly waking up at 8 a.m., regularity. And repetition is
every day. So every weekday I'm waking up at 8 a.m. The next thing is predictability.
Okay. So if I wake up at 8 a.m. on Monday, 8 a.m. on Tuesday, what time would you
predict I wake up on Wednesday? Yeah, 8 a.m. for sure. And then the next key element that
into routine would be purpose. So 8 a.m. every weekday for the purpose of going to
work or going to school. Right. Right. So these are the kind of four key elements,
I believe, that make something into a routine. So Keijin, I said there's one more
important element here. So Monday I get up at a.m., go to work at 8.30. Tuesday I
get up at 8 a.m. Go to work Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. Does this make it a routine?
What else makes it a routine? There's one more important thing. Interesting. So if I
wake up every day at a.m. and go to work at 8.30 for one week, does that make it a
routine? Oh, no. One week, not enough. So then it's the overall amount, length of
time that you do something. So again, we have the regularity, repetition, predictability,
and then finally the purpose. But it's not okay to say it's a routine until it's been a
So I did some research this time. Oh, wow. About a certain amount of time. What makes
the routine? I mean, how long should it continue to make a routine? Okay.
So according to the European Journal of Social Psychology. Okay. I give you three choices. Is it ABC, 25 days,
or 100 days? Which are those three? 25, 66, 100. 25. 66. I was about to choose that. That's
on average. But some people can do it quick. 18 days, you can be a routine. And some people
take as long as 200 days. So it's like wide variance. I see. But I think you can say it's
routine after four weeks. What do you think? Yeah, that's what I thought. I thought, Oh,
should I wait until like more than two months? So I was like, I was about to choose 666. But then
maybe two months is a little long. So I chose 25. But well, if they researched and yeah, but
I think it's very personal thing. I think in your case, you're quite an overachiever.
So I think four weeks, 18 days on the fast side. I'm about, I think two months is fair. You wake up, you start
working out because there's one more key element here. It could be something you do every day,
or a few times a week. So I like the example of working out. So if you're working out two times
a week, maybe it's hard to say after four weeks that it's a routine. So maybe two months makes it
that routine. But if you're swimming every day, after one month probably is a routine. True,
you're right. Okay, so why don't you recap the key elements of a routine? Then from there,
we can now build. Okay, so the key element of routine, can I remember everything? Let's try.
Regularity, reputation, and purpose. Predictability. Predictability. Two R's, two P's.
Two R's and two P's. Okay. Then we have two more elements. Length, period. Length of time,
which anywhere from four weeks to six weeks to eight weeks to some people takes six months for
them to make it a routine, right? Right. And then finally, the amount of the frequency during the
week, right? That goes back to that kind of repetition or regularity, like how often you're
doing it. So, okay, I think now we have this framework. I think we can talk about routines
a little more clearly. I see. So that's routine. Okay. That's how we're defining routine for this
conversation. Okay. Good? Good. Very good. So, Kyejin, give me a few examples of positive routines
in your life. My life. Well, I haven't spent two months yet, but I'm sorry, but two months yet.
It's only a few weeks, but I started going to the gym. Can I say that?
New routine. New routine started. Okay. Well, let's put it through the test. How often do you go to the gym? So far,
I try to go four times a week. Okay. Well, that checks off regularity and repetition. Well,
that checks off repetition frequency. What about when do you go at the same time or is it different
times? For weekdays, I go after the work, but for the weekends, I go in the afternoon. Okay. That
checks off regularity and predictability and purpose. Purpose. Yeah. And you said four weeks?
Actually, around three weeks. Not yet, but I'm getting there. But remember we said
the variance was average was 66 days, but there's 18 days to 200 days. So we can say,
because you're going quite often, I think that you can call this a routine. Thank you. Okay.
Now, we're ready to apply this to language learning. Yes. So, you also took on the challenge
of restarting a language. Your language was? Japanese. And surprise, I also started learning
a new language. I'm sorry, but I'm very sorry, but I want to go on a trip to some
Vietnam this year. So I'm like, why don't I learn basic Vietnamese? And I started
learning Vietnamese too. I mean, we have a great, great language website called
Vietnamese pod 101, and it has a very nice lessons, such as survival phrases,
three-minute language. So I started taking that too.
I see. Yes. This is the first I'm hearing about it. You didn't share this with me.
Yes. I didn't have time to share that. But yeah, plus, of course, Japanese too.
Well, I welcome the good news. So let's take Japanese and Vietnamese, and let's put them
through this kind of test, whether they meet routine. So how about Japanese? What is your
Japanese schedule like? My Japanese schedule is when I come back home, I take the audio lesson.
So when you come back home, are you talking about your commute or after you return home?
Commute. Okay. And how long is your commute? On the train is 25 minutes and on food is around
five to 10 minutes. So all together, 35 to 40 minutes. Okay. And how many days a week do you
do that? I try to do it every day, but so far, like three, four times a week. Okay.
So that's a very good start. So that checks off that regularity and predictability. We can estimate
that after work today, you will be listening to Japanese. Yes. Okay. Excellent. And purpose,
you're doing it to improve your Japanese. Exactly. Since I live in Japan, I want to
have a better Japanese skills. Now, how long have you been doing this? This one around,
so it was right after our inner circle recording last time, so about a month.
Weeks? Wow. Yay. This is very, very good. Now, how about the Vietnamese? It's about a week. So I
started about a week and yeah, I listened to the audio lesson from our Vietnamese part one on one
on the way to work. Wow. You're getting much more efficient. Yeah. So commuting time. Do you stand
on the train? No, I sit down. Okay. I was like, wow, there could have been exercise, everything
at once. So this is very, very powerful. So you have two new routines, which is very, very hard
to do, the working out plus the Japanese, and then you've initiated a new routine.
And that's in addition to the one mistake many people have to make is in their life, you're already full of
routines already. So it's very hard to find space for a new routine. Yeah. And you're doing three
new routines. So let's pause here and kind of go, what got sacrificed? Because let's leave out
Vietnamese for now. But what did you do before you started to listen to Japanese on the way home?
We'll start with Japanese. Well, I used to just check the news, or the messages to my friends,
or yes, not nothing really important. Okay. And how about your exercise working out?
I gave up dinner, long dinner time. Instead. Yeah, instead I take something healthy. Yeah.
Okay. That brings us to a point, an interesting point. You know, when you're new to starting a
routine the first month or two months, it's easier, the motivation is high, but it's often
hard to stick to routines. Right. The working out one, sacrificing dinner, that's tough.
Yeah, so we'll see. We'll see. I'm getting some advice from my colleagues who have this kind of
routine for a long time. So we'll see. Okay. Yeah. But yeah, you want to be careful because
introducing a new routine often means you have to give up something. And listening to Japanese on
the way home is not, the brain might not assume it as relaxing. It might be stressful. So you
have to be very careful for that sustainability over a long time. Yeah. Especially for Japanese,
I'm already quite familiar with Japanese. So at least I try to remember one or two new words from
one lesson. So I try not to overwhelm myself. Yeah. But the reason, let's analyze these two new
routines. The reason I like the Japanese routine is that this commute is basically something you're
doing already. Yes. And you were on the train, but the main thing you were doing was commuting,
and you took this time and you replaced something you did with something more efficient. Right.
So in a lot of ways, this is easier. You're not carving out new time, but you're finding time
within your schedule and you're using it more efficiently. So let's call this one time efficiency.
Nice. Yes. When you do this, this gives you a higher chance of success than carving out a
brand new routine like working out where you used to eat, but now you have to go somewhere
and do a completely new routine. Right. What do you think about this? Yeah, I totally agree with you.
For the working out, it actually took a few months for me to make a decision because I know I have to
give up something. I have to give up something and I don't know which one I should give up.
And yeah, the thing that I decided is the dinner time, long dinner time. I mean, I used to take
like two, two, three hours dinner time because we have to cook and stuff, but now we just see
something really simple. So yeah, but for the, for Japanese or Vietnamese, it was easy because I
already have set routine and set time, which I know I don't do anything special. And also I used to
use that time for learning French, which was very effective. So I knew this will work. So I just
replaced with, yeah, Japanese and Vietnamese. So if you're starting a new routine, language
learning routine, take a look at your schedule, sit down and look at your schedule. And you want
to try to identify our blocks of time inside of your schedule where you can multitask.
Commutes are really, really an excellent opportunity to use the time more efficiently,
that time efficiency. Right. Because you're already commuting. I mean, it's regular,
repetitive, predictable, and for purpose. So you already have this time. Yes. So rather than
try finding something, finding new time in your schedule, try to find some time that you can use
more efficiently. So it's important to look at our schedule first. Yeah. Instead of just deciding,
I want to learn a language and try to overwhelm ourselves. That's not very good.
Not very good. And, you know, with this time efficiency, I mentioned last time that I'm experimenting with a coach.
Interesting. Okay. Now, the coach is complicated because a coach can be many things. A coach can
be someone who teaches you, a coach could be someone who inspires you, a coach could be someone who
disciplines you. So I analyzed and right now, my coach, the main function is accountability.
I see. So making sure I'm progressing. So let's apply this to your case. So Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, you're commuting to work and you're listening to Japanese. Yes.
Are you ever tempted to miss a day? Yes. When my friends text me, I'm like, oh, I want to reply.
Yeah. And then before you know it, the ride's over and you missed your Japanese window, right?
Yes. Then you're like, you know, yesterday texting my friends was kind of fun. Let me
text my friends again. And it's very easy to get derailed. I see. But if there is a coach,
someone is checking, then it's very difficult to do that. Well, they can put me back on track.
So my coach is instructed to monitor my progress, which we have that function inside of
our one-on-one sites. You can have my coach has access and is monitoring my progress.
So when my coach sees I'm not progressing every two days, I will get a notification.
Oops. Hey, you're not progressing. So that's the accountability progress component of coaching. So
I thought about it. It's like, what is the coach doing? This is the basic, basic kind of
service a coach can provide. They can go much higher, such as inspiring you, motivating you.
For now though, the coach is simply holding me accountable. So apply to you, making sure that
you're listening to all the lessons during your commute. Okay. So the coach is basically different
from a language teacher. Is that right? Very different from a language teacher. Language
teacher is helping you navigate the language. The coach is just making sure you're putting
in the time. My accountability coach right now. However, as I have a higher success rate,
the coach can move to certain things, such as inspiring and motivating and pushing you
to say, you can do more, you can do better. But right now, accountability stage.
Yeah. So how can people use the coaching system?
Or how can I? Because it sounds great. It's good. It sounds very good. I'm like,
if someone actually check in, I will be more actively learning. I want to show my progress
and I want to prove myself. I did, I did. So we can share the coach.
Okay. That's what we promised last time, but the coach was away for a bit. So this time,
next time we can report back on the coaching. And again, accountability, the basic, the bottom
step. Much like when we were discussing routines, we talked about the bottom of the pyramid. Just
what is a routine? We didn't talk about some of the more advanced things. So let's try that for
everyone out there. It's a good question. I guess if someone's in the inner circle listening and
they're interested, they can mail us and maybe we can see about adding them or providing some
type of service. We're testing right now. We have no, it's not a product we have, but we're kind of
testing it. So if you're interested, you can mail us. Yeah, that's interesting. And for group
class learners and private class learners, I mean, private class students on our platform,
I know we are helping them. We have academic advisors, so we email them. So it's also kind
of part of it because they have to meet teacher every week. Yeah. So this is, but slightly
different. One is more reactive and one is more proactive. I see. Okay, mail us and we'll figure
something out. But only for the first, Yuri, three, four, five people, three. Okay, Yuri said three.
So we can do three people and we can join in with us. Wow, that's interesting. So our viewers and
us, we'll be getting a coach. Three, three. Yes, three viewers, three viewers and us.
Okay. But that's the difference. Like, you know, Kyejin, like when you were my coach or teacher,
you provided a lot of this service, the motivation checking in. So that's where a teacher can be much
more effective than a coach because the teacher can add the inspirational mentorship hacks and
things with you. So, but we're, we're kind of testing now. So. Okay. I'm excited. Really?
Me too. This is good. So it's powerful because think about, again, the reason I spent so much
time, we spent so much time in the beginning of this to establish the definition of a routine is
leave language learning alone, but even other routines in your life, saving money, positive
routines, saving money, working out, eating healthier. It's easier to start a routine.
It's very hard to maintain it. It's hard to make it part of, you know, get to that 66 to 66 day
point or to make it part of something that becomes that you can do for years. Yeah. And that's where
this coach comes in. So, okay, let's see. Three people. Okay. Three people. Sounds good. Okay.
So we spent a lot of time talking about the basics, this bottom of the pyramid of this
coaching and the bottom of the pyramid when it comes to routine, this regularity, repetition,
predictability, and purpose. That was the basic fundamentals. Then we added the length of time.
Yes. And after we had that length of time, it was the frequency during the week, how many times. So
there's another study that shows that something very important to making a successful routine.
So now we're kind of moving off the bottom of this pyramid and we're moving one level higher.
And if we go back to your example of piggybacking, as we call it, or multitasking
on a routine that you had this existing commute and now you're making that time more efficient,
there's one important component of it besides the time. How do you commute?
I commute by subway. Okay. So it's also the location. It's the time and location of where
the activity takes place. And it's kind of very important. The location in this success, like
each element that you check off the list will increase the chance of you having a successful
routine. When you work out, where do you work out? In the gym. So going to the gym gives you a
more successful chance of working out at home in your living room. Yes. Where you can turn on the
TV or a family member could come home. So that location is a critical component on that higher
up. It's getting where you want to move up the pyramid and higher up at the pyramid you are,
the more chance you have for success. So notice the train and the gym.
Now using these two examples, which do you think is a better location for the activities
that you're doing? The gym. Yes. The gym for working out is better than the subway for studying.
But again, that piggybacking the routine using the time more efficiently is the bottom of the
pyramid. Obviously at the probably tippy top of the pyramid is you're at the library in a very
quiet environment with your textbook studying and listening along or in front of a computer
using the website to go through a lesson while you're reading and listening.
There are ways to move up and down the successful probability chart. So I think the main components today
that we're talking about is the routine. If you think about what you're doing,
does it have these four elements? Regularity, repetition, predictability, and finally,
purpose. Next component is to that routine, period, length. Yeah. And then how often you're
doing it, right? It has to be at least a few times a week, the frequency. Once you get to that,
you want to look at your schedule and then you want to find a block of time where you can
multitask or piggyback. And finally, you want to think about the environment, the place you're
doing this activity. These are kind of the key components. Okay. Finally, then what we want to
do is add, who are three people, try the coaching with us and we're going to keep you up to date,
but something to keep you honest, something to remind you about your accountability.
We have the fortune of having a person calling us and saying, hey, you haven't done your work.
If you're fast enough, you can join us, three people. If not, there are other ways to hold
yourself accountable. Okay. So three people can join us. And we can experiment together. If not,
while we're doing this, we'll think of other ways that you can hold yourself accountable. You can
tell a partner that remind me to do this, set an alarm for yourself. There's email services where
you can send email reminders to yourself. So many, many ways to tackle this. But again,
the lowest bottom of the pyramid is emailing, having an email, automated email, send you
something, maybe an AI reminder. Higher up the pyramid is actually having someone contact you
and saying, Hey, you're not doing your work and I'm not going away.
Okay. That's an interesting experiment. Coaching. Okay. I'm looking forward to it.
So the task for everyone listening is to set up your own routines based on what we spoke
about today. You can email us and we'll have a look at it. And then as a stretch goal, you
could think about and talk about how you can hold yourself accountable. If you're not one of the
three people that's going to mail us and join with us. Yeah. By email, at least they can let us know
every month. Yeah. Okay. So Coaching, what do you think? This is good. We have this task for
everyone. And I think that can conclude today's lesson, but we now need to talk about our goals
for next lesson. Okay. So how about you? So how's your Chinese? What's your Chinese learning goal?
So my Chinese learning goal based on the lesson today is I have my weekly lesson. That's every
Wednesday, 9pm. And that's the anchor in my week. I always have, I have to get ready for that.
Much like Keijin, I listened to two audio lessons during my commute. I found the piggyback time.
And so I'm piggybacking on the commute time to listen to the audio. Then I have my Chinese
lesson, which was a standing Chinese lesson. So this is, I basically applied what we discussed
today. What was new though, was the coach and the coach will check in if I have not done on Friday.
So I listen on Tuesday and Thursday lesson on Friday, lesson on Wednesday night. So if I haven't
done my lessons on Wednesday morning, I get contacted by the teacher saying, Hey, you have
a lesson tonight and you haven't done your audio lesson. So that prompts me to listen before I do
my evening lesson. Okay. So that's been the big change. So what I would like to do now is
for next thing, I'm going to move from the bottom of the pyramid up one. I'm going to add something
new and that will be writing on Fridays. Okay. So this writing class or are you submitting the
writing to our premium plus teacher? Yes. I'll submit the writing to the premium plus teacher.
And of course I will mail my the teacher. So my coach can see my progress. So she'll be able to
see if I'm doing this. So it gives her two points to contact me Wednesday morning and Friday evening
and it's during the weekdays. So I will apply the lessons we learned today to create this brand new
thing. Although creating new time and routines is challenging. The time will be 8.30 AM in the morning
after the kids leave for school. So I've thought about the time. The place will be at a cafe near
the house and the time spent will be 30 minutes. Sounds good. So that's my new goal. Sounds good.
Yeah. For me, I'll continue learning the Vietnamese and Japanese. And for Vietnamese,
I want to finish the survivor phrases this month. And also for Japanese, I'll continue learning at
least one or two new words a day. And also I'm looking forward to having a coach with Peter.
And three students. Three new students. Okay.
Okay. Okay. So that will do it for this Inner Circle. If you would like to participate,
email us at inner.circle at innovativelanguage.com. And the first three people who mail us.
Kyejin, should they have to write something why they want to join? Just two sentences on why
they think they would be a good fit. That would be great. Because if there are many peoples,
it's hard to choose people, right? Yeah. So give us some hints. Who should we choose?
Yeah. Why? Why should you join us? Why do you think you're a good fit to join us? Okay.
Okay. So thank you for watching and we'll see you next month. Bye everyone.

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