2. Learn before you sleep

　　睡前學習

　　One of the many benefits we get from sleep is that it helps to clear out the brain’s “inbox” – the temporary storage of new information and memories from our time awake. We need sleep (even just a nap) to move anything we’ve recently learned into our brain’s long term storage. Once it’s safely stored, spaced repetition will help to strengthen the connection so we can recall the information faster and more accurately。

　　睡眠的一個好處就是它能清除大腦的“收件箱”——也就是我們在清醒時臨時儲存的新信息和記憶。我們需要睡眠(哪怕只是打盹)將最新學習的東西轉換到大腦的長期儲存中。一旦儲存固定，“間隔重復”將強化之間的聯系，這樣我們便能更快更準確地記住信息了。

　　3. Study content, not the language

　　學習語言內容，而非語言本身。

　　Although most language learning classes and progams focus on purely learning the language, a study of high school students studying French found that when they studied another subject taught in French instead of a class purely to teach French, the students tested better for listening and were more motivated to learn. Students in the standard French class scored better on reading and writing tests, so both methods clearly have merit。

　　盡管多數語言教學課程重點強調單純學習語言本身，但一項有關高中生學法語的研究發現，如果學生學習某個用法語教學的課程，而非單純的法語課，那么學生的法語聽力成績更出色，而且學生也更有動力去學。不過，標準法語班的學生在閱讀和寫作上的成績更高。顯然，兩種方法各具優勢吧。

　　Once you’ve mastered the basics of a new language, try including some content on a topic you’re interested in to improve your understanding. You could have conversations with friends learning the same language, read articles online or listen to a podcast to test your comprehension。

　　當你掌握某個語言的基本知識后，請嘗試了解自己關心的話題內容，這樣可以提高理解能力。你可以跟學這門語言的同伴交談，閱讀網絡文章，或者通過聽播客來測試自己的理解力。

　　4. Practice a little everyday

　　每天都練習一點點。

　　If you’re busy, you might be tempted to put off your studying and cram in a big chunk of learning once every week or two. However, studying a little every day is actually more effective. Because your brain’s “inbox” has limited space and only sleep can clear it out, you’ll hit the limit of how much you can take in pretty quickly if you study for hours at a time。

　　如果你很忙，可能會拖延學習，然后每個一兩個星期再集中填鴨式地學一會兒。但實際上，每天堅持學一點的方法更有效率。因為你大腦“收件箱”的空間是有限的，只能在睡覺時清空，所以如果你選擇一次性快速學一堆知識的話，最終能夠掌握的也很有限。

　　5. Mix new and old

　　溫故知新。

　　The brain craves novelty but attempting to learn lots of new words or phrases at once can be overwhelming. Novel concepts work best when they’re mixed in with familiar information。

　　大腦渴望新鮮知識，但如果一次性學習太多生詞短語的話，則會欲速不達。只有結合已經熟悉的知識，才能更好地掌握新知識。

　　When you add new words to your vocabulary, try spacing them in-between words you’re already familiar with so they’ll stand out—your brain will latch onto them more easily。

　　當你學習新詞匯時，請把它與已經掌握的、意義接近的詞匯區分開來——這樣大腦才能更容易地記住生詞。