10 000 Hour Rule And Language Learning: The Perfect Match
I’m sure you’ve heard of the 10,000-hour rule. It's mentioned in books, podcasts, blog articles, and Google results whenever you dare to ask how much time you need to learn a skill or a language. The number can be so intimidating that it leaves you with two options: forget about anything you want to learn or forget about your free time.
So, what is the 10,000-hour rule? It's a powerful concept that is often misunderstood. Popularized by Malcolm Gladwell in his book “Outliers. The Story of success“, the 10,000-hour rule was a bombshell. What can be more convincing?
“Ten thousand hours is the magic number of greatness ”
I suppose it's just our truly human weakness for beautiful numbers and sensational names: the magic number, the number of greatness.
Malcolm Gladwell popularized the 10,000-hour rule in his book, "Outliers: The Story of Success." The rule claims that these 10,000 hours of practice separate great achievers from mediocrity. The idea of becoming one of the greats is tempting, but is it really that simple?
Four missed details of the 10,000-hour rule
As you know, everything that can be misunderstood will be misunderstood. This rule is not by Gladwell, but rather, it's more like Murphy's Law.
It's about mastering a skill, not just learning one.
First of all, the author of "Outliers" didn't invent this rule himself. The magic number came from the original study of deliberate practice by Professor Ericsson, who explored the acquisition of expert performance and nothing else.
Once again: the acquisition of expert performance.
I cannot emphasize it enough. 10,000 hours, or about 10 years of experience, is just one piece of the puzzle of how to become the best of the best in a highly competitive domain.
So guess who was under the microscope of Ericsson and his research team? Elite performers and professionals in specific fields: international-level violinists and expert pianists.
What separated them from the rest of the classical music crowd (that included music teachers and good-enough-but-not-the-best musicians) was the number of hours they had practiced and the number of hours they kept practicing daily.
10,000 hours are essential, but not sufficient.
That's another little bomb carefully wrapped by Gladwell in his famous rule: this hellish amount of time is not enough to achieve top results.
The 10,000-hour rule is not a magic formula; it's just a prerequisite to the high game itself. You could spend 10 years playing chess with your little Macbook, but it won't put you on par with Garry Kasparov and Magnus Carlsen. Sorry to disappoint. Not really sorry, actually.
The vaguest part of the rule is how this time should be spent to be an indicator of real success.
It's not just about practice. It's about deliberate practice.
It is applicable to stable domains only.
You can train to be the king of a game if the rules of the game do not change. If they do, you have to learn to be flexible and adjust to innovations rather than practice the old game.
Now, do you understand why there are violinists, pianists, and grandmasters in Ericsson's study? Nothing can really radically change in the fragile world of classical music. Chess rules will remain the same. Nobody will introduce a new piece and claim to have innovated the world of chess.
It's about making a difference.
The 10-year base of experience is preparation. During this time, you are likely to make all the mistakes that could be made. You are likely to find working solutions to common problems. You are likely to learn everything good that has been invented before you.
During these 10 years, you follow step by step those who have walked this way before you.
Until…
Until you, like the whole world, stumble upon something that has not yet been achieved: a world record, an unsolved mathematical problem, a new theory that changes the world, an unwritten bestseller, a new masterpiece.
This is where the 10,000-hour rule makes a real difference. With this experience in your pocket, you have the capability to add something important to your domain.
Does the 10,000-Hour Rule Apply to Language Learning?
You may have already concluded from all of the above that no, it doesn’t. But wait a second.
What if you have already successfully applied Gladwell’s rule of mastery?
You’re already a master when it comes to language learning. You have mastered your first language. And when did it happen?
Think back to the time when you started expressing yourself freely and confidently in your mother tongue. How old were you? Around 10?
Two researchers, Simon and Chase, in their classic study, compared two seemingly incompatible fields: chess (yes, again; the study was called Perception in Chess) and language. They found that the amount of data a chess master collects over the course of 10 years of practice is impressively close to the average size of the vocabulary of a native speaker of English.
And that’s exactly what you did with your first language without even noticing that you were practicing it every day.
So, yes, the 10,000-Hour Rule applies to master a language very well.
However, you may be more interested in how you can use all of this to master a second language.
Three Lessons from the 10,000 Hour Rule for Language Learning
I’m not going to say that you have to spend this much time on learning or mastering a language.
You don’t need to. As an adult second language learner, it’s unlikely that you will acquire a new tongue at the native-speaker level. It doesn’t mean that you can’t be good or fluent, or both. It just means that even if you are fluent, you will still miss certain nuances that may be evident to a native speaker.
However, there are three things you can change about your approach to language learning to make the most of the 10,000-Hour Rule:
Natural ability requires a huge investment of time.
Your ability to speak your first language is not as innate as you may think. If your parents never spoke to you and there was no one to practice the language with, you would be another example of a modern-day Mowgli.
The simple fact of having done this ton of practice for mastering our first language usually escapes us.
So, don’t be afraid to devote some time to learning a second language. This is how things are actually learned.
Deliberate practice ≠ usual practice
Deliberate practice is the cornerstone of the 10,000-Hour Rule.
What separates grandmasters from amateur chess players is that they do not simply play; they look for new ways to improve their game. Do the same, don’t just mindlessly learn new words – learn to use them in context. Don’t simply cram grammar – make sense of it. Switch your focus from spending time on learning a language to using the time to improve one thing at a time.
Often, the simple fact of changing methods results in huge gains in productivity.
Find opportunities for deliberate practice
The same environment offers the same things. Opportunities are usually not included in the old package. Create your own environment that challenges you to push your boundaries over and over again.
You don’t have to leave everything and move to another country to practice a language. But what you can do is change your habits and embrace every opportunity to practice that tongue.
Always be in search of better strategies and try them yourself.
You may not become a grandmaster just by playing chess for 10,000 hours. But you have no chance of becoming one if you never touch a chessboard either. The same applies to language learning. Stop estimating how long it will take, how much time you have for this, and how many hours a week you have to study. Just take the first step today.
