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50 Times You Could Be Learning A Language With Your Phone Instead Of Wasting Your Time

Sometimes what you really need are a bunch of reasons and facts to keep you motivated while learning a language. You needed a couple of driving forces… so we came up with 50!
By Cristina Gusano
April 18, 2017
  1. In the morning when you wake up but you don’t really wanna get out of your comfy bed.
  2. While drinking your coffee, instead of staring at your boring kitchen.
  3. While waiting for something that you are warming up in the microwave.
  4. When you ride the subway — because learning instead of playing bad online games is so underground (see what I did there?).
  5. When you want to spend more money on an online shopping app but you know you don’t need new clothes (and you don’t have the money anyway).
  6. While you wait for your muesli to soften.
  7. When you want to snack between meals.
  8. On your way to the language exam while your mom drives and you ride shotgun.
  9. In the bar of a foreign country, learning some useful phrases while you wait to be served.
  10. When the initial plan of going to the gym fails but you still want to feel like you did something productive with your day.
  11. On the toilet. I won’t elaborate on this.
  12. In line at the supermarket, when all the people in front of you are old ladies.
  13. When you realize you will never get that dream job by dreaming but by adding that extra language to your CV.
  14. When you run out of data, you can’t find wifi anywhere and you realize you have a couple of lessons downloaded and ready to be aced.
  15. When you’re getting your hair cut and you don’t feel like talking to the chatty hairdresser (plus, you look weird with the wet hair glued to your face and all those towels around you, so you don’t want to just stare at yourself in the mirror).
  16. When you are browsing the Internet and you realize there are way too many foreign words you STILL don’t understand.
  17. While attending a boring conference with no cool slides to look at.
  18. While you wait for your parents to turn on Skype to call you (we know this can take ages).
  19. At half-time, if you don’t need to pee.
  20. When on vacation abroad, instead of wasting your time studying the map, just learn the words to ask locals for directions.
  21. When your beach read is too full of sand to be legible but lying there doing nothing and “living the life” is too boring.
  22. Instead of checking useless apps on your phone (checking the weather when it’s already raining outside…).
  23. Have I mentioned the subway already? Well, this applies to any other means of transportation in which you are NOT the driver: bus, car, camel, boat, etc.
  24. Instead of spending all that time checking online dictionaries, you could be learning THE WORDS directly, take the shortcut!
  25. While you quietly wait in line for the office coffee machine (because you don’t like your work colleagues).
  26. At the boarding gate, when they keep you waiting for an insane amount of time, you have your hand luggage all set and the only thing you can entertain yourself with is your phone.
  27. While flying — because you can use Babbel offline (remember to download the courses before!).
  28. The week before moving to a new country when someone tells you you won’t be able to speak a word of the local language, and you want to prove them wrong.
  29. While you wait for that slow friend to get ready (that friend is me).
  30. Instead of looking at all those memes (memes come and go, a language is forever).
  31. To impress the person next to you in a waiting room.
  32. When you feel a bit blue and you kinda wanna listen to that Drake song for the 27th time, cheer yourself up with some online learning instead.
  33. When you feel like texting that person you know you shouldn’t be texting.
  34. While waiting for your Tinder date — because looking at Facebook or Instagram looks needy and insecure, while learning a language looks cool and smart.
  35. While waiting to be called for your next job interview because they will ask what were you doing, you will tell them you were learning Swedish and you will look cool and sharp AF.
  36. When you check your phone looking for new notifications, but you haven’t got any and act like you do (lame).
  37. While you wait for your nail polish to dry.
  38. When the next train is coming in 10 minutes.
  39. When you arrive somewhere too soon (never happened to me, but apparently this can happen).
  40. While waiting for the water for your tea to boil.
  41. When you are chilling on the sofa but then your mom sees you and says that the only thing you do is lie on the sofa doing nothing.
  42. When your friend is arriving late (probably, also me).
  43. When you’ve already swiped 80 people in a row to the left on Tinder and still think you’ll find true love (and he or she might speak a different language).
  44. At a concert when the supporting band sucks.
  45. To sober up on the bus on the way back home.
  46. When you feel like leaving your comfort zone for a bit, but you don’t know how.
  47. Before going for drinks on the first night of your trip abroad.
  48. When your food is too hot and you need to distract yourself from how hungry you are while it cools down.
  49. While you wait for something to upload/download/load.
  50. When you can’t sleep, and you’ve already checked all social media channels and there is nothing new there, so you might as well learn how to say “goodnight” in a new language.
Admit it, you're now pretty convinced!
Start learning a language!
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