Back in the spring of last year, I started teaching myself piano.

(Well, I actually started studying with Mr. Hoffman of Hoffman Academy, but I digress!)

It’s been a while since I’ve been a total beginner at something, so these past few months have been humbling. I have had many moments when I have struggled to connect my brain to my fingers, when I have been frustrated by my slow sight reading, and when I’ve sat down to practice only to realize that I’m too exhausted to play through a single song. Homeschooling three kids will do that to you! 

Despite these challenges, however, I am slowly improving. And that, in large part, is due to the fact that I’m learning the piano the same way that I learned multiple foreign languages: through deliberate practice.

What is deliberate practice?

Deliberate practice is the idea that how you practice a skill subject (like French, math, or yes, piano), dictates your success. If you practice in a haphazard way, with an uneven schedule or disconnected activities, your progress will be slow. Well-planned, consistent, and strategic practice, however, leads to language learning success. 

Whether you’re learning a foreign language this year or (like me), working on a musical instrument, I want to share the deliberate practice principles that have been most helpful to me. Here they are: 

Track Your Practice

What’s the old adage? “What gets measured, gets done?” I realized pretty early on in my piano learning that if I didn’t set a written goal for myself, the likelihood of me practicing consistently was pretty low. It’s the same with language study! Having a system to track your child’s language practice can be hugely helpful in maintaining consistency. Make it a daily check box on your child’s homeschool schedule or use a hanging wall calendar to mark off the days you speak together. Mr. Hoffman, my piano teacher, says that “every day you eat is a good day to practice,” and I agree! 

Remember: practice makes (sometimes invisible) progress. 

As a Christmastime challenge, I spent the month of December learning a simple version of “Carol of the Bells,” a song I’ve always loved. At the beginning of the month, I had to struggle my way through each measure, but eventually, I mastered the basic fingering. After that, I worked on connecting the measures and playing with the right dynamics. By Christmas, I could play a passable version of the song and was making fewer mistakes each day. It was slow work—so slow that some days, I truly couldn’t hear any improvement in my playing. However, I reminded myself: we don’t always see the learning that we’re doing, so it’s important to keep at it with a long-term view. 

Have a back-up plan for bad days.  

On days when practicing a foreign language is the straw that will break your camel’s (proverbial) back, just do something. Go for the low-hanging fruit. For piano, I sometimes play some scales and call it a day or I practice sight reading with an app and then run through the easiest songs in my repertoire. I might not learn anything new on those days, but I’m still keeping my skills fresh. If you’re learning a foreign language, have a back-up plan for those days when it seems impossible to practice. You might try one (or more!) of my 39 ideas for five-minute language practice or check out a podcast or audiobook in your target language. These require less effort than tackling a new lesson, but still help to solidify your language skills. 

As we move into this new year, I wish you not luck, but much successful practice. With some careful planning and good old-fashioned grit, you can meet your language learning goals!