How Long to Spend per Challenge
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Are you unsure of how much you need to know before you’re “allowed” to move on to your next challenge in your box? You’re looking over your first challenge, wondering, “How much time will take my family to learn all of these phrases? How in the world does anyone learn all of this?” I mean, it’s in a foreign language! ;)
If you're not sure when you're supposed to move on, or if you wait until you feel "good enough" to move on, you'll stay in the same challenge for a very. long. time. If not forever. You’ll say things to yourself like, “We didn’t work that hard on it,” or, “We haven’t mastered the phrases,” or “We haven’t done enough.” You’ll feel bad about continuing on and never feel ready to go forward.
There’s a lot of negative self-talk and resistance that fills your mind when you’re learning a language and when the time comes to move forward, these are the thoughts that will keep you stuck. They’ll keep you in the same spot. But being in the same spot is boring for your kids and uninspiring for you.
So here’s the truth:
- You don’t actually have to work that hard.
- You don’t have to master every single phrase.
- You don’t have to feel like you’ve done enough.
What you need to do is:
- Move forward!
This is because TalkBox.Mom is NOT a phrase database where you have to learn everything. It's a proven roadmap that will help you build consistency and make exponential progress. It’s designed with specific fluency approaches, phrase patterns, and experiences to help you remove mental and emotional roadblocks when it comes to talking in another language. The structure and time commitment were designed for busy families.
To follow this roadmap, you need to work through your challenge during your allotted time depending on your subscription speed, focusing on 1-5 phrases at a time. (not per week! but at a time.) Then you need to move forward. Yes, move forward without learning everything. This forward momentum will help keep you motivated and give you the space you need to continue to use your phrases in your life and let them sink in.
When you return to work through your challenge a second and third time, you’ll start using the rest of your phrases much faster because you gave your family space to make the phrases you started with become oh. so. easy. and a part of your day.
The phrases you add to your life the first time through your challenge become stepping stones that allow you to add other phrases in the challenge to your life at a much faster pace. You won’t miss out on anything you skipped the first time. It will still be there.
I want to remind you that TalkBox.Mom isn’t about what you know. It’s about what you’re using. Your focus is on having fun and creating a habit. It’s not learning everything you want all at once. That’s absolutely unrealistic. You’ll pass up any family who is trying to “master” every phrase. This approach isn’t how your brain is designed to learn if you want to use the phrases you’re learning. So let’s not do that.
If you decide to have fun practicing your phrases, use them during your allotted time, and then move forward, you’ll make a ton of progress using your phrases. Let’s do that.
So here’s when you move on to your next challenge:
Monthly
If your subscription speed is set to monthly, you’ll work on each challenge for one week, focusing on 1-5 phrases at a time and then moving on to your next challenge at the end of one week.
This pacing is ideal for families living abroad in a country that speaks the language you’re learning, families that are going to move or go on an upcoming trip, or native-speaking families that fell out of the habit of talking together in the language. It’s for the focused family that wants to achieve their goals ASAP.
At this pacing, you might work on two phrases at a time and have those two phrases added to your life by the afternoon and choose another set of two phrases the same day, adding those to your life by the evening. This means you have two or three five-minute practice sessions per day.
By the end of the week, you could have 10 to 40+ phrases added to your life that week. But whatever you hit, it’s time to move on to the next challenge.
TalkBox.Mom was originally designed to be a monthly program because you really just need one focused week as described above to move on to the next challenge.
Every Two Months
If your subscription speed is set to every two months, you’ll work on each challenge for three weeks, focusing on 1-5 phrases at a time and then moving on to your next challenge at the end of three weeks.
This pacing is ideal for families that want to spend a little bit of time each day working towards their goal of using the language with their family.
At this pacing, you might work on two phrases at a time, doing one practice session per school day while spending two or three days practicing those phrases and adding them to your life. Then you add in another two phrases. At first, it might take you longer to get your phrases added to your life, but in the second and third weeks, you’ll start to pick up more speed.
By the end of the three weeks, you could have 10 to 40+ phrases added to your life over those three weeks. But whatever you hit, it’s time to move on to the next challenge.
Every Three Months
If your subscription speed is set to every three months, you’ll work on each challenge for four weeks, focusing on 1-5 phrases at a time and then moving on to your next challenge at the end of four weeks.
This pacing is ideal for families that take breaks here and there in their learning during the month—like you miss a whole week and then get back into it again.
At this pacing, you might work on two phrases at a time, doing one practice session per school day while spending two or three days practicing those phrases and adding them to your life. Then you add in another two phrases. If you take a week off, jump right back in. It’s totally fine! At first, it might take you longer to get your phrases added to your life, but in the second and third weeks, you’ll start to pick up more speed.
By the end of the four weeks, you could have 10 to 40+ phrases added to your life over those four weeks. But whatever you hit, it’s time to move on to the next challenge.
Action Item
Grab the progress tracker in your box and write in permanent marker the dates you’re starting each challenge. Yes, no backing out even if you don’t feel like you’re “good enough” by the time you’re moving forward. Simply start your next challenges on the dates you wrote down without the negative self-talk.
Post a picture of your progress tracker in the private community for TalkBox.Mom families with your dates using #committed.
Success
Now instead of staying on your first challenge for two years (we’ve seen it) because you don’t feel like you know every single phrase, you’ll start before you’re ready, which is exactly what your brain needs you to do to create a habit and make progress in your language.
With permission granted to move forward, you won’t be spending longer than a month on a challenge as you move forward towards your goal. You’ll have fun working through every single box and when you circle back, you’ll be adding the phrases you skipped to your life like they’re no big deal. You’ll feel prepared for each box you get to and start seeing that your family can add phrases faster to your life. Yes, look at you! You’ll be living your language dream.
If you find you haven't moved on to your next box in the past three months, it's time to go into your account and set the delivery date for your next box, especially if your account is on hold. It's time to move forward toward your goals!
Simply go to:
- My Account
- Subscription
- Payment Settings: Reactive
- Shipment: Choose Date
I cannot wait to see a picture of your progress tracker every time you start a new box. I know if you take this small step to commit, you’ll make progress towards your goals.
So I’ll see you in the community.
Thank you for choosing TalkBox.Mom to talk in a foreign language with your family.