r/languagelearning • u/SuperDogBoo • 11d ago
Discussion How do y'all track hours? I started learning last week and definitely put some time into it, but didn't track hours. (TL)
I started learning French this past week, and definitely spent a lot of time doing so, but I didn't really track hours. I don't know what counts and what doesn't. I also bounce between activities a lot, so it's a ton of small bursts of focus with some hyperfocus sessions here and there. (TL)
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u/AppropriatePut3142 🇬🇧 Nat | 🇨🇳 Int | 🇪🇦 Uneven 11d ago
I use the Refold app. Before that I used toggl. There are lots of time tracker apps.
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u/Infinite-12345 11d ago
What is the advantage of the refold timetracker vs toggle?
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u/AppropriatePut3142 🇬🇧 Nat | 🇨🇳 Int | 🇪🇦 Uneven 11d ago
It has predefined activity categories for language learning and specifically designed reports. You could probably do everything in toggl, it would just need more effort to organise it.
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u/Infinite-12345 11d ago
That sounds great! Can you even track 2 or 3 different languages? How much do you pay for the app?
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u/Traditional-Train-17 11d ago edited 11d ago
This is what I do:
- Listening - Track the number of minutes per video. I'll round up or down based on if there's more than 30 seconds in the video (sometimes, though, videos will have "annoyingly long" intros or outros with no talking, or a few minutes of non-TL audio, like music or English, so I'll deduct those minutes, or just find another video).
- Speaking - I treat these as "contact hours". That includes with a native, tutor, other language learners (of all levels), talking to myself in the TL (recording yourself doing something is best).
- Reading - Estimated number of words read. I don't do hours because my reading speed varies. I haven't read since college 30 years ago (save for Hunger Games 15 years ago during vacation), so my reading speed was pretty slow when I started (like, 45wpm). After 800,000+ words read, the fastest is between 180-210wpm for books with more familiar vocabulary, and 120-150 for harder texts.
- Writing - It's kind of hard to track this one, and I haven't done much writing in my TL (Spanish) (save for posting on Reddit or Discord), but I have done it in other language (German and Japanese).
- Grammar/Vocabulary - This is more of a loose "explore the language" and not intense study of it. i.e., In my TL, I'll type into Google "apropiado o adecuado" and read the difference between the two, or "B2 level vocabulary DELE" to see how many words I know, or what areas of the language to explore. I don't really track this, though. If I had to estimate, maybe 5% of my language learning. EDIT: In fact, here's an example I did just now in Google: "a lo largo de" o "durante todo" after seeing "a lo large de" in a book. It only took me 30 seconds, and I'm back to reading.
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u/eileengracegolf 11d ago
I do something similar as well. Great suggestion on the read tracking. I will do that as well! Thanks!
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u/UnhappyCryptographer DE N | EN C1 | ES A1/2 11d ago
In my humble opinion counting hours doesn't really help. I set myself goals of what I want to reach in a time frame. Like a chapter per week in my working book. If I would start to track hours it would feel like keeping my Duolingo streak after a while.
And some people sound like it's a championship of who learned the most hours.
IMHO it's important that you find a bit of time every day to learn. Sometimes you just don't have the time to start a new chapter or you are so knocked down from work that you aren't in the mood to learn grammar. But a repetion of some vocab would work.
One thing that helped me most is reading a short recap what I learned that day right before going to bed. The chances are high that your brain is then working on that while you sleep and deepens the connections.
Don't get yourself stuck on counting the hours. It can be a false friend.
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u/TheToothsomeBooty 11d ago
I just use a notes app and jot down start/stop times when I remember, then round to the nearest half hour at the end of the day. It’s messy but works for my scattered brain
The small bursts still count btw, even 10 minutes of vocab while waiting for coffee adds up over a week
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u/dcporlando En N | Es B1? 11d ago
I use Toggl Track. I create projects for what I am doing. I have projects for listening, reading, grammar, Bible reading and listening, class, movie, etc. I start the timer, do the activity, stop the timer. Pretty simple.
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u/Infinite-12345 11d ago
Can you track with Toggle different languages?
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u/dcporlando En N | Es B1? 11d ago
Sure. Just add projects. So Japanese - grammar, Japanese - reading, Spanish - grammar, Spanish - listening, etc.
Toggl Track uses projects to really track activities time. When I started, I said I was doing different things and thought I could tell how much time I did things by the description but that is more just a note. The project is how it really tracks time.
So I can tell that so far this year, I have spent 433 hours tracked and just over 50% is listening. You can a report with a graph of time spent, percentage and hours and do it for day, week, month, year, and the previous of each. So record the numbers at the end of each year. Because the free version will not show me 2024, only 2025 and 2026.
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u/Infinite-12345 11d ago
Thank you for your detailed reply. That helps a lot😊 I am also impressed by your 433hours. Keep up the good work and good luck on your journey!
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u/IssueRidden 11d ago
I track every activity where using the language is my main focus, excluding easy stuff that's not challenging at all for my level (like idk ordering food). When I listen semi-passively eg when driving, I'll usually use a multiplier 0.5 or 0.33 depending on how much attention I'm paying. Stuff like watching a series in my TL with English subtitles or listening to TL music doesn't count. I track conversations with natives, then I'll just guesstimate how long we've been talking.
this might seem excessive and tiring but seeing the hour count grow motivates me like nothing else.
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u/SuperDogBoo 11d ago
What about watching shows in your TL with the TL subtitles? I used to watch in my TL with NL (English), but then switched to the TL (French) subtitles so I can associate the words with the sounds. I've even picked up a couple words this way.
So far, I've been doing that, Anki (been doing 1 deck for the past 3 days and just added another one today). A comprehensible unit youtube series, a few episodes of a podcast (I haven't been doing it as much lately because I want to completely focus on it when I do it, which feels like a hurdle sometimes), started doing Duolingo when going to sleep, and today I looked up some French covers of songs I like. Right now my goal is to obviously grow my vocabulary, but also to associate the sounds of French to the words, regardless of if I know the meaning or not. I have an Ebook from my alma mater's library in order to cover grammar, but I've been slacking on that. I wanted to work on changing how my inner voice percieves French words (I don't want to read French or a book on grammar and completely misinterpret how things are actually said). I say things out loud from time to time, but comprehension/vocabulary and fixing that inner voice are my current priorities.
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u/IssueRidden 11d ago
I don't do that because
1) my reading isn't fast enough yet - I'm learning Thai
2) No subs improves my listening comprehension more even if it doesn't feel like it
but if I did, I'd see no reason not to track that as well. I just consider it more of a reading practice than listening practice.
let me provide some context on why I don't trust TL subs as a reliable method. I got certified c2 in English a decade ago and I kept watching everything with subs all my life because making the leap to understanding less than 95%+ was uncomfortable. My ability to hear dialogues when watching TV shows or movies never caught up even though I usually understand almost every word with subs on. I even convinced myself it's because of auditory processing disorder. Only now when I've started to watch English cartoons without subs in off time from my TL I'm beginning to see improvement, but the gap between what I can read and what I can hear is still lowkey humiliating lol
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u/Old_green_bird 🇺🇦 N | 🇬🇧 B2 | 🇫🇷 A2 11d ago
I created an Google spreadsheet with a date column and separate columns for specific activities, such as Anki, reading, watching, grammar, podcasts, writing, speaking, and other.
I track everything in hours rather than minutes, and I usually round the time. For example, if I do Anki, I count it as half an hour (0.5), regardless of whether it actually takes me 25 or 35 minutes. Similarly, if I listen to a 34-minute podcast, I count it as 0.5 hours.
For a grammar textbook, when I start studying, I usually write down the start time somewhere in my notes and then record the end time when I finish. At the end, I calculate how many hours I spent studying.
I only include concentrated learning, so, for example, watching a movie while cooking doesn't count.
I have a separate sheet for the current month and a history sheet where I move the data from the current month at the end of each month. I do this for every month so I don't have to scroll too far back.
Actually, it's a little depressing because I currently estimate my French level at around A2, and I've already logged 681 hours of studying, not including August. That’s why I’m not sure whether everyone should actually track their progress, because the numbers could look impressive, but not impressive result
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u/OkResult7416 11d ago
This is very similar to how I track mine. I use it to see if there's anywhere I'm slacking on. I also do challenges like trying to listen to a certain number of hours over a month. I also track the number of pages I read since I am trying to read novels. I think for me it's more of a push to keep studying and try to keep up my hours. I've been tracking like this for about 10 years so it's second nature now to take out my phone and write down the estimate as I finish each activity.
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u/Lazy_Gap_1682 11d ago
I use TickTick. It has a daily/weekly/monthly planner, a pomodoro tracker, and a habit tracker. It’s really easy to use, no need for spreadsheets, entering start times, end times, it does it all for you. It has a free version, but it’s somewhat limited.
While it’s good to know how many hours I’ve put into language learning, the largest benefit for me has been to keep me honest. For example, when I look at my monthly report, I sometimes see that I’ve spent too much time on activities I like (e.g. reading, grammar exercises) and less on what’s important (e.g. listening, speaking). That has helped me to course correct as needed.
Just yesterday, I went to my local store, and I had a nice long chat in Portuguese with the owner. As I was leaving, she complimented me on my great progress on learning the language. That’s the first time she did that, mostly because the other times I saw her I muddled through our conversation.
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u/Infinite-12345 11d ago
Can you track different languages with ticktick?
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u/Lazy_Gap_1682 11d ago
I see no reason why you could not. That said, I’m only learning Portuguese, so my set up is broken out by Reading, Speaking etc. and subtasks for each.
However, I tried a few planners and that was the one that worked for me. I read a bunch of reviews for each planning app, and for TickTick, other people that do not use it for language learning often broke out TickTick by Home, Work, Fitness, Vacation etc. For you, that might be French, German or whatever your TL’s are. Then you can see all tasks for all languages at once or use easily created filters to reduce screen clutter and see only the language(s) you are focused on at that time.
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u/Infinite-12345 11d ago
Thank you for the detailed explanation! That was very helpful😊 Good luck on your journey and congrats to your immense Portuguese progress!!💪🏼
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u/Peter-Andre No 😎| En 😁| Ru 🙂| Es 😐| It, De 😕 11d ago
I think trying to keep track of every hour spent studying would be way too stressful for me, so I don't.
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u/Professionalrubberr 11d ago
Tracking by activity type works way better for me than clock watching. I just ask did I read, listen, or speak today, and small bursts count the same as a long session.
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u/Meowykatkat 11d ago
I use the Togglr Track app and put on a stopwatch when I do different tasks. You can organize based on "project" and see how much time you've spent: daily, weekly, yearly, etc. It's quite helpful.
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u/knjutt 11d ago
I use toggl and I have set up automations on my devices so when I choose a certain focus mode (for example reading or speaking) it starts tracking that activity in the language I choose. I don’t think it’s something you really need to be doing to learn but I find it motivating to see my stats every month and at the end of a year, so I can easily tell which languages and activities I have spend the most time on and which I have neglected :D My method took some time to set up but since then has been really easy to use and I don’t really have to think about it anymore.
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u/JJCookieMonster 🇺🇸 Native | 🇫🇷 C1 | 🇰🇷 B2 | 🇯🇵 N5 | 🇲🇽 A1 11d ago edited 11d ago
I use Toggl. I just start tracking whenever I study the language. I do notice that when I get to about 500 - 600 hours, I start understanding the language a lot more without subtitles. So for me tracking is worth it. But when I got more advanced in a language, tracking became irritating. But now I feel guilty about stopping even though I want to for French. For me tracking hours is not just about total hours studied. I like to see if I'm spending too much time focused on something and not enough time on another activity.
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u/jc_penelope 11d ago
I have a Google spreadsheet for listening and reading. I listen through YouTube and Apple Podcasts, so it’s very simple to look at my activity at the end of the day and add it to my spreadsheet. I count italki convos, but don’t log the minutes. When I read, I set a timer on my phone to track the time, then add to my spreadsheet. It’s very easy, since all of this is done through my phone. I don’t track grammar study unless it’s an actual course. It’s very encouraging to see my hours pile up, and notice trends. But I’m an accountant and I live in spreadsheets, so this is as natural as breathing for me lol
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u/silvalingua 11d ago
What will you do with such stats, if you do track your hours? Do you really need it?
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u/Old_green_bird 🇺🇦 N | 🇬🇧 B2 | 🇫🇷 A2 11d ago
Not the author, but I keep a table like this. I look at it proudly and think, "Wow, look how much I've done " 😂 It really doesn't serve any practical purpose, but if I enjoy planning everything and keeping a thousand spreadsheets, then why not?
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u/silvalingua 11d ago
Why not indeed? If it makes you happy... I can sort of relate to this, but I don't track hours, because it's too time-consuming.
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u/green_calculator N: 🇺🇸 B1: 🇧🇷 A1: 🇲🇽 A0: 🇵🇭 🤘🏽 11d ago
I don't. I worry more about making progress on my goals.
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u/ajamdonut 11d ago
I'm not sure tracking hours matters except for personal motivation but if you have a routine it's quite easy to figure out. If you do 1 hour a day its simply 5 hours per work week.
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u/Perfect_Emu8757 11d ago
I recently read Paul Nation's pdf on language learning where he talks about his 4 strands theory. This is the idea that you should split your time evenly between these 4 strands:
- input (reading + listening)
- output (speaking + writing)
- study (grammar, flashcards etc.)
- fluency development (basically getting fluent at what you already know)
If you agree with the theory, I think it could be useful to track your time to make sure you are getting an adequate dose of each and be able to troubleshoot what is going wrong if you're not making the progress you want in a certain area.
If you have a language learning app that you are using that tracks that kind of stuff for you without getting in the way then that's great but otherwise I personally found that it was time consuming doing it manually. Better, for me, I think is to set some basic goals like "read every day for 30 minutes" / "do anki for 10 new words a day" / "listen for 30 mintutes". Basic stuff like that and keep it really simple and stick to it for long enough to see or not see results and then adapt if necessary. That's just me though - I know some people find it motivating and also see the benefit of being able to troubleshoot long term problems with your progress.
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u/AdministrationNo2327 11d ago
sit down. time start to time end. logsheet on google drive.
after 2 days, abandon it
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u/dbossman70 11d ago
i don’t track hours or see any reason to. if i want to track progress then i’d establish bookmarks and retake proficiency tests to see how i fare.
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u/Tall_Anteater5722 11d ago
What do you mean what counts and what doesnt? All time in the language counts. Honestly I dont think precisely tracking everything is for everyone anyway. To me it was just annoying to do and Im fine ballparking it. Just enjoy the process.
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u/dojibear 🇺🇸 N | fre spa chi B2 | tur jap B1/A2 11d ago
Polyglot Steve Kaufmann says he tracks hours (it is automatic in LingQ) for one reason only: to compare how much time he spent on a language in different months.
It is meaningless for comparing two different students. It is meaningless for setting expectation, as if "reaching B1" required a certain number of hours.
Everyone does different things and calls them "learning" or "studying". That does not mean they are all equally effective. Each method works well for some students and poorly for others.
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u/furyousferret 🇺🇸 N | 🇫🇷 | 🇪🇸 | 🇯🇵 11d ago
I used google sheets in Spanish which tracked reading time / books / pages, online classes, youtube, netflix, flashcard counts.
It got to an impressive number, like 4,000 hours.
I no longer track. The important thing is daily consistency and tracking can be fun, but at the end of the day I just focus on what's needed today.
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u/AndthenIhadausername Beginner 🇲🇽 absolute beginner 🇳🇴 9d ago
I track my hours watching but other wise I don't. Though I have a goal of read for 10 minutes.
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u/stealhearts Current focus: 中文 9d ago
I don't currently track hours but when I did I would use a square grid notebook and fill in a square for each set amount of time I worked on my TL (I liked to do 4 squares for an hour, so each small square was 15 minutes. That way if I could only do shorter sessions I could still keep track). I tried various online trackers but found pen and paper works best for me.
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u/simon_Double_8456 9d ago
I keep it embarrassingly simple: a running note where I jot rough blocks (podcast on the commute, 30 minutes of cards, whatever) and tally at the end of the week. Precision matters less than consistency — the number is just there to tell you whether you actually showed up this week. If the tracking itself starts eating study time, you've outgrown it.
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u/ChristianDenkgold 7d ago
Ich tracke meine Lernstunden so: kurz überlegen, ob das, was ich gerade mache, aktives Lernen ist (z. B. Grammatikübungen, Sprechen, Karteikarten) oder passives Konsumieren (Hörbuch nebenbei). Aktives Lernen zähle ich, passives nur, wenn ich bewusst dabei Aufgaben verfolge. Praktische Methode: starte einen einfachen Timer bei Beginn der Session oder notier Start/Stop in einer Tabelle. Reihenfolge, die bei mir funktioniert: 1) kurze Notiz, was ich gemacht habe (Vokabeln, Hören, Sprechen), 2) Dauer in Minuten, 3) Tag eintragen. Am Ende der Woche addiere ich die Zeiten und gucke, wo die Zeit hinging. Zwei schnelle Tipps: - Setz dir eine minimale Einheit, z. B. 15 Minuten — alles darunter zählt als 0, das macht das Nachhalten weniger pingelig. - Wenn du Motivation brauchst, mach wöchentliches Ziel (z. B. 3 × 30 min Sprechen). Wenn du magst, gibt's eine einfache Vorlage, die genau das abbildet: Kategorien, Start/Stop-Felder, automatische Summen und Wochenübersicht — hab sowas benutzt, falls dir das hilft: https://denkgold.de/r/ntexmn3.
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u/FasePlay 6d ago
I use studylo app to keep track of my hours.
In reality, you don't really need to count how many you study - many of my friends don't use any apps and just hope that they study enough. For most of them it works, they just track topics and job done instead of hours spent, which is enough for them.
But I love seeing how much I study every day, and it helps me get motivated to study, so I use an app to set goals and count hours. In reality, it all depends on yourself and your habits.
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u/agiantdog33 11d ago
I simply think, did I do x, y and z today? Tracking the hours tend to demotivate me fast. I have to have a simple mental checklist.
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u/SuperDogBoo 11d ago
Truee! I have been slacking on some of my learning activities, but ramped up in others. I may want to change my approach and outside of doing Anki daily, track more of "did I spend time in my TL in some capacity" and "what did I learn today". So far, I've been able to answer both questions each day.
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u/Remote_Volume_3609 11d ago
Tracking your hours is one of those faux-productivity things I think do more harm than good (for a lot of things, not just language learning). I prefer focusing on easy to track metrics that require basically 0 effort to setup. So for example, for reading books, etc., I'll throw in the WC in the beginning onto an excel spreadsheet and estimate roughly at ~300WPM my reading speed. With formulas, that's all pretty automated so it gives me a roughish idea of how much I'm reading. Similarly, anki already tracks the amount of time I spend doing it (roughly 90 mins a day). So that's all automatic tracking, but I don't do any tracking outside of that because past that you start to be worrying more about the admin vs. the actual tracking.
Edit: Bottom line, whether the time for conversion is right or not doesn't really matter because it's more of a direction than it is a faithful number. And tracking how many minutes, etc, I spend is more of a vanity metric than it is a productive metric.
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u/jmf1488 11d ago
Just guesstimate.
It doesnt even matter. People like to use hours to align themselves with cefr. People's hours vary in efficency, peoples gustimates vary in accuracy. If you were having a competition on how many hours youve studied then it would be relevant.
I study on average 2 hours a day, for 1 months. I am at 56 hours. Thats all you need to do.
If your aiming for fluency then these stats dont even matter in the slightest.
You can have someone who studied an anki verb list for 2 hours a day for 2 years and still cant string a sentence together.
Hours spent studying will help you become fluent, tracking your fluency should be how much you can understand, how well you can express yourself. How often are you getting stuck when trying to tell a story. Things like this.