晚上睡不著?起來(lái)學(xué)英語(yǔ)！

If you’re among the hundreds of millions of people learning a foreign language, being an insomniac could end up working in your favor: If you regularly practice the language you are learning at night, just before you go to sleep, it appears that you’re more likely to remember it.

如果你是數(shù)億外語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)者中的一員，睡得晚一點(diǎn)可能更有助于你學(xué)習(xí)——每天晚上睡前學(xué)外語(yǔ)，能記得更牢固。

Sleep has been known to have a positive impact on learning. A 2016 study investigated the effect that repeated practice and sleep have on the long-term retention of information, particularly foreign-language vocabulary. Over the course of two sessions done 12 hours apart, 40 participants practiced foreign-language vocabulary. Half of them learned in the morning and reviewed in the evening of the same day, while the other half learned in the evening, slept on it, and then reviewed that lesson the next morning. One week later (and again six months later), the researchers assessed the participants’ retention. They discovered that sleeping in between lessons led to much better long-term retention.

眾所周知，眠有助于學(xué)習(xí)。一份2016年的研究調(diào)查了重復(fù)訓(xùn)練和睡眠對(duì)外語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)的影響。在兩個(gè)人部分、共計(jì)12小時(shí)的實(shí)驗(yàn)中。40人分成兩組學(xué)習(xí)外語(yǔ)單詞。一組早上學(xué)習(xí)晚上復(fù)習(xí)，另一組晚上學(xué)習(xí)，再睡一覺(jué)，第二天早上復(fù)習(xí)。一周以后(第二次是六個(gè)月以后)，研究者測(cè)試了記憶效果，發(fā)現(xiàn)在中間睡過(guò)一覺(jué)的長(zhǎng)期記憶效果更好。

This finding echoes the results of a recent analysis our team at Duolingo conducted on the learning habits of tens of thousands of language learners. However, we found that practicing before bed time isn’t the only trick: What’s key is making language learning a daily habit and sticking to it—consistently. Here’s the data that supports it.

這項(xiàng)調(diào)查結(jié)果和我們團(tuán)隊(duì)在多領(lǐng)國(guó)(Duolingo)上對(duì)一萬(wàn)人的學(xué)習(xí)習(xí)慣進(jìn)行分析后的結(jié)果一致。但是，我們發(fā)現(xiàn)在睡前學(xué)習(xí)只是一個(gè)小技巧：真正的關(guān)鍵是讓學(xué)習(xí)變成日常習(xí)慣，并持之以恒的堅(jiān)持。調(diào)查過(guò)程如下：

The analysis

分析

First, we analyzed Duolingo users’ behavior to identify 14 groups based on their activity level at different times of day. (Activity level was measured by the number of Duolingo lessons each user completed during a given hour of the day on weekdays and weekends.) The following heat map illustrates the 14 usage groups. Red indicates a lot of activity, while blue indicates inactivity (and yellows or greens indicate moderate activity):

一開(kāi)始，我們根據(jù)多領(lǐng)國(guó)用戶一天不同時(shí)間段的活躍情況，將他們分成了14組(分工作日和周末兩個(gè)部分)，如下圖所示，顏色越紅越活躍，越藍(lán)越不活躍。

Each group has its own distinct preferences for when to spend time learning throughout the week. The “bed time” group, for example, is most active between 10pm and midnight on both weekdays (left) and weekends (right), as indicated by the dark red cells during those hours. Compare that with the “9-to-5” group, who uses Duolingo mostly during the working hours of 10am to 6pm on weekdays (left), but not much on weekends (right). These behavioral groups were all discovered automatically by a clustering algorithm, and then we gave names to each group based on the results.

每一組在學(xué)習(xí)時(shí)間的偏好上都不一樣。例如，“睡覺(jué)時(shí)間(bed time)”這一組，就喜歡在晚上十點(diǎn)到午夜學(xué)習(xí)，不管是工作日還是周末。而“ 朝九晚五(9 to 5)”這一組，最喜歡在早上10點(diǎn)到下午六點(diǎn)之間學(xué)習(xí)，工作日是這樣，但周末就不一定了。這些行為組都是歸類(lèi)算法自己發(fā)現(xiàn)的，我們只是按結(jié)果給他們?nèi)×艘粋€(gè)名字。

Next, we analyzed Duolingo users’ performance using an additive factor model, which can estimate each user’s language ability while controlling for the inherent difficulty of each exercise (due to vocabulary, grammar, or other factors). We can use this model to assess and rank each Duolingo learner according to their proficiency level.

接著就是分析了，我們運(yùn)用加性因子模型(additive factor model)評(píng)估了每一位學(xué)習(xí)者的效率等級(jí)。這種模型分析可以排除學(xué)習(xí)者的內(nèi)在差異

When comparing Duolingo users’ proficiency across different groups, we found that those who practiced consistently just before bed time ranked higher than 52.9% of all users on average. This was the highest-performing group in our analysis.

對(duì)比不同小組的學(xué)習(xí)效率，我們發(fā)現(xiàn)，在睡前學(xué)習(xí)的小組提升達(dá)到52.9%，是我們分析的小組中最高的。

The best way to learn a language—and remember it

學(xué)語(yǔ)言的最佳辦法

These results suggest a couple of things. Yes, those who study just before sleeping tend to perform better than other groups. But the time of day isn’t the only thing: Equally important is the fact that these language learners consistently studied daily before bed. Users in the “bed time” group made language practice a daily habit on weekdays and weekends alike. This wasn’t the case for several of the other lower-performing groups, such as the “weeknights,” “weekends,” or the “9-to-5” group that didn’t keep studying over the weekend.

這個(gè)結(jié)果說(shuō)明兩個(gè)問(wèn)題。睡覺(jué)之前學(xué)習(xí)效果確實(shí)好。但時(shí)間選擇不能解決一切問(wèn)題，同樣關(guān)鍵的還有學(xué)習(xí)者的堅(jiān)持，睡前組的成員已經(jīng)養(yǎng)成了習(xí)慣，無(wú)論是不是周末都堅(jiān)持睡前學(xué)習(xí)。而其他組的成員則沒(méi)有這個(gè)習(xí)慣。

Developing a regular daily habit is advantageous if you’re trying lead a healthier lifestyle, and language learning is no different. When people set aside focused time to learn and practice a skill, they appear to learn more than those who are less consistent—and perhaps just before bed turns out to be particularly good time to set aside, because you’re less likely to be interrupted by your workmate, laundry, or urge to sleep in.

培養(yǎng)日常習(xí)慣對(duì)形成健康的生活方式是有幫助的，學(xué)習(xí)也是一個(gè)道理。那些集中一個(gè)時(shí)間段學(xué)習(xí)的人，比那些沒(méi)有計(jì)劃的人學(xué)得更好，而且睡前這段時(shí)間確實(shí)很容易空出來(lái)，因?yàn)槟悴粫?huì)被其他事情打擾。

While our analysis focused on users’ activity on Duolingo, language learning can take place in many forms. To go even further in making your practice a daily habit, try turning on French subtitles next time you’re watching your favorite TV show, or start listening to podcasts in Spanish on your daily commute. There are many ways to commit to making language learning part of your routine and, taken together, they can help you reach the level of proficiency you’re aiming for.

盡管我們的分析集中于多領(lǐng)國(guó)上的用戶活躍，但語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)也可以通過(guò)其他的方式。試試在日常生活中更進(jìn)一步，下次看電視節(jié)目換成法語(yǔ)字幕，或者在通勤過(guò)程中聽(tīng)一聽(tīng)西班牙語(yǔ)播客。有很多辦法都能讓語(yǔ)言學(xué)習(xí)進(jìn)入日常生活，而且他們確實(shí)能幫你更快達(dá)成你的目標(biāo)。

As much as we might wish otherwise, there is no magic bullet for learning a language, but starting with dedicated practice every day—especially just before you sleep—goes a long way.

盡管我們都希望能又快又好，但學(xué)習(xí)語(yǔ)言確實(shí)沒(méi)有捷徑可以走，但從每天練習(xí)開(kāi)始——從睡覺(jué)之前開(kāi)始——確實(shí)能幫你學(xué)得好一點(diǎn)。