Can You Really Learn Mandarin Chinese in Your Sleep?

More people than ever are looking to learn a second language.

There are endless programs on the market and classes offered to help you quickly learn a language, but not everyone has the time or the resources to take advantage of these opportunities.

And, if we’re being honest with ourselves, some of us are just plain lazy.

If you fit into either of the above categories, you might be searching for a more time-intensive way to learn a second language… You might also be looking for ways to learn Mandarin Chinese without actually doing any work.

According to research, improving your Mandarin skills while you sleep is technically possible. However, the problem lies in people refusing to do the hard work during the day. You cannot expect to become fluent in Mandarin from listening in your sleep, but there are one or two small benefits to “studying” while you sleep.

In this article, you will learn about the benefits of studying Chinese in your sleep, even if you can’t fully learn the language while getting shut-eye.

Learning While You Sleep

If our brains could learn everything needed for success in our sleep, there would be no need to seek formal education.

A lot more people would spend a lot more time sleeping, that’s for sure.

The human brain is extremely complex and can take in and process information at an amazing rate, even during rest. Still, it is not able to obtain large amounts of information in our sleep.

During sleep, the brain can learn complex sounds and word associations that are stored in the memory.

However, because this learning is done during sleep, the individual will not have the ability to apply the learning on command.

Hopefully, this seems obvious.

You obviously can’t have a conversation or complete a written test while you’re asleep unless you have some pretty serious problems.

How Does What We Learn During Sleep Help Us?

If an individual cannot pull their newly learned information from memory on command, you may be asking yourself if there’s any point in trying to learn Mandarin while you sleep.

Although you may not be able to retrieve explicit information being memorised during sleep, something is still going on inside that brain of yours.

For example, a study was completed by German scientists in which they introduced individuals to made-up words associated with large and small animals.

While awake, the subjects were unable to determine the exact animal attached to the name, but they were still able to group small and large by using the newly learned word.

The ability to associate words together can help with language learning while awake.

Can I Learn Mandarin While Sleeping?

Knowing that the human brain can retain language knowledge during sleep has led more people to attempt learning a new language whilst getting some shut-eye.

While you may solidify learning and build your vocabulary in this way, you will most definitely not wake up speaking fluent Mandarin Chinese.

Studies have shown the most effective way to strengthen language development during sleep is to listening to language you are already familiar with.

So, instead of attempting to learn new language during sleep, you can use it as a period of review. Because your brain is already familiar with the words, you are just strengthening the understanding.

How Many Words Should You Focus On?

During a study by Dutch scientists, they discovered that the brain has trouble focusing on many words during sleep.

Because of this, one could assume that a smaller familiar list of vocabulary to listen to while sleeping would be more beneficial than an entire recording of every word you know from the Chinese language.

It is also important to note that for your memory to trigger during sleep properly, the time must be uninterrupted for ample memorisation to take place.

If you are constantly waking from your sleep, you will not see the same positive results a sound sleeper may.

Is Age a Factor?

It has been long researched that acquiring a new language to reach fluency is best made by the age of ten.

However, we also now know that is perfectly possible for adults to reach fluency in a second language at any age.

The difference, in this case, is the evidence that shows children don’t turn their brains off during sleep in the same way adults do, which makes the possibility of learning a language during sleep more plausible.

How Can You Learn Chinese in Your Sleep?

Choose appropriate resources: Obviously, you can’t use flashcards or write hanzi in your sleep. As previously mentioned, the most beneficial resources for learning while sleeping are listening material consisting of language you’ve already learned. Is your listening material something that needs to be played on a loop? Can you set a timer for a specific portion of the program to play and then stop? Factor this into your sleep learning material.

Gather materials: This may sound a bit strange; after all, you are sleeping through this learning process, so what materials could you possibly need? If you are not sleeping alone, you will likely need a good set of headphones not to disturb your partner. You will also need to decide on what device you’ll be playing the audio from.

Keep it regular: Repetition is paramount. Remember, learning a language in your sleep is best completed by reviewing language already learned. Vocabulary review or sentences and phrases is usually the most popular choice for those who listen in their sleep.

Final Thoughts

Learning Mandarin Chinese while you sleep is technically possible, but do not expect to wake up a few weeks into the sleep learning routine as a fluent speaker.

Our brains are extremely complex and capable of learning during sleep, but by far the most important thing for learning Mandarin is active learning while you’re awake.

The good news about learning a language in your sleep is that you aren’t sacrificing your daily time to do it.