What My AirBnB Door Code Taught Me About Language Learning

I stay in AirBnBs quite often when travelling. And usually there’s a door code to get in. I noticed that it takes me only one try to remember it. But why does it take (sometimes) dozens of attempts to remember a word in another language? Shouldn’t we remember it after one try as well?

The Forgetting Curve And Why It’s Meaningless

First, let’s discuss the forgetting curve. It’s a pretty widely accepted concept from a study by Hermann Ebbinghaus in the 1880s.

Ebbinghaus studied how people forget over time by testing himself with nonsense syllables (made-up words like “ZUV” or “QAF”) to ensure he wasn’t relying on prior knowledge. He memorized a list of nonsense syllables until he could recite them perfectly. This resulted in what’s known as the forgetting curve:

Some of the main points are that:

• Most forgetting happens quickly right after learning (within hours)
• The rate of forgetting slows down over time
• Repeated practice strengthens memory and slows down forgetting

Hard to disagree. But notice something weird? How come it took me only one time to memorize a door code while according to the graph I should have forgotten at least some door codes. But I haven’t so far. Nor have I forgotten my email password etc.

It’s because Ebbinghaus studied nonsense syllables. Meaningless combinations of characters. And, of course, when there’s no meaning behind “words” then why remember them?

I found it to be true in language learning in general. Yes, it’s possible to memorize some words by just blindly repeating them and doing flashcards. But it takes a lot of effort and it just doesn’t feel good. Because there’s no meaning behind it. So a lot of effort is wasted and the results are mediocre.

A Shameless Plug

It’s why, after blindly trying to memorize nonsense sentences in Spanish with Duolingo, I couldn’t understand or remember much when visiting Spain after a year of studying.

And it’s why I created Lingo Champion. Everything you consume there (news articles, stories, song lyrics, videos, etc…) is actual content. And because you’re free to select whichever piece is interesting, it’s meaningful content. Therefore you’re less likely to forget it. And more likely to keep reading/listening.

So, the next time you enter a door code, remember — this effortlessness is how language learning should feel like.