The biggest difference between learning English in China and abroad is that you never get long, dedicated blocks of time to "study English" when you’re overseas. You’ll be huddled outside a convenience store looking up words to argue about your deposit with your landlord, squeezing 10 minutes before class to sort out group project ideas with foreign classmates, and memorizing 2 restaurant terms during meals to avoid ordering something weird. People who say "you’ll naturally pick up English once you go abroad" are straight up lying. I’ve met too many international students who spent 3 years abroad only hanging out with other Chinese people, still only saying "this one" when ordering food. To put it simply, you don’t need to wait for big chunks of time to practice speaking — making good use of fragmented time is enough.

01Is memorizing words the only way to use fragmented time for English learning?

Of course not. I’ve seen so many people memorize 200 words during a 1-hour commute, only to forget all of them right after, which is totally useless. The core of fragmented time learning is "short and frequent", not cramming as much content as possible.

  • 10-15 minutes on commute: Listen to the recording of your previous foreign teacher class, mumble along to fill in gaps, no need to force yourself to memorize new content
  • 25 minutes during lunch break: Take a Callan Method one-on-one online foreign teacher class, you’ll speak the whole time with the fast pace, no time to slack off
  • Gap time when scrolling short videos after work: Say the 3 practical sentences you learned that day out loud twice, no need to find a specific scenario
  • 5 minutes waiting for food on weekends: Flip through your saved high-frequency scene word cards, just get familiar with them, you’ll react naturally next time you see them

02Why are 25-minute short classes better than 2-hour long classes for working people?

Think about it, after a whole morning of work, your brain is already fried. If you force yourself to sit through a 2-hour long class, you’ll only focus for the first 20 minutes, then scroll your phone for the rest. You spend money but learn nothing. 25 minutes is exactly the limit of concentrated attention for adults, you can even have 10 minutes to nap after class, no impact on your afternoon work.

Frankly, when I took language classes abroad, we also switched topics every 25 minutes, the efficiency was way higher than those long afternoon classes where you sit for hours.

03What to do if I’m afraid to speak English? Can I practice in fragmented time?

Absolutely. Many people think you need to find a private place to speak for half an hour to practice speaking, that’s totally unnecessary. Even if you mumble 3 sentences along with a recording on your commute, you’re training your mouth muscle memory, which is 10 times more useful than just memorizing words. If you’re afraid of making mistakes when speaking, you can start with short classes with Filipino teachers, most of them have taught many adult beginner students, they won’t laugh at your accent or mistakes.

"I used to force myself to study English for an hour straight and ended up exhausted," said A Shuang, a cross-border operations worker. "Now I listen to 10 minutes of review material on my way to work and take a 25-minute class during lunch break. After 3 months, I’m confident enough to have video calls with foreign clients."

If you don’t know how to find suitable speaking practice methods, you can refer to the 3 practical fragmented time tips we summarized before.

04Can zero-basis English learners use fragmented time too?

Of course, and I personally recommend zero-basis learners start with fragmented time. Don’t force yourself to study 2 hours a day at the very beginning, you’ll easily give up. You can take a 25-minute short class every day, learn the most practical content like greetings and asking for directions, you can use what you learn the same day, the sense of achievement will keep you motivated.

Many adult English learners are afraid to speak at first because of their poor foundation, but if you follow the Callan Method rhythm, you can start speaking without accumulating too much foundation first, which is way more efficient than memorizing grammar blindly.

Learning English is never a hard chore that requires you to squeeze out tons of time. If you use fragmented time correctly, you can see improvements with less than half an hour a day. If you want to try the effect of 25-minute high-frequency short classes, you can book our free trial class to experience it.