Neuroscience Speaks
The Best Times of Day to Practice a New Language
When is the best time to study a new language?
According to neuroscience - and experts like Dr. Andrew Huberman, a professor of neurobiology at Stanford - the answer isn't just about personal preference. It’s about working with your brain’s natural rhythms to optimize learning, focus, and retention.
🔄 The Circadian Rhythm and Learning Windows
Your brain follows a 24-hour cycle of fluctuating alertness, attention, and plasticity - known as the circadian rhythm. Huberman frequently emphasizes that timing tasks to match these biological highs and lows can improve performance, whether you're learning a language or lifting weights.
“Your ability to focus and learn is not the same throughout the day. It’s biologically timed.”
- Dr. Andrew Huberman, Huberman Lab Podcast
Peak Learning Windows
Huberman identifies two key windows for deep learning and focus:
Mid morning (~ 90-120 minutes after waking)
Brain is alert but not overstimulated
Ideal for learning new and difficult information
Enhanced ability to form long-term memory traces
Late afternoon (~ 4-6 hours before bedtime)
Second natural focus window
Good for creative tasks, conversation, or applied learning (e.g., listening or speaking)
Huberman and others emphasize that the brain’s plasticity gates are more open during focused, deliberate sessions within these windows. That’s when your brain is most capable of forming and strengthening neural connections.
These windows are when dopamine levels, acetylcholine signaling, and cortisol rhythms align to promote heightened focus and learning plasticity.
🧠 Language Learning and Neuroplasticity
Language acquisition is a highly neuroplastic process - meaning it involves physically changing the structure and function of the brain. This process is heavily influenced by:
Acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter involved in focus and memory
Dopamine, not just the "feel-good" molecule, but a neurochemical driver of motivation, focus, memory, and behavioral change.
Cortisol, helps regulate energy, alertness, and cognitive readiness
epinephrine (adrenaline), primes the brain for plasticity
Sleep, which consolidates learning
💤 Why Sleep Matters (and Why Evening Review Works)
Even if you're too tired to study intensively at night, light review before bed can still help. Why? Because sleep is when the brain consolidates new information.
"The actual strengthening and weakening of the connections between neurons made during a bout of learning occurs predominantly during sleep. Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and deep sleep are particularly important for consolidating new information, memory formation and reorganizing neural pathways"
- Dr. Andrew Huberman, Huberman Lab Podcast
Studies also show that reviewing material before sleep can strengthen memory traces and improve retention overnight (Walker & Stickgold, 2006).
Huberman adds that non-sleep deep rest (NSDR) - like meditation or yoga nidra - can aid memory consolidation and cognitive recovery, making it a great tool after long study sessions.
⚠️ A Note on Chronotypes
Not everyone follows the same biological schedule. While most people benefit from morning and late-afternoon windows, some may find their peak cognitive hours earlier or later, depending on their chronotype (i.e., “morning lark” vs. “night owl”).
Key takeaway: Track when you feel most alert and focused. Then, match your most cognitively demanding language tasks - like memorization or speaking - to those windows.
🧬 Neuromodulators: Tagging Your Brain for Learning
Beyond dopamine, the brain uses other neuromodulators like epinephrine (adrenaline), norepinephrine, and acetylcholine to prepare for learning. These chemicals act as biological highlighters, marking specific neural circuits for change - not by rewiring them directly, but by priming them for plasticity later.
When you experience something novel, emotionally intense, or cognitively challenging, your body releases epinephrine and norepinephrine. These chemicals trigger a cascade of brain activity that says:
“This experience is important - remember it and come back to it later.”
According to Dr. Andrew Huberman, neuromodulators tag active circuits during these moments so that during sleep, non-sleep deep rest (NSDR), or even calm repetition afterward, the actual rewiring (a.k.a. learning) takes place.
In essence, your brain uses these moments to bookmark which neural pathways should be modified - then returns to strengthen them later when the system is calm and in a plastic state.
🔁 Practical Tip: This is why it’s useful to review difficult or meaningful material a few hours after the initial exposure, or after sleep - your brain is already primed to reinforce it.
📌 A little cognitive or emotional challenge = good
⚠️ Chronic stress or overwhelm = bad (excess cortisol suppresses plasticity)
💡 Real Life Isn’t Always Scientific - and That’s Okay
While neuroscience gives us insight into the ideal times to study, life doesn’t always cooperate. Between work, family, social commitments, and the occasional Netflix binge, it’s not always possible to practice during peak learning windows.
And that’s okay.
The most important thing is consistency over perfection. Even if you can only squeeze in 15 minutes at 10 p.m., it’s still meaningful progress.
Don’t skip your practice just because the timing isn’t ideal. Sub-optimal study is still infinitely better than no study at all. Over time, your brain adapts to routines, even at less-than-perfect hours. So give yourself permission to learn when you can, not just when science says you should.
🎯 Final Thoughts
Neuroscience shows that the brain is not a machine - it’s a living, rhythmic organ that has better and worse times for learning. By syncing your language study habits with your brain’s optimal windows of plasticity and focus (especially those championed by Huberman), you can learn smarter, not harder.
🔁 Practice during high-focus windows.
🌙 Review lightly before bed.
💤 Sleep to consolidate and grow.
💪 And if all else fails—just get the reps in. Your future multilingual self will thank you.
Would you like to give personalized lessons for your current level and language goals a go? Simply check out HearSay Learn to get set up.
References
Huberman, A. (2021–2025). Huberman Lab Podcast. https://hubermanlab.com
Walker, M. P., & Stickgold, R. (2006). "Sleep, memory, and plasticity." Annual Review of Psychology, 57, 139–166.