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Language Learning GAF - How do you stay motivated when learning another language?

M

mid83

Member
I’ve been wanting to learn Spanish for years. My mom is a Spaniard, who’s first language is Spanish (I spoke it as a child but forget it all by age 5-6). My girlfriend is also bilingual, and most of her family are Spanish speaking only. I’d love to be able to have conversations with my mom and girlfriend in Spanish and speak to her family (and mine back in Spain) in their native languages.

All of that said, I’ve had several enthusiastic starts into language learning with a huge crash and burn after a few weeks. Once the newness wears off and I get past the beginning Spanish I already know, I get frustrated and overwhelmed and quit. It seems like such a tall mountain I’ll never be able to climb.

I know here are some here actively learning languages. What do you guys do to stay motivated and push past the feeling of being overwhelmed? Any tips would be very helpful.

In case anybody is interested in my resources I have, I’ve been mostly using apps like Duolingo/Memrise/Babbel. I’ve also found Quizlet to be an awesome flash card app. I have an Assimil book I haven’t really used that I want to dive into, but it’s worthless (all of it is really) unless I stick to it.
 
B

bobbytkc

ADD New Gen Gamer
For me personally, the trick is to not depend on motivation. I do a set amount of practice every day, so it becomes a habit.

It is kind of like going to the gym. You turn it into a habit, just turn up for that 3-4 times a week, no matter what you feel like.

Learning a language is for the long haul. I just don't think there is a way to stay motivated day in day out.
 
M

mid83

Member
bobbytkc said:
For me personally, the trick is to not depend on motivation. I do a set amount of practice every day, so it becomes a habit.

It is kind of like going to the gym. You turn it into a habit, just turn up for that 3-4 times a week, no matter what you feel like.

Learning a language is for the long haul. I just don't think there is a way to stay motivated day in day out.
Click to expand...

How long do you spend practicing a day?
 
V

Verelios

Member
Do it little by little. Get an app you can open and close easily in transit or when you're waiting around and log 30 minutes a day. By a month you'll have brushed up all the introductory phrases. All I can really say is make learning more every day a habit and you won't burn out easily, and don't spend hours pouring over material.
 
P

pdk27

Member
The best thing you can do for motivation is set small, achievable goals for yourself. If you see yourself progressing then this should keep your motivation to keep going.

As mentioned above you need to develop a study habit. By developing a habit for studying it is actually harder to not study then it is to study. I've been learning Polish for a number of years because my wife is from Poland. There have been plenty of times that we argued about something and I thought to myself "That's it. I'm done with this learning Polish stuff" only to wake up the next morning and do my normal routine. Remember that it's better to study for 30 minutes everyday rather that for 3-4 hours a couple of days a week. This further enforces creating a habit.

Finally I would recommend studying topics that interest you in your native language. Your interest in learning is definitely dependent on how boring or interesting you find the material that you are studying. I use lingq.com to study Polish. I pull in articles from around the web in topics that I'm interested in and read them in the lingq. Then I'm learning Polish while reading things I would normally read in English.
 
B

Blue Ninja

Member
Studying Swedish right now, and it's going well. I catch myself automatically translating stuff in my head, looking up stuff I don't know, etc.

Trick is not expecting landmark results quickly. You're not going to be a native-level speaker in just a few months. Hell, I consider it a victory if I understand 90% of what's said during the listening excercises. Swedes talk quicklyyy.
 
C

Cappa

Banned
Sblargh said:
Step one is not picking german.
Click to expand...

why not? If English is your first language its probably one of the easiest languages to learn.

Blue Ninja said:
Studying Swedish right now, and it's going well. I catch myself automatically translating stuff in my head, looking up stuff I don't know, etc.

Trick is not expecting landmark results quickly. You're not going to be a native-level speaker in just a few months. Hell, I consider it a victory if I understand 90% of what's said during the listening excercises. Swedes talk quicklyyy.
Click to expand...


Are you going to a school or teach yourelf?
 
E

EVOL 100%

Member
I major in Japanese, and even though my reference is Korean which makes it laughably easy to learn it compared to other languages, the amount of kanji to memorize can be brutal. There was period that lasted about 2 years in which I was barely getting any better because of cobstant burn out.

People who posted have the right idea, it's a matter of keeping it a constant part of your daily routine. You can only memorize so much in a day, and it's terribly inefficient to cramming a large amount of time into obe day.

I made a mandate for myself which is to put in at least an hour of time dedicated entirely to Japanese. If I feel like doing more, I will, but if I'm sick or too tired I'll study an hour and quit immediately.

No cheat days are allowed though
 
K

Kurita

Member
Knowing I can use my knowledge to speak with new people. Everyday I'm talking to friends in Japanese, be it in real life or on Twitter, SNS, messaging apps.

Surrounding myself with media in that language. I'm watching, reading and listening Japanese every day (radio shows, variety, music, novels, news)

Also, don't expect amazing results just after a couple of months. It takes time to grasp a language. Dedication and commitment. If you spend more than a week without practicing you'll regret it.
Since 2013 I haven't spent a single day without being in contact with the language. Literally.

That being said it's my major, so I had no choice but to practice if I didn't want to fail my classes lol
 
A

Aiii

So not worth it
Sticking with it when you plateau is pretty hard. Very very hard.

It helps if you find a way of studying you enjoy, like apps or books you like. Or maybe even a study group somewhere.

Studying Japanese myself, not progressing very far and I often wonder if I ever will make it very far. But what really helps is immersing myself in Japanese media. Music, movies, TV shows, anime. Nothing is more exciting than learning a word and then hearing it somewhere and recognising it. There's a sense of pride when your mind goes "HEY I KNOW THAT WORD" that is quite motivating.
 
H

Hypron

Member
I'm learning Japanese and I found that using Anki (a flashcard software) is probably the thing that works the best to keep me on track. I do all my flashcards reviews every single day because If I don't do them, I've got more reviews on the next day. I have to review around 300 cards every day on top of going through about 10-15 new ones, so you can imagine it'd start piling up really quickly if I missed days.

I have the app on my phone, on all my computers, and can even access it through a browser. It's super easy to review vocabulary and grammar pattern any time I'm not doing anything else. I'm on a 464 day streak. Pretty much spending 80 minutes a day on average (it's been going down lately though).

On the other hand, I find sticking to textbooks a bit harder. You have to find some time to sit down and really do it. I take proficiency tests every 6 months to motivate myself to get through those books, but even then it's a struggle. Thankfully I'm getting close to the point where I know enough grammar and Kanji to read news articles and stuff without it feeling like a chore.
 
J

Jintor

Member
pdk27 said:
The best thing you can do for motivation is set small, achievable goals for yourself. If you see yourself progressing then this should keep your motivation to keep going.
Click to expand...

basically this.

towering goals suck unless you know for sure you have motivations that will see them through (weekly/daily classes, end of term exams, already spent money on x etc etc). Set small goals you know you can achieve and develop study habits.
 
D

Darksol

Member
Move to the/a country of the language you’re learning, and work somewhere where they don’t speak your language.

Not the easiest solution but certainly helped me :p
 
S

Soar

Member
I highly encourage you to have frequent practice with someone who not only speaks the languages but is from the culture so you are able to contextualize phrases and vocab easily.
 
M

mid83

Member
NoblesseOblige said:
By planning a trip to the country.
Click to expand...

I actually have a trip to Spain planned for mid 2019. I’d like to be able to interact with my family in Spain, who I haven’t seen in a very long time, and other locals in Spanish. Not sure how proficient I can become in 19 months, but it’s a long term goal for me.

Soar said:
I highly encourage you to have frequent practice with someone who not only speaks the languages but is from the culture so you are able to contextualize phrases and vocab easily.
Click to expand...

I have my mother and girlfriend who are both native Spanish speakers. That said, I’m trying to get a base of knowledge that makes speaking Spanish with them a little less frustrating for them since my vocabulary is so limited.

That said, I feel pretty lucky that once I get to a point where I can have basic conversations, speaking with them in Spanish will be very helpful.
 
A

Alcotholic

Banned
Its so much easier when to travel to the country where its the primary language spoken. I learned more Spanish going to Spain than I did with Duolingo. But Duolingo was great for laying the groundwork. Unfortunately as soon as I came back from my 2 weeks in Spain I didn't keep up with it.
 
N

Neo C.

Member
Combine travelling with a language school. Before your trip, you'll try to improve your skills because you don't want to waste your time and money sitting in a beginner's class.

Edit: I just went back from Dublin and they'd put me in the proficient class. It feels good to get a little challenge.
 
G

gutter_trash

Banned
I suggest that you sit down and talk to your mother and tell her that you are serious about learning Spanish and ask her for her support by speaking with you almost exclusively in Spanish so that you learn.

Hang out with you mom more and speak Spanish with her. She will be proud of you and will be supportive

Immersion is the best way to learn
 
C

Crayolan

Member
Spending a year in Japan greatly motivated me to get more serious with my Japanese studies. Obviously not everyone can up and fly to Japan for a year, but any time spent in the country of the language you're learning is valuable.

Also playing games in Japanese and being like "wait, I can actually understand this" makes me feel like I've actually made progress.
 
L

L Thammy

Member
I'm trying to learn three languages now; gradually added more once I got momentum going.

One thing to help keep you going is to study at the same time every day. If you commute by bus or train, that's a particularly good opportunity because you're not going to be doing much else of value during that time anyway.

Don't be afraid to use multiple resources or look for better ones. Duolinguo's good for learning vocabulary, but it does fuck all to teach you grammar and can give you weird ideas as a result, so look somewhere else. Even if it's just googling for specific questions. Having a deeper understanding of what you're saying makes it less frustrating.

It might also be a good idea to find something with which to gauge your progress, because that gives you the feeling of success. If there's something in Spanish that you've already read in English, maybe keep that on hand, because as you gradually learn more and can read more you'll also be connecting it with your memory of the English version.
 
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