9 Ways to Stay Motivated When Learning a New Language
No matter how much you love learning a language, there will come a time when you just don’t feel like doing it.
I know the feeling: it takes forever to get started, or worse, you keep pushing it off until tomorrow or next week. All of a sudden, you haven’t studied your target language in two weeks, and you are painfully aware of it.
I have been there – we all have.
However, with time, those moments have decreased significantly for me. I’ve found ways and techniques to avoid these dips in motivation and discipline.
So, without further ado, let me give you my top 10 ways to stay motivated when learning a foreign language.
1. Plans and goals
I can’t stress this enough: goals and plans are essential.
Many years ago, I used to study without a clear goal in mind. I just wanted to “get better” and “learn” the language. But without a clear goal, it’s an aimless journey without a purpose.
Don’t worry; this is highly related to staying motivated.
You see, when you study with a clear goal in mind – it’s much easier to measure your progress.
We can use a silly example to demonstrate it. Let’s say you want to learn to count in French from 1 to 100. This is a clearly defined goal, and you will know exactly when you have achieved it, i.e., when you can count from 1 to 100.
While working towards this goal, you take small steps. The first week, you learn 1 to 10; the next week, 10 to 20, and so on. You gradually increase your vocabulary.
By week 5, you can count to 50 and are halfway to your goal of counting to 100. You can clearly see your progress and exactly where you are in your journey.
You see, goals and plans are not only to give you structure and intention in your learning. It lets you see your progress and you can see that your efforts are paying off – that’s motivating!
We need to see and feel the impact of our studies. With no apparent results, it’s hard to stay motivated and continue.
Know where you are going and how to get there so you can measure and see your progress. This os one of the 10 mistakes that beginners often make when learning a new language.
2. Make studying fun
Many people associate language learning with boring and tedious tasks. They picture students studying grammar for hours on end until they fall asleep on the book.
That’s one way of studying.
But it doesn’t have to be your way of studying.
We all learn differently, and there are hundreds of methods and approaches to choose from. Heck, nowadays, you don’t even have to open a textbook to learn a language; you can use mobile apps, movies, music, audiobooks, and YouTube to acquire a language.
Some methods are more efficient than others. Using a traditional textbook is probably more effective than only using Duolingo. But if that textbook is so boring that it makes you quit learning, it’s obviously not the best way for you.
There are loads of different ways to make studying fun. We even published an article containing 15 ways to make language learning more fun.
Here are some things you can do in your target language:
- Watch movies and TV shows
- Play games
- Use graded readers
- Listen to podcasts
- Read news articles online
- Join forums and groups online
- Listen to audiobooks
The Internet has opened up many opportunities for us to learn foreign languages. Try different things and see what works for you. Language learning doesn’t have to be boring!
3. Use diverse learning materials
Anyone would get tired and bored if they did the same thing over and over again.
You don’t have to use only one tool or resource to learn your target language; switch it up! Whatever language you are learning, I’m sure there are tons of books, artists, movies, applications, and websites to discover.
Diversifying your language input and output is important not only to broaden your language knowledge but also to keep you fresh and entertained.
Have you been studying grammar all week? Take a break and focus on listening and speaking exercises in the upcoming days. Are you getting bored with the green owl? There are several apps with different approaches and methodologies that might be more effective for you.
While having a routine and structure is important, it’s equally important to keep yourself engaged and motivated by using different types of materials.
You can check our resources for different languages to find new study material:
4. Find a language exchange partner
As an introvert, I love the fact that I can study languages on my own. But even for me, it can get lonely not having a language partner to ball ideas with and get feedback from.
Luckily, it’s easy to get in contact with either native speakers or others who learn the same language. There are forums dedicated to language learners (like our Facebook page), and many cities and towns have language cafés where they organize meetups.
Finding someone to study with helps with motivation. You could meet weekly to discuss your goals and achievements, discuss novels that you have read, or just practice communicating in your target language.
5. Reward yourself
Remember the first point of this article? Set up a goal and a plan.
Once you have done that, you can create small milestones along the way. When you reach a milestone, reward yourself.
We all need a carrot to keep going. Your goal might be to become fluent enough to live in a country where your target language is spoken. But that might be far away and could take over a year to achieve. It’s easy to lose motivation when the goalpost is so far away.
That’s why you should set up small goals along the way.
For example, if you are reading a novel in your target language, give yourself a treat when you have finished it. If you track your time, you could reward yourself after every 10th hour of studying.
What that reward could be is individual, but it should motivate you to keep on going. It’s a carrot. You could reward yourself with a fancy dinner with your partner, order takeout on Friday, or go to the cinema.
Have something to look forward to!
6. Immerse yourself
One reason why people lose motivation when studying languages is because their studies become sterile.
Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, they study their target language on the computer or at the kitchen table. They study grammar rules and repeat vocabulary with the help of a textbook.
After each lesson they go on to do something else. Their target language only exists three times a week, and it comes in the form of a boring textbook.
That’s what I call sterile learning. It’s when you aren’t living and experiencing the language.
Surround yourself with your target language, and make it dynamic and engaging. Experience authentic content. Explore the culture and country where the language is spoken. Get to know it!
7. Communicate with native speakers
If you know the basics of your target language, you should try to speak with native speakers. Not only can you receive feedback and get to interact with the language, but it’s also highly motivating.
I had a time when I felt demotivated to study, and I felt like I wasn’t making any progress. Every study session felt like a chore and I would much rather do something else. I felt like that for weeks.
Then, out of nowhere, a native speaker started talking to me at the bus stop. It was an elderly lady who asked me when her bus would arrive. After I had helped her, we continued talking, and she shared interesting stories from her childhood.
After our conversation, I felt uplifted. I understood everything she said, I could reply with stories of my own, and the conversation felt natural. It was a great feeling!
My motivation was back; all it took was a random conversation with a woman at the bus stop.
If you feel like you are in a slope and that your motivation is declining, try to find a native speaker with whom you can interact with. Even if your language skills are basic, it can serve as an encouraging and fun experience.
8. Break the routine
Routines are good. If you have read some of my previous articles, you know that I rely heavily on routines and discipline.
But sometimes, those routines can work against you. When things become monotone and predictable, it is easy to lose motivation. Sometimes, we must switch up and break our patterns to find new motivation and energy.
Read my article where I share 9 tips to incorporate language learning into your daily routine to get some new ideas.
9. Learn to enjoy the process
This is one of the most important lessons I’ve learned in life, and it goes way beyond language learning.
Everything is about the process.
Not the goal, achievement, plan, or strategy – but the process.
It’s essential to find enjoyment in what you are doing, whatever it may be. Learning a language takes a lot of time, dedication, and energy. It’s not something you’ll do overnight. You will spend hundreds of hours nailing down vocabulary and grammar rules.
It’s almost impossible to do that night after night, year after year, if you don’t find enjoyment in some parts of it. It doesn’t matter how great your goals are or how carefully planned your strategy is – if you don’t enjoy what you are doing, you will likely give up.
I have a friend who is a bodybuilder, a hobby that requires a lot of time and dedication. He spends 60 minutes at the gym six days a week. His desired results are several years away. To achieve those goals, he must train daily and plan, cook, and measure his food into absurdity.
Do you know what he told me?
He hates working out. He dislikes the food he eats, which most often consists of chicken, broccoli, and rice. Yet, he does it day in and day out. Not because his goals motivate him; that’s just a tiny part of it. But because he “finds enjoyment in the little things.”
He doesn’t like training glutes, but he loves how they feel after a tough workout. He hates running, but he enjoys challenging himself to improve his time. He said eating is the worst part of his day, but cooking is like meditation for him.
That’s what keeps him going.
Enjoy the process. Find and focus on the things that you like and enjoy.