Getting motivated to learn a language

In order to succeed in language learning you need to have a lot of motivation. However, sometimes for one reason or another, we can find that it is gone.

I’m going to admit that I lost a bit of motivation in my language learning recently. For me, I think it was due to the fact that the better I got, the more I realised I didn’t know! There’s that stage when you’re a beginner at learning a language, where you feel proud about how much you can understand and say. Then, when you get even better, you realise that there’s actually so much that you still have to learn. This can feel a bit overwhelming and, hence, lead to demotivation. And there are many other reasons why you might lose motivation too.

However, I know that I really do want to continue my language learning and I’m beginning to rediscover my motivation. So here are my top three tips if you too are finding it a little harder than usual to motivate yourself:

1. Think back to why you started learning the language. There must have been at least a few reasons why you committed yourself to learning a whole new language. Physically writing a list of these reasons will give you chance to reflect on and remember why. You might even come up with some new reasons too!

2. Have a look back at your old work. You will probably see a great change in your ability. Remember how little you knew when you were just a beginner? Hopefully seeing your progress will make you realise how far you have come, and how much better you will get if you keep learning more!

3. Try something new. Sometimes doing the same old thing, like memorising vocab list after vocab list, can be really boring. Try to find a new activity which will make things interesting again. Why not make a mind map with pictures and colours to learn your vocabulary this time?

Language learning does require lots of motivation. But there are so many reasons to be motivated! Congratulate yourself on how far you have come and be excited by how much more you can achieve!