Hi people
I hope you are all in a good health . As you go further and further in the process of learning a language , You may start to feel bored and it becomes more and more tedious and interminable thing . So what do you do to keep it up ?
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What I personally do is start incorporating aspects that I would normally do in my native language, into my target language. So for example, if I commute in my car for 30 minutes to work, then instead of listening to English music, Iād say, put on Spanish music, or a Spanish Podcast about something Iām interested in.
Thatās what I do to maintain. Once I get to the point where I can do this, improving takes a lot of commitment in my opinion. Often times it takes more time than I want to invest. But when the opportunity rises to be able to use/listen to the language a lot, then I get motivated, and focus on improving it.
Cheers.
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Itās too early to know. Iāve been studying Portuguese for 70 days, I figure I have to get to a year before it stops being fun. Good luck. I do have 600 hours of studying in, so thatās probably equivalent to a longer time period. I wonāt be able to keep up this pace for very much longer.
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āā I wonāt be able to keep up this pace for very much longer. āā
So , You would like ā¦ give up or what ?
I have been to my target language country twice now; my first visit committed me to learning the language. Seeing my progress during my second visit helped me see the possibility of learning the language.
I plan to work there fairly soon (actually applying for jobs right now) and knowing the language allows me a far wider range of business opportunities. Without a specific level of qualification getting any job with decent money is incredibly difficult.
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I tend to not rely on motivation for language learning except at the beginning. Motivation at the start helps me do the āheavy liftingā so that a bit of discipline can aid me to improve at a sustainable pace later.
Native speaker friends, my Portuguese speaking church that I found in my hometown, their interesting books, music, tv, movies. Plus for mem the language is so beautiful, if I donāt listen enough one day I miss
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Do you get bored by or lose motivation for using your native language? What I do for fun and entertainment in my native language, I instead do in my target language. I donāt watch broadcast tv. I do watch a lot of YouTube of many genres, and nowadays I do that mostly in my target language. (I still havenāt found the end of YT in either language!) I read the news on a couple of sites in my target language; theyāll alert me to anything earth-shattering that I might want to follow-up on in my native language. Iāll listen to target-language music or talk radio from the net in my car.
The farther advanced you are in your language, the better this works, of course. But I started on this well before I could understand half but still enjoyed it.
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āā Do you get bored by or lose motivation for using your native language āā
fair point but again you should put in mind that your native language differs from your second or third .
āā I do watch a lot of YouTube of many genres āā
TEDx are the best next to other things of course.
āā YT āā
What is that
I think that why one is learning a language to begin with affects what one does and in turn whether or not one remains motivated.
Like many, at the beginning of learning Russian I was frustrated since its grammar is way more complicated than any of the other Western European languages which I already knew. Thus, my progress was not going to follow the learning curve of these other languages. Still, I went about it differently because I wanted to know the history and culture (including its contemporary variations) of Russian speakers. From the beginning, I have watched Russian language cartoons (brilliant, BTW), documentaries, television shows and films (all on Youtube and for free) and did internet searches on a wide variety of Russian subjects. Initially I did this in English because I did not know how to type in Russian on my computer and I did not know enough vocabulary or grammar. Once I reached intermediate level, I could do these searches in Russian.) I also have read newspapers, tourist info sites and Wikipedia articles in Russian. At the beginning, I read ā and translated ā one or two sentences at a time from Russian, taking the vocabulary and grammar that was basic at that moment and practiced that. I also looked at things with English subtitles. (All this occurred before I started LingQ.) Anything that interested me about Russian/Soviet past or present life is valuable. The variety is important, as are the visual and emotional associations that are inherent in filmsā¦ (Listening to Russian pronunciation is also valuable, even when most of it went over my head at first.) Whether I learned two words or more, doesnāt matter. All is progress and keeps up my interest.
Steve K in his book notes that the purpose of language is communication. If a person doesnāt want to communicate with people in the target language and has no interest in the history and culture of the people, who speak it, then learning a language will be difficult. I agree. I know several other languages aside from Russian and with all of them, I love ā yes LOVE ā various aspects of their culture and when I travel to countries where these languages are spoken, my understanding and feelings intensify and I want to become even more adept in the local language. Conversing with locals in their language is ā for me ā the highlight of any foreign trip. With the internet, one can do this via Skype.
On a practical level, I agree with others that incorporating the target language into oneās daily life is key to keeping up interest. I routinely talk to my pets in Russian, describe to myself out loud when I am home alone, what I am doing or thinking about. I look up on the internet in Russian things that currently interest me in my life. For example, I looked at cooking sites on Youtube regarding how to make certain Russian recipes and have read about the current US political scandals in Russian (made easier by having the articles on LingQ which I greatly appreciate). Of course this is much easier now that I am at an advanced intermediate level. However, I did this even as a beginner, the only difference being is that at a beginner level I had to rely more on English subtitles or translations. Still, even in English the information stimulated my interest to know more and I always learned a few new words along the way. Variety is key as well as reading/watching/listening to authentic material ā even if only a line or two ā that really really interests you. Many recommend this but it cannot be emphasized enough. A great advantage of Lingq is the ability to import material from elsewhere to make it into a lesson. Only your research skills limit what you can import. And if something cannot be imported into Lingq, read/listen to it anyway. The bottom line is how it motivates you to want to learn more. ,
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I am motivated by:
āmy successes
āthe TV shows I watched
ādoing other things Iām interested ināin Spanish
āsetting activities goals (reaching X amount of words, hours of listening, etc.)
āthe compliments I receive
āthe trips Iām going to take
āswitching it up when I get bored
āread about the culture, countries, etc. in my language
āwatch documentaries about it
āwatch Master Steveās videos. Iāve watched every single one ever, but I might go back to my favorites.
āstopping for a while and doing something else that interests me ie something non-language learning related.
and others
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I, for one, need to study abroad and this is why I need the second language. For now, I can speak on general topics but I donāt understand university subjects. I can barely translate an article about Neptune Neptune ā 8th planet from sun, most distant, last planet in main system, structure in German. But I hope Iāll reach B2-C1 soon.
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When I was learning english I was motivated in the beginning because of the novelty, I discovered about Anki, how to remember things, etc. I wanted to test those things.
When I got to an intermediate level of understanding I quit Anki and my motivation became the THINGS of the language (tv shows, movies, songs, etc) not the language itself. I would watch The Office and not even realize that I was learning new things, because I was extremely interested.
I guess it is two things travel and the feeling you get when you make a great breakthrough. Travel is something that I havenāt nearly as much as I should have but something that I am going to make up for in the coming months/years. It helps of course that I am not learning something super hard like Japanese or Korean (something which might be about to change) although German has been a source of frustration for me.
I have studied language independently for social expectations or necessities for about 10 years. Throughout the years there has been frustrations, more than there might have been if Iād done things differently. Still the progress that I have made (or/and noticed) in the last 3-6 months is one of the things that gives me immense joy.
Spanish and French are my strongest languages excluding Swedish and Finnish (native languages, although towards Finnish I have no emotional attachment and Swedish in a way feels foreign at times) and English. In the two languages that I feel comfortable I can if I really put my mind to it, interact with (i.e. ask questions and understand the answers in written form), in German I feel I am about to reach this point.
Like I mentioned earlier if, I have put more effort into using my French and Spanish maybe I were even further along. Same can be said about German, although in the case of German it has more to do with learning grassroots concepts and basic grammar. In any case, it gives me great joy to make progress in a language (especially tangible) that I have been studying for quite a while.
There are probably more to be said about learning language families and the aspect of challenging oneself which I might expand upon latter, at the time of writing I am somewhat tired.
The motivation changes over timeā¦ In the beginning, I enjoy the novelty and all of the new things I am learning. As time goes on, I am able to USE the language for more and more things. So, instead of feeling frustrated about all of the things I cannot do yet in the language, I can feel good about all of the things that I can already do in the language.
Enjoy the journey, not the destinationā¦
Infinitesimally small, yet undeniable progress.
To me it comes down to turning the language learning into a daily routine, a mini habit to use Guiseās terminology https://www.amazon.com/Mini-Habits-Smaller-Bigger-Results-ebook/dp/B00HGKNBDK
Mini-habits are triggered by things you do throughout your day. For me, time to walk my dogs is time to also listen to audiobooks in French.
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No, I wouldnāt give up, just slow down the number of hours per day of study.
I enjoy reading so donāt require any motivation to do it.
Hello, Iām Weverson, brazilian and then Iām studying Englishā¦ Maybe we can help each other.