Learning a new language can seem like a difficult journey. You may feel like quitting, especially when you believe you are not reaching your goals fast enough. And all of this can result in you losing your motivation to continue. But don’t worry, at times, we all go through this!
Learning a new language is like mastering a valuable new skill. And it has been proven that to master any new skill, you will have to put in hundreds and hundreds of hours. Whether that skill may be learning how to play an instrument or to be the top player on your team, it all takes time. And learning a new language is no different.
In fact, it has been proven that to master one of the romance languages (Spanish, French or Italian), you may have to put upwards of 600 hours to attain complete mastery (this means you can speak clearly and easily on almost any topic that may come up).
Now, this may seem like a long time. But trust me, the pay-off will be totally worth it!
If you are hoping to get re-motivated to tackle this worthy task, we got you covered! In this article, we will discuss the best tips and tricks on how to stay motivated in learning a new language. So you can stay the course towards complete mastery.
Let’s begin!
1. Set Mini-Goals
If you look at the big picture of putting in 600 hours to master a language, you may continue feeling unmotivated, which is why we advise you to block that out completely. Instead, create mini-goals, then set out to smash them.
So, in other words, you break up that large chunk of time into bite-size pieces that are easier to digest. For example, one goal can be to have five, 1-hour sessions with your tutor that week. Work on one week at a time, with the time you have available. Some weeks you may have more time, so book more lessons that week. Some weeks you may have no time, so do not stress about missing a week if needed.
2. Create A Reward System
Having a fun and exciting reward system that can give you that extra push and motivation is crucial. Your reward system mostly depends on what your wants and desires are. For example, you can tie it into the language that you are learning now, or it can be something that you have been dying to do for a long time.
So looking back at the previous tip, if you reach the goal for that week or month, like completing 20 hours with your tutor, you can then go ahead and enjoy your reward. This can be a trip to a nice restaurant that speaks Spanish, traveling abroad, or going to a French music concert. Whatever you desire, you can now enjoy to the fullest. You’ve earned it!
3. Tackle Challenges
Doing challenges is one of our personal favorite ways to stay motivated when learning a new language. As humans, we enjoy overcoming large obstacles and driving ourselves to accomplish this new feat. It is inspiring!
You can find many challenges on the Internet, or you can even come up with them yourself. For instance, what we have done before, is to do an intensive 40 hours a month with our Mandarin tutor, that was hectic, rigorous, and exhilarating. Plus, it serves as a great way to compress many teachings and practices into a smaller time-block. And when you have overcome that challenge, you can reward yourself by taking a trip to China. Challenges are really fun and we encourage you to try them out!
4. Have A Professional Online Tutor
A study by the American Society of Training and Development has shown that you have a 65% chance of achieving your goals if you commit to someone else. This points to accountability, and taking this approach has proven to boost your performance. So it is best to find someone that can keep you on the right path and give you an extra boost of motivation–an accountability partner or buddy, in other words. And when it comes to learning a new language, having a professional online tutor as an accountability partner is your best option – not to mention it’s almost impossible to learn to speak well without speaking for hundreds of hours.
5. Blend The Language Into Your Life
It makes sense that if you are not motivated to actively learn a new language, you should try passively. That means that you should try to blend that language into your life. For example, you can watch Netflix movies and shows or listen to songs all in that language. And in no time, you will realize that you are learning without even trying!
Remember, You Can Do This!
Becoming unmotivated when you are tackling a big goal is natural. You have to make sure that you keep at it by using the above tips. When you have finally mastered the language, you will realize that it was all worth it!
If you need more help with learning a new language or staying motivated, speak to one of our trained language tutors. With our expertise, we can provide you with the extra push you will need to reach fluency.
