Whether you have just decided to start learning a foreign language or you are already immersed in your language training, congratulations - learning a foreign language is one of the most rewarding and satisfying skills you can ever acquire!
There are so many benefits of learning and practicing your target language: making new friends, living in a different country, watching (and understanding!) your favourite actors, broadening your awareness of other cultures… the list is endless. And the best thing is – it’s an achievable task which means that anybody can learn a foreign language!
Now, you’re probably thinking that there are so many factors involved in the process of learning a language, so many different types of learners, teachers, and languages…how come everybody is ultimately able to learn a language? Well, there is a simple answer to this. The only common thing that all successful learners have, independently of the language they are learning or the time they have to study is…MOTIVATION. Motivation is the secret ingredient to success in language learning!
So, without further ado, here are 10 of the very best secret-busting self-motivation tips!
- Know why you want to learn the language (actually sit down and work it out) and then focus on that goal -- imagine yourself in the situation where you have accomplished that learning goal, and really see it, hear it, smell it, taste it (?) and feel those feelings of it. Feel how good it feels, and go back to that image/feeling regularly
- Write out an action plan which leads you specifically to achieving your language goal from point 1. Then stage it back into a monthly, weekly, and daily set of goals. Tick off those daily goals and actually congratulate yourself for achieving them
- To help you make your plan in point 2 research online tips and tricks from people who have learnt your language. Find what's worked for others, what also you like the idea of, and adopt. They'll also give you good tips on resources available
- There is no failure only feedback. Any time you don't achieve a daily goal, focus on the learning potential of using it to make your plan even better- make it better and carry on
- Duolingo! Duolingo! Duolingo! (If it's available for your language and at your stage)
- Get yourself as quickly as possible to the stage where you can hold a 3-minute introductory conversation and get yourself a language exchange partner on Tandem. Practice this conversation with them in exchange for having a chat in English (they all speak fluent English!) until you get bored and start saying more interesting things and congratulate yourself! Plus you've made a new friend!
- Find other people learning your language and set up a WhatsApp study/practice group with them to share ideas and questions
- Treat yourself to some online private lessons, and get feedback and support from an experienced, professional teacher
- Be creative! Rather than just writing vocab lists or (slightly better) sentences. Write silly stories. Record yourself telling these silly stories and send to your friends on your WhatsApp group. Write short comic skits and act them out with your WhatsApp group friends. Translate a famous song into the language you're learning and sing it. Sing a famous song in the language you are learning
- Know when enough's enough- set limits to your language study time to enjoy life outside self-study and focus your time when you are studying
There you have it! We're confident that if you start using just a few of the ideas above, you'll feel the impact immediately! Let us know how it goes :)
PLS can assist you with any language training goal. We teach all world languages and have an army of over 500 qualified and experienced teachers. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. today to see how we can help you achieve your goal!