How To Reignite Your Passion For Learning A Language
We have some tips for translating your burning-hot desire to learn into a more sustainable relationship with your target language.
When you first started learning a language, things were hot and heavy. You’d spend your evenings together, watch foreign-language TV shows at night and even start your day with a quick lesson. For a while, you and your target language were inseparable. But then, the honeymoon phase ended. Your Romance language left you feeling under-romanced. You stopped feeling the same thrill at the end of a completed lesson. Every relationship goes through rough patches, and your relationship with the language you’re learning is no different. This is no reason to call it quits, however. Here are a few tips to help you rediscover your love for your target language.
MAGAZINE
Ready to learn?
Ready to learn?
When you first started learning a language, things were hot and heavy. You’d spend your evenings together, watch foreign-language TV shows at night and even start your day with a quick lesson. For a while, you and your target language were inseparable.
But then, the honeymoon phase ended. Your Romance language left you feeling under-romanced. You stopped feeling the same thrill at the end of a completed lesson. Every relationship goes through rough patches, and your relationship with the language you’re learning is no different. This is no reason to call it quits, however. Here are a few tips to help you rediscover your love for your target language.
1. Shake up your daily routine
Having a set routine for learning is important. Consistency is key when you want to stick to a habit. After a while, however, your routine may start feeling more like a rut. In that case, shaking it up is probably the best option. Instead of doing your lessons in the morning, shift them to the evening when you’re more awake. Or instead of doing new lessons every day, go revisit some you’ve already completed to reinforce your learning.
2. Sing in your target language
Maybe you’re not much of a singer, but that doesn’t matter. Singing is always a fun method for working on your target language. After all, it always seems a bit easier to learn song lyrics than straightforward facts and figures. Plus, singing is a good way to practice pronunciation and rhythm.
3. Learn the fun parts of the language
Not all vocabulary is created equal, so once in a while, you should dip your toes into the most exciting parts of the language you’re learning. You might look up how to authentically swear in Spanish, try some tongue-twisters, or how to pronounce all the different French cheeses. Taking a break from the day-to-day lessons to do something a bit more extraneous is a great way to spice things up.
4. Put the language on in the background
It may not seem like it, but having the language playing in the background of your life can be useful. Whether it be music, podcasts or TV shows, just having a different language in your home can help you absorb vocab and pronunciations. This will never replace active learning, but it’s a good supplement for when you’re too tired to do any more lessons.
5. Think about the progress you’ve made
Perhaps you’ve reached a plateau in your learning, and you’ve become disenchanted because suddenly the language seems to have gotten a lot harder. If that describes you, now’s the time to look back on all the learning you’ve done so far. A few months ago, you didn’t know anything in a new language, and now you’re conjugating away. This is no small feat, and you should remember that. Learning languages is not easy, so reward yourself for how far you’ve come.
1. Shake up your daily routine
Having a set routine for learning is important. Consistency is key when you want to stick to a habit. After a while, however, your routine may start feeling more like a rut. In that case, shaking it up is probably the best option. Instead of doing your lessons in the morning, shift them to the evening when you’re more awake. Or instead of doing new lessons every day, go revisit some you’ve already completed to reinforce your learning.
2. Sing in your target language
Maybe you’re not much of a singer, but that doesn’t matter. Singing is always a fun method for working on your target language. After all, it always seems a bit easier to learn song lyrics than straightforward facts and figures. Plus, singing is a good way to practice pronunciation and rhythm.
3. Learn the fun parts of the language
Not all vocabulary is created equal, so once in a while, you should dip your toes into the most exciting parts of the language you’re learning. You might look up how to authentically swear in Spanish, try some tongue-twisters, or how to pronounce all the different French cheeses. Taking a break from the day-to-day lessons to do something a bit more extraneous is a great way to spice things up.
4. Put the language on in the background
It may not seem like it, but having the language playing in the background of your life can be useful. Whether it be music, podcasts or TV shows, just having a different language in your home can help you absorb vocab and pronunciations. This will never replace active learning, but it’s a good supplement for when you’re too tired to do any more lessons.
5. Think about the progress you’ve made
Perhaps you’ve reached a plateau in your learning, and you’ve become disenchanted because suddenly the language seems to have gotten a lot harder. If that describes you, now’s the time to look back on all the learning you’ve done so far. A few months ago, you didn’t know anything in a new language, and now you’re conjugating away. This is no small feat, and you should remember that. Learning languages is not easy, so reward yourself for how far you’ve come.
