How To Stay Motivated Learning A Language

Sometimes it can be hard to stay motivated learning a language. Everyone dreams about becoming fluent in a language, it’s definitely achievable but one of the hardest aspects of the learning process is staying motivated and everyone goes through periods of highs and lows. I think it is important to manufacture motivation rather than wait for motivation to hit you while language learning as it will make the process so much faster. 

There are many ways to stay motivated learning a language such as finding an accountability partner to help you stay on track, using a language learning planner to motivate you to learn, setting solid language learning goals, making the language learning process fun, integrating language learning into as many aspects of your life as possible and many more. 

1. Set a language learning goal

The most important aspect of language learning is setting goals. With goals it is easy to stay motivated as you will have an end goal in mind and you will be motivated to achieve it.

To set a language learning goal that you are likely to achieve you need to make sure it is a SMART goal. This stands for specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time bound. If you make a goal that hits all of that criteria and you make a detailed action plan you will put yourself in a position that makes you so much more likely to achieve the goal. There is a full printable page in my language learning planner that lets you set language goals. The best thing is that it goes step by step through the process with you. Check it out here. 

If you want to find out more about setting language learning goals I suggest you read my article here where I explain how to set fail proof language learning goals!

2. Find an accountability partner 

A great way to stay motivated while language learning is to get an accountability partner. This is ideally someone who is learning the same language as you and is at a similar level in the language as you. The purpose of an accountability partner is to support each other throughout the language learning process and provide feedback on a regular basis. 

You can do weekly check-in sessions where you talk about your progress in language learning and your struggles. Then can give feedback and advice for each other to help you advance in the language learning process and stay motivated. 

If you are a little bit more competitive like me, you can also make language challenges with your language accountability partner. This is a great motivator to learn as you will want to beat your partner in the challenge. You could even make a 30 day language challenge to learn as many vocabulary words as you can (as an example) and track it with a 30 day printable challenge tracker. 

3. Use a language learning planner

Getting a language learning planner is a fantastic way to stay motivated while language learning. It will help you set language learning goals and also give you the framework for learning vocabulary and grammar, leaving you nothing to do but just get started learning. 

The planner comes in two options, either a printable or digital planner. They are both PDF documents however the digital planner has hyperlinked tabs to be used on a tablet or iPad in an app like GoodNotes or notability. 

Printable Language Learning Planner

Digital Language Learning Planner

If you want to find out more about either of these planners I suggest you go read this article I wrote about them here.

4. Make language learning fun

The worst thing that you can do while language learning is to make it a chore. This will lower your motivation so much to learn. But don’t worry there is a really easy way to combat this. Rather than force yourself to do grammar exercises and read uninteresting articles from a textbook make the language learning process fun. Here are some ideas:

• Subscribe to and watch YouTubers that speak the language you are learning 
• Follow people from the country of the language you are learning on a social media network such as Instagram or tiktok 
• Watch movies or tv shows in the language you are learning. Make sure it is active learning so jot down any new vocabulary. You can learn more about effectively learning a language from a movie in this article that I wrote here. 
• Listen to podcasts in the language you are learning. These could be podcasts aimed for native speakers or podcasts for language learners.
• Listen to music in your target language. Make a playlist of your favourite foreign language songs on Spotify. 
• Use the app/website lyrics training to play karaoke or a fill in the blank lyrics game in your target language 
• Find a recipe online in your target language and cook or bake something with it

5. Integrate language learning into as many aspects of your life as you can 

Another way that you can make language learning less of a chore and thus boost your motivation is to integrate language learning into your daily routine. This means that instead of setting aside a half an hour study session for example, you spread out your language learning into tasks that you would normally complete in a day anyway. 

Here are some ideas of how you can integrate language learning into your daily routine:

• Write your schedule or daily to do list in your target language. I have a daily planner printable that you could use to do it. Check it out here. 
• listen to a podcast while cooking dinner, during your commute to work/school or while exercising
• do vocabulary flashcards on public transport 
• Instead of spending your free time watching movies, tv shows or YouTube in English start watching them in your target language 
• Listen to music in your target language
• Try some one-on-one private online video call lessons from a company such as Rype.

6. Remember why you started learning a language 

Lastly, if you are really struggling with motivation I suggest remembering why you originally started to learn a language. Reminding yourself of your language goal is a really effective way of instantly boosting your motivation to learn. 

Before you leave!

Don’t forget to check out the printable language learning planner or the digital language learning planner!

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