{"id":3840,"date":"2023-11-03T18:25:18","date_gmt":"2023-11-03T18:25:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.annika-zang.com\/?p=3840"},"modified":"2024-02-21T12:12:43","modified_gmt":"2024-02-21T12:12:43","slug":"how-to-boost-motivation-in-language-learning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.annika-zang.com\/en\/how-to-boost-motivation-in-language-learning\/","title":{"rendered":"Unmotivated? 4 Hacks to Get Your Juices Flowing in Language learning"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Unmotivated? 4 Hacks To Get Your Juices Flowing in Language Learning<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Summary: Language learning is a long process. It\u2019s normal that we will not always be motivated to sit down and study. At times, we just need to take a break. But other times, our resistance boils down to two simple things \u2013 we\u2019re either not in the mood or our inhibition to start is too high. The good news is: There are some hacks that help us get over that.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Let me tell You something I\u2019m currently learning:<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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I\u2019m a translator, and lately, I\u2019m a pretty busy bee (yey, goodbye summer slump!). My schedule is packed with documents, contracts and website texts to be converted, twisted, and puzzled together into a not awkward-sounding German piece of text.<\/p>\n

After work, the last place my mind wants to go is towards more words. But some of the things I love, such as language learning and reading, are really all about words.<\/p>\n

Which sucks, because having hobbies is important.<\/p>\n

So, recently, I was having one of those days where I just could not concentrate on a single word of my translation anymore. I was exhausted, and the thing I instinctively wanted to do was to lay on in couch and scroll through social media. But that day, I thought: Come on, not today! So I decided to take a breath and a cup of tea, grabbed a book, headed to the park, sat on a bench and just began reading.<\/p>\n

And guess what?<\/p>\n

I suddenly turned laser-focused on what I was reading. I ended up sitting on that bench for an hour and read and read and read with ease.<\/p>\n

The thing was not that my mind was incapable of focusing. It was maybe just bored by the stuff it was dealing with during the day and needed to be fed something more exciting.<\/p>\n

So, this is what I\u2019m learning from this:<\/p>\n

Our brain sometimes doesn\u2019t know that something will bring us joy \u2013 or even what we\u2019re capable of! \u2013 until we engage with that thing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take showering as an example. Who\u2019s thrilled about unwrapping their warm and safe blanket cocoon on a Sunday morning to step out into a cold apartment and have their bodies touched by \u2013 uuughh \u2013 water? Pretty much nobody. But when you do shower, you kind of also don\u2019t regret it.<\/p>\n

Our brain always gravitates towards comfort \u2013 but sometimes, being a little uncomfortable and heading to the park, sitting down to study or taking a shower can really lead us to activities we really enjoy \u2013 even if our brain tells us not to.<\/p>\n

But I get it: This fact alone is not going to change your attitude towards motivation forever and all times. However, what we can do is this: Lowering the inhibition by getting into the mood.<\/p>\n

Here are 4 ways you can do so for language learning.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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1. Use Pinterest<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The resistance to open a textbook and study some grammar is big. The resistance to open Pinterest and look at some photos isn\u2019t.<\/p>

Actually, Pinterest is a great tool to warm up your brain cells up to get into the mood for language learning: Simply type in \u201cLearning Spanish\u201d, or whatever you\u2019re learning. Seeing inspiring images makes you visualize yourself traveling through Spain or South America, eating tapas while a guy is playing flamenco music on his guitar in the background. Seeing those pictures makes your adrenaline rush through your veins. It reminds you of your why<\/i>, which makes your how <\/i>easier.<\/p>

So my Pro Tip is: Before having a study session, scroll through Pinterest for only 5 minutes<\/strong>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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2. Create Visuals<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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If you\u2019re a creative person like me, you enjoy organizing things visually.<\/p>

You hate blank word documents or even \u2013 god forbid \u2013 excel tables. But something sits up in you when you see nicely presented things.<\/p>

Canva is a tool I use for my social media. But recently, I also started using it to create visuals for language learning. I use it to organize my vocabulary, categorize it, create some order in the pile of words in my head.<\/p>

If you don\u2019t have Canva, use PowerPoint or anything else that allows you to work visually. Sometimes, just changing the way in which we do some task can really change how we feel about it.

Here’s an example of some visual material I’m currently creating for my upcoming writing community:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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