It’s January, but it’s not too early to already be suffering with burnout. If you began learning a language BEFORE the new year, there’s an even higher likelihood that the rush of the holidays, new work projects, and your pledges to self-improve have stacked up and are beginning to look intimidating. If learning or using foreign languages isn’t the base of your ability to make a living and get where you need to go, it may be even harder to keep your commitments. That language you once dreamed of can start to feel boring or draining. Maybe you haven’t really seen much progress, and your motivation is slowly disappearing.
Maybe you hit it hard for January, because you were inspired. You spent as many hours as possible self-immersing, engaging with the language, and studying. Now, it seems to have lost all its sparkle and shine. What happened? Let’s see if you relate with the following statements:
You find yourself avoiding lessons or set commitments involving the language.
You’ve started procrastinating and missing your short-time goals.
You notice that you make the same exact mistakes repeatedly, no matter how hard you try.
You don’t feel like any meaningful progress is being made, you struggle with memory, and you can’t understand your target language as well or quickly as before. You start doubting your ability in general.
CONCLUSION:
If this is you, then you may be struggling with language burnout. Burnout is that state of demotivated emotional, physical, or mental tiredness when we over-do, over-study, or overwork ourselves. You’ve used up your energy, passion, and inspiration.
At the core, you really want to keep learning the language; you want to travel, pass tests, and get a job promotion because of it. What’s the course of action? I’m dropping three simple tips here for you to break the cycle of burnout and start anew.
Change your routine.
Do you always use the same study materials? Maybe you were really in love with that one book, that one channel, or one practice platform. Shake yourself out of the monotony by changing your routine! Don’t worry about your strict commitments right now (i.e. “10 pages of this book, every day, no matter what”). Learning is learning, and you’re in survival mode. Meet a native speaker for coffee, get a new playlist, attend a masterclass or seminar online, do a language coloring book, just listen to a podcast while you commute to work. Choose anything that involves that language but is still in stark contrast to the usual routine. You may be amazed how many of your problems are related to a tired, old routine of yours. We adapt over time, and so should our learning strategies.
Take a break.
At this point, you shouldn’t be worried about never picking the language up again. You should be more worried about the possibility of quitting the language because of continuous demotivation, frustration, and negative feelings. Take those less-than-positive associations you have with learning right now and throw them out. Line up a couple of days to completely disengage with the learning process and everything you’re tired of, and you’ll be surprised how much better it feels to return to it. Stop demanding constant performance from yourself when you’re not at your best.
Remember what inspires you.
What is the reason for wanting to learn the language in the first place? What meeting, trip, movie, or experience started the fire of motivation in you for this language? Go back to that place in your mind and feelings. Look at photos from your trip, re-read messages between you and your friend or love interest, re-watch the movie that is the origin of your interest in the language. During your break, you can entertain these thoughts and learn to feel again. You’ll be surprised what a difference it makes. Imagine the life you could have when this language is a part of it. What will you see, where will you go, and who will you meet?
Most of all, be kind to yourself. We are not machines, and it doesn’t make us weaker. We are much more complex, and our brains are incredibly capable of acquiring another language. On top of that, everyone is different. Just like in life, you need to find what relaxes you, restores you, and restarts you. Once you do that, burnout will be a much smaller mountain to climb.
Best of luck in life and learning!
~Lauri
Loreta Bar in Warsaw, Poland
Copyright Lauri Speaks℗, 2023