Amongst you, there are tens of millions of people in the US alone trying to learn a foreign language!
Unfortunately, statistics show that most of them will give up and forget about this journey before they spent enough time in the language to succeed. WHY?
I suppose the most common answer is that when learning a language or making any commitment. It is so easy to find yourself some months later asking why it is you chose to embark on that mission…
You might ask yourself if you're even capable of achieving your goal, or if it's even worth the effort.
Are you ready to break the language learning barrier? Find out How to Ignite Your Motivation and Stay on Track to Mastering Spanish!
¡Vamos!
1 - Write down ways it will affect your life
Having a list of ways that knowing the language will affect your life will certainly help you to remember why you should continue – even if those outcomes are unlikely. This is why I suggest that you create a "List of reasons to learn Spanish."
Learning a language can be a therapeutic process that brings hope to the learner.
Imagine, adventuring into a new country, and being greeted with open arms by a community of people that can see that you cared enough about their culture to learn their language.
Below are some reasons you might want to write down alongside with whatever you come up with!
Communication and connection with people of different cultures
The ability to travel anywhere within the 29 countries where Spanish is spoken is an unbelievable privilege. From the beautiful beaches of the Dominican Republic to the mountainous Glaciers of Argentina. If you (for example) are learning Spanish, the possibilities are endless!
Sometimes I used to watch videos of people walking through the streets of different Spanish-speaking countries and connecting with the people – and it always motivated me to keep studying.
Be proud of yourself for every study session completed
Don’t take your small wins for granted, you went out of your way and worked hard to learn every word and phrase you know. You could have taken the easy path and watched your favorite movie in your mother tongue, or whatever you normally enjoy doing.
But you chose to study, so look at your progress and be contented by it. Little by little you are making your way to a new life, and trust me, it will be worth it. Appreciate yourself for your hard work!
Dream about the job opportunities that will be available to you
If money is a motivating factor, say maybe you work in an industry where there are a lot of Spanish speakers to interact with – use that as motivation.
By learning a second language it shows your future employer that you are committed to the goals you set for yourself and that you can adapt quickly.
It also will increase your likelihood of being promoted to supervisor and manager roles in many industries (such as agriculture, manufacturing, and customer service)
Furthermore, (according to FinancialPost.com) on average bilingual employees get paid 5-8% more than their monolingual equivalents!
With an average salary in the US that's an extra $2,250-$3,600 a year!
Connect to the culture through Spanish music
This not only will help motivate you, but you will also be improving your Spanish at the same time! I used to listen to my favorite music in Spanish and I would be overcome by my love for the music, and my drive to understand everything that they were saying would grow daily.
Spanish music has a very different vibe than English music, it has culture and diversity baked into it – not to mention how cool the rolled R’s sound in songs.
Plus (Random Fact) there exist many genres in the world of Spanish music that we are either not accustomed to, or just flat-out have never heard of! (Such as – Regaeton, Tango, Bachata, Mariachi, Bolero, Salsa/etc)
2 - Pick a country, identify with it, and make it yours
When I was about 3-5 months into learning Spanish, I too was looking for the motivation to continue studying. Because of this, I went on a search to find a Spanish-speaking country that excited me.
Nonetheless, Montevideo Uruguay, and Buenos Aires Argentina seemed like new worlds – something I had never imagined in the Americas.
Just being able to look into their culture and seeing that most of them drink a tea called Mate on the beach, or that 50% of them are at least partly Italian!
The little things… just excited me, So I started drinking their Yerba Mate while I studied. I tried to use their accent when I spoke – and it all just made me feel like I was part of the culture already.
Watch videos on incredible places in Spanish-speaking countries
If you don’t know which country to make yours yet, don’t worry! This is one of the funnest parts! Just try and look into one country every week. Perhaps in the first week, you can look into the culture, music, accents, and the Spanish expressions of Mexico.
The next week you could learn about the Spanish of Guatemala, and with the passing of the weeks you can work your way down the continent.
And have fun with it – one of the greatest lessons I have learned about language learning is that it won't work unless you have one of two things: A necessity to learn the language, or you have fun studying Spanish.
So how can we accomplish this? Tell yourself it’s fun, and make it fun! This is the best way to not lose your motivation while learning a language.
Adopt the main distinguishing factors of that country's accent
After you have found a country to “make your own” – look into what makes their accents different, and the colloquial words that they use there.
Since the country I chose was Argentina, I started saying my “ll” (like in “llamar”) with the sound "SH".
It was fun getting used to it, and even more so whenever a word would roll off my tongue with the accent I chose. There are so many small things that every country has of their own, such as in Mexico for “dude” they say “wey” – in Argentina they say “che."
3 - Stay consistent and you wont need motivation
The more often you study, the more addicted you will become, and yes, I would go as far as to say it becomes an addiction. Sometimes our brains get a work out while studying a language, and it feels good.
During my first “real Spanish conversation” I spoke with a young lady for 2.5 hours, and my brain was beat after that call. It felt like when you wake up groggy and your brain is just a ball of fog, yeah THAT!
So what about that is addicting? Well to me it seems just about the same as getting addicted to exercising. It’s a workout like any other - but for your brain.
(Fun fact) Did you know that learning a language has been shown to improve cognitive functions such as memory, and attention control?
It also helps us fight depression, delays Dementia, and boosts self-confidence – Lund University did a study on this and it even showed growth in parts of the brain! (yeek)
Create a study time that works best for you
Knowing when is the best time (for you) to study will help you a lot in the process of becoming consistent. For example with me, the later I push something off into the night, the less likely I am to do it.
Even though I enjoy learning languages, it just works best for me if I do my studying in the morning. I would suggest that you just try both and see when you feel most comfortable learning, and obviously what works best and gives you consistency.
Create a study plan that suits your level
Below I will post an example of a study plan I made for a student last week. Just considering how much time she has between her daily activities and her level – I made a checklist of things to do that appropriately fit her level and goals.
Creating a study plan just saves a lot of time thinking about what you should do next, and gets a well-balanced routine started.
It's like the difference between going to the gym every day with no idea of what you are going to do vs. having a plan for each day.
This is an example of a study plan I made for a student learning Spanish
4 - Check out Laoshu50500 For Motivation
If your asking yourself “what the heck is a Laoshu?” then, fair enough lol. Laoshu in Chinese means teacher, but I am not referring to just any teacher. He was a young man named Moses McCormick that at 18 years old decided that he wanted to learn 50 languages.
Moses wrote all 50 on a whiteboard and for the rest of his short life, he continued studying them.
He did reach that goal and planned to keep going but unfortunately passed away at the young age OF 37. He used to post videos of him walking around practicing his languages and it's so motivating.
Even for somebody who just wants to learn one language, it helps to see these videos because the reactions of the people he speaks with are usually priceless. We get to see firsthand how excited people are when you put time into learning their language.
Even if he just started the language and can only say 3 sentences fluently, the people say “OH my GOODNESS you are SOOO GOOOD!” or “Where did you learn that? You must be a spy!”
Watching these reactions helps us remember that we will be able to connect with strangers just because of what we are doing in our homes today.
I'm not saying this should be the main reason you learn a language but… they will definitely treat you better on average, and why?
Because your showing you care about them and their culture.
Conclusion - How To Not Lose Your Motivation To Learn Spanish!
There exists a great many ways that we can keep ourselves motivated while we are learning a language. The opportunities that will open up, the people we will connect with, and the days we will make for others.
There is a widely known quote by Nelsen Mandela that I always keep in mind while I study foreign languages, it goes like this
“if you speak to a man in a language he knows, it goes to his head, but if you speak to a man in his language, it goes to his heart.”
I hope that this article helped show you how to not lose your motivation to learn Spanish. If you remember one thing from this article, remember this - if you can get a grip on consistency, you will be unstoppable!
Click here if you want to learn the "5 Insider Secrets to Learning a Language Quickly and Efficiently"
I hope you feel inspired to get more organized and start learning like a pro, I believe in you!
- Ben
ความคิดเห็น