Motivation Tips

5 years ago
I often have students coming to me requesting motivation to learn English.  The first thing I have to say is that that is not possible.  I cannot motivate you.  I can tell you what to do and how to do it, but if you lack inner motivation, you will not be consistent and continue in your studies.  So here are some reasons why and how you can keep yourself motivated and increase your skills.

   In setting a goal to learn a new language, you have pinpointed a personal characteristic which warrants improvement.   Motivation is typically characterized as either internal or external. Internal motivation is fueled by a personal desire to achieve a certain goal. With regard to language learning, you might have a love for Les Misérables and you wish further to explore the literature of Victor Hugo, for example. You may have a passion for French wines and you wish to be more conversant in that culture. 

 On the other hand, there are also external motivations, which are often career-focused. Perhaps your company has its head office in Japan and learning Japanese might boost your career prospects. It is possible that you might fear losing your job if you do not make an effort to learn the language. You may wish to import products from another country and learning another language would be useful in dealing with suppliers. 

Without internal motivation, there is no motivation
With goals like these, which take time before seeing meaningful results, it is important that internal motivation plays the principal role. Where motivation is primarily driven by an external source, the task at hand can often feel like an obligation. The study of the peculiarities of grammar can soon become very burdensome if there is no personal passion behind your motivation. Furthermore, it is likely to take a long time to achieve the type of linguistic fluency which would be of use to you in your employment. It is very difficult to stick with extremely long-term goals such as these without breaking them down into smaller, more manageable sub-goals.

Make it personal
If you have started language study with primarily career goals in mind, aim to find something within the culture of the language that interests you.

How to maintain motivation?
Motivation is nurtured by creating a plan of action and establishing a routine. A routine which is maintained becomes a habit over time. A habit is difficult to break. The overall aim should be to make your learning a habit, one which will survive the difficult times.

1. Set achievable goals
Set goals, and stick to them. Make the goals realistic and achievable. An example of such a goal might be ‘Learn three new vocabulary items every day’. This should be achievable since, even on a busy day, it should be possible to set aside the small amount of time required to complete it. You should aim to set goals which you can achieve even on days when your motivation is low

2. Set targeted goals
Divide your learning between grammatical work and vocabulary building. Focus your learning. Perhaps set aside certain days of the week for grammatical structure and others for vocabulary building, and so on. Try to focus your learning on topics that you conceivably might want to talk about some day. 

3. Work every day
Make efforts to work every day wherever possible. A small amount of daily work will yield major results in the long-term. Do the work at the same time every day, whether it means getting up an hour earlier in the morning or arriving an hour earlier to work. This will build routine, which will over time form a habit. A habit is more deeply ingrained and can be more easily maintained.

.4. Note your breakthroughs and reward yourself
Once you reach a milestone, reward yourself. Once you’ve completed 21 uninterrupted days of goals, for example, treat yourself to a night out, or buy that new top that has caught your eye. Make your goals visual. Buy a calendar and draw a big red ‘X’ on each date after you have completed your daily goal. 

 You should make your daily goals modest enough that you can complete them even if you are having a particularly busy day. However, there will be days where you just don’t find the time to complete your daily task. That’s okay. Focus on what you have achieved.  

I hope these tips helped! Good luck!