You’re doing well with learning a language, but realize you have a lot to learn.
So you increase your efforts, allot more time, and use effective study techniques to accomplish more in your target language.
However, for some reason, you couldn’t keep up with the demands despite doing everything you can.
Eventually, you lose the fire that got you started in the first place. And you start to spiral down into burnout. Worse, it’s starting to affect other areas of your life and bringing them down.
If this sounds like you, what can you do to overcome language learning burnout?
Tip #1: Take a Break From Language Learning
Burnout from language learning doesn’t differ much from burnout at work. Sometimes all it takes is a bit of break from the usual action.
If you’re wondering if stopping could make you lose the language, don’t worry. Believe it or not, our brain works even if we’re not using it. When not at work, we allow our brain to process experiences, consolidate new memories, and hence reinforce learning.
Personally, I was able to apply this with memorizing K-Pop lyrics. I wanted to memorize the lyrics and have more fun with the song, but it pisses me off when I keep on forgetting several words or lines.
However, I always find myself better than the previous day when I resume the practice. I’m often surprised and amazed when recalling the lyrics got easier, it allowed me to move on to the next hard part until eventually, I finish the entire song.
My guess is that my brain did the heavy work of creating connections during times I wasn’t active, especially during sleep.
The point here is you should worry less about losing your language. Recovering it is always much easier than when first discovering it.
Another benefit of having a language timeout is you’ll get the opportunity to think deeply about the language you’re pursuing. It’s the perfect time to reacquaint yourself with your specific purpose for learning the language.
Is it still worth continuing to study your target language? What motivated you in the first place anyway? Are your efforts in line with what you’re trying to achieve? How far have you gotten down the road? These are the questions I asked myself whenever I took breaks from learning Korean.
So go ahead, take a break, and don’t continue the language you’re learning. See how it helps restore your sanity.
Tip #2: Slow Down, But Keep Learning
You may slow down at some point in your language learning journey, which is totally fine. Scaling down your activities won’t hurt you at all.
When you can’t afford to increase the intensity of your study, momentum is your friend. Use it to your advantage if you decide to go slow and steady.
By making small but consistent efforts, you’re still advancing in your target language and are well on your way to fluency.
Language learning is made up of multiple skills (reading, listening, writing, speaking). Plus, there are a ton of things to learn in a language (grammar, vocabulary, culture, alphabet, pronunciation). So there’s always a way to create bite-sized tasks to keep the ball rolling.
Here are several ideas to scale down:
- If you were studying 500 flash cards a day, tone it down to 100, or even down to 50 or 20
- Shadow a native speaker for 10 minutes a day
- Listen to a 15-minute podcast
- Write 5 new sentences on a grammar rule you’ve learned
- Enter a chatroom with natives and converse for 15 minutes
- Passively watch an entertaining show that allows you to discover the culture of your target language, such as talk shows, travel shows, and historical documentaries
When it comes to building small but consistent habits, I can vouch for the power and the benefit it has done to my life, especially in language learning.
So instead of going full blast on a foreign language, how about creating a sustainable learning lifestyle that avoids burnout all along?
How Are You Doing Lately?
Are you experiencing burnout in language learning? Could you use a break right now? Or is it time for you to slow down?
A lack of energy and enthusiasm in one area of life, such as language learning, is often a bad sign. When left unchecked, it can potentially spill over and bring your energy down elsewhere.
The key to overcoming it is getting in touch with yourself and with what truly matters.
Then as you pick yourself back up, you can adjust accordingly and eventually return to your language learning routine.
