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Motivational problems | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies |  | |
| Eric Senior Member Australia Joined 7230 days ago 102 posts - 105 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, French | Message 1 of 36 27 June 2006 at 10:57pm | IP Logged | ||
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Dear all,
I'm currently at a very weird place regarding language learning. I've always been interested in languages and due to curiosity have amassed quite a few phrase books in my home. I attend University and am 1 year and a half through Spanish and 6 months through French. Spanish I have a pass/credit average, and in my first 6 months of French I am distinction/high distinction .... but I have problem I'm hoping you guys can help me with. Although I want to speak and understand these languages, I am terribly demotivated and unwilling to self-study. I have wondered why I am like this and I'm not sure I have a conclusive answer but it seems I work better when I'm encouraged and/or have 1-to-1 lessons and/or a good rappor with the teacher. I am not sure whether that is the only way I'll truly be fluent in another language but suffice to say that my French results would be pass/credit if I had another teacher. The problem is that after a year and a half of Spanish I don't love it and find myself continously wanting to flirt with other languages. I recognize the danger in this, François says on this site not to be like that monk from the film "the name of the rose" who speaks many languages but only fragments of them. I'm sure what the answer is guys, and I fear that if I run off starting other languages (as I did with french) it's only going to be fruitless. I've tried throwing money at this problem by buying books and so forth but sadly I only read them in the store and on the train home, once home they find a shelf space and stay there, unread and my vocab and learning continues at a snails pace and very reluctantly as if I hate learning but want the end result. I'm not sure whether 1-to-1 tution may be the only hope for me or whether there is another solution. I've read Farber's book, and used CD's for learning but it's never consistent and I always lose motivation. Your advice is appreciated, thankyou sincerely. -Eric 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Malcolm Triglot Retired Moderator Senior Member Korea, South Joined 7317 days ago 500 posts - 515 votes 5 sounds Speaks: English*, Spanish, Korean Studies: Mandarin, Japanese, Latin | Message 2 of 36 27 June 2006 at 11:23pm | IP Logged | ||
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Depending on where you live, you might be able to find a language exchange partner through mylanguageexchange.com or one of the other websites. If you meet with a language exchange partner on a regular basis (say, once a week for a few hours each time), you'll have the opportunity to use the language for real and this will significantly boost your motivation. It really helps having something real to do in a language such as talking to a real person or reading a real book. It also helps (for me at least) reading the success stories of all the other forum members here, and thinking about how good it would be to get like them.
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| jpxt2 Triglot Groupie United States Joined 6733 days ago 46 posts - 52 votes Speaks: English, Spanish*, French Studies: Mandarin, Catalan, Portuguese, German, Italian | Message 3 of 36 28 June 2006 at 12:10am | IP Logged | ||
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Eric,
Am I getting this right -- you want to speak and understand French/Spanish... but you don't like studying them? You want the "end result" without all the in-between hassle? You say you lack motivation. But do you know exactly what it is you're after? What is the exact goal, that "end result" you wish to achieve that you need motivation for? You say "My goal is to speak and understand French and Spanish," and that is very noble sounding indeed, but it's too fuzzy, too vague. It's a great dream, but for dreams to become real, achievable goals, you have to break them down and define them as steps and operations that you can divide and conquer ON A SPECIFIC TIMELINE. You need to find a way to formulate your language goals in terms of specific things you want, something you can measure. Then give yourself a deadline for getting there. Tell somebody you know exactly what you plan to do OUT LOUD. After that, BUILD yourself an effective strategy. Think about this and do your research. Buying language books and reading them in the store and on the train is unreliable, because once the emotional high of "Neat! I got a new book!" is gone, the books go into the shelf, like you said, and you're back to square one. So create a language learning strategy that sustains itself in your life: Buy your groceries at the foreign market, make good friends with some exchange students at school, attend or organize a group to practice speaking your language, get together with classmates and do your language homework together, go out and watch foreign movies, etc, etc. You've got to assess the resources and obstacles present in YOUR LIFE and put together a PROGRAM. You get what I'm saying here? You're currently thinking, "Hey, I want to learn Spanish. Oh bother, I have to learn this entire language, eh? This is so complicated. This is so boring. I have no motivation!" Hope that helps. Edited by jpxt2 on 28 June 2006 at 12:13am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| omicron Senior Member United States Joined 7123 days ago 125 posts - 132 votes Speaks: English* | Message 4 of 36 28 June 2006 at 2:23am | IP Logged | ||
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What jpxt2 said!
But...
What kind of books are you buying? I'm just getting over a spell of demotivation/boredom with more-or-less formal 'study'. Since my main way to procrastinate is to read, I just made a deal with myself to do my recreational reading in French instead of English, watch movies in French instead of English, and just not 'study'. Reading without a dictionary is cool. You pick up vocab without work. I read a bunch of Simenon's Maigret stories - within a day or two I figured out that une écluse is a canal lock, une grue is a crane, and une péniche is a barge. Never looked them up (until now, because I wanted to check spelling - I was right). And all I was doing was goofing off. That doesn't cover 'school work' demotivation, and it doesn't help with speaking fluency, but fiction is a lot more fun than instruction books. And while most of the vocabulary you get is passive, you do get syntax drilled into your head. Grab a Spanish mystery, throw out your dictionary and read for story. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| TDC Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 6923 days ago 261 posts - 291 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin, French Studies: Esperanto, Ukrainian, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Persian | Message 5 of 36 28 June 2006 at 12:30pm | IP Logged | ||
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Get something that you will do everyday (like Assimil) and say that you will do it for x minutes or 1 lesson a day. Make a chart that you can check off when you do the lesson for the day. Set up goals and knock them down. If you forget a word, don't worry about it, look it up next time, and move on. Learn because you want to learn. If you don't want to learn Spanish learn something that interests you. Just my 2 cents.
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| CaitO'Ceallaigh Triglot Senior Member United States katiekelly.wordpress Joined 6859 days ago 795 posts - 829 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Russian Studies: Czech, German | Message 6 of 36 28 June 2006 at 2:25pm | IP Logged | ||
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A friend of mine is or was in a similar quandry. He really wanted to learn Russian - he lived there for a year or two and knows the basics - but he doesn't enjoy studying Russian. He wanted to know how I motivate myself.
I think it's a matter of shifting your focus from the goal to the process. And keep your definition of process as wide open as possible. It could mean doing a lesson a day, it could mean listening the radio for a few minutes, it could mean trying to read a book, or having a conversation, watching a movie. The more open ended you make it, the more enjoyable you may find it to be, and the more you find yourself taking the time to do it. I would say commit to, at the minimum, five minutes a day. I know some people might say that's not enough! But at least it's something, and you might find yourself spilling over to an hour or more. But start with five minutes of SOMETHING. Five minutes should be easy enough. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| patuco Diglot Moderator Gibraltar Joined 7017 days ago 3795 posts - 4268 votes Speaks: Spanish, English* Personal Language Map | Message 7 of 36 28 June 2006 at 4:20pm | IP Logged | ||
I think that this is very sound advice and I completely agree. I like the idea of using a chart to "tick-off" the lesson(s) you do each day. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| tdmg Newbie United States Joined 6726 days ago 5 posts - 5 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Modern Hebrew | Message 8 of 36 29 June 2006 at 11:57pm | IP Logged | ||
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I'll start off by stating the obvious: Everyone is different. There are some general groups though that might help give you an idea of what type of learner you are and what will help.
Some people need structure to their learning, no matter what it is. These people will benefit greatly from what TDC said about making a schedule. These type of people care more about finishing the goal, rather than what they achieved through it. However, it's generally true that if you stick to a schedule for even a week you'll see that you learned something, so you won't be too disheartened. There are those that need to feel like they are learning something, and not just a little, but a lot, otherwise they feel like they're wasting their time by not doing something more productive. This is the type of person I am, and the main problem that I find is that I feel like I'm learning a lot in my physics/philosophy/history classes, and not nearly enough in my language classes, even though I spend twice my time on the languages. This has been my experience with Spanish, German, Hebrew, and Japanese, with bad, so-so, and great instructors. However, no matter how excellent the professor, I wasn't learning enough. That is why I study alone now. I take at least a few weeks reading online and talking with people to find the best meathods for me. I learn a lot more that way, and then I can take the class to flesh out my learning and get a good grade at the same time (and give me structured time to chat with a fluent speaker). There are those that need a "reason," they won't finish a math problem just to complete a goal (person #1) or because they are learning something (#2), they need a purpose. This is the stickiest situation to be in. It's the equivalent of depression for languages. However, if you want to get out of that rut you will get out of it eventually. I don't know how easy it is at Uni, but here in in the US it's easy to put yourself in an area where most people speak Spanish, or find a bunch of French-Canadians to hang with. Your Uni might have a language dorm where you can put yourself have a real reason to study a lot. I'm sure there are other ways to force yourself though. You sound like you want to get motivated, so it will only be a matter of time. Hope I was a little helpful. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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