Introduction.
Falling in love with the language you’re learning is likely the most important thing you can do to ensure long-term motivation. They say you can’t make yourself fall in love, but there are certainly a few things you can do to increase your passion for languages. The problem is that the only experience many people have had with language learning was a few classes in grade school. Throughout the years, we’ve fallen in love with multiple languages, and we have seen thousands of people succeed for the same reason. In this video, we will look at the things that make people fall in love with a new language and how you can use these things in your own life.
Art & Media.
Art and media can be a wonderful tool to increase your passion for a language. Things like music, books, movies, and podcasts are popular because they are more accessible than ever. They can easily be added to any schedule from anywhere in the world. You can use art and media to create an artificial immersion in the language. Hearing the language used in its natural form is a must if you want to fall in love with the language. Stop studying every once in a while and live the language. You’ll get used to the sound patterns and learn lots of new words and expressions in the process. You’ll be fully entertained and get familiar with the language without realizing it.
Travel & Culture (after a trip).
Traveling is one of the top reasons why people want to learn a new language. People often visit a foreign country for a few weeks and have a wonderful vacation. They are surrounded by the language, the culture, the history, great food and incredible people. This makes them infatuated with the language and they are convinced they will learn it when they get home. Unfortunately, this motivation often lasts only a few weeks. Why? Because all the things that made them fall in love with the language in the first place are gone. That’s why it’s important to keep living the language when you get home.
Travel & Culture (before a trip).
If you learn the language before your trip, your motivation will be through the roof because you are excited about your vacation. You know you’ll be using the language a lot during your trip and that learning it will enhance your entire vacation in many ways. All those beautiful sounds filling your eardrums during your trip will be understandable, and you’ll be able to interact with the locals in their native tongue. Even the simplest interactions can do wonders.
WHEN YOU GET BACK HOME, YOU’LL STILL BE BUZZING FROM THE EXPERIENCE AND WANT TO CONTINUE IMPROVING.
When you get back home, you’ll still be buzzing from the experience and you’ll want to continue improving. Even if your motivation eventually fades, you will have had a lot more time with the language and reached a higher level than if you had only studied a few weeks after your trip. Another great benefit of learning a language before a trip is that you have a much better chance of meeting people that you’ll stay in contact with after your trip. This brings us to our next point.
Friends & Meaningful Interactions.
Meeting people who speak the language you are learning can be incredibly rewarding. But if you don’t meet native speakers on your trip, or can’t afford to travel, you can easily make friends from anywhere in the world nowadays. Websites like HelloTalk, Italki, Meetup or even Facebook can be great places to meet people who speak your target language. You can form great friendships with these people without ever meeting them in real life. Making friends in the language you’re learning is one of the most under-used form of motivation and practice, yet, it is likely the most effective. If you have daily conversations with people, you’ll learn more than you can imagine. But most importantly, your drive to learn more and your love for the language will only increase.
Conclusion.
If you can incorporate art & media, travel and having meaningful interactions in the language, your love for the language should stay high throughout the entire learning process. Your motivation will help you keep improving and improving will help you love the language even more. It becomes a never-ending loop that will lead you right to fluency.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE OUINO METHOD.
We have combined everything we know from years of language acquisition and research to create an awesome language-learning method. Visit OUINO.com to learn more.
