I think as others have said you have to have answer the question “Why am I learning German” and it has to be a bit more than “I want to know what those sneeky foreigners are saying behind my back”. Yes you can already use translation tools, but a language is a culture, by learning that language you learn the culture of another people including a different perspective on the world. I particularly enjoy French political discussions as they are much less tribal and superficial than most English language content. They remind me of the BBC 40 years ago.
I haven’t previously thought much about how and why I learn, I just work. But it does match what others have said. I don’t do it when the motivation hits. In fact motivation is not, err, part of the motivation. I put aside set times each day for learning, thus Anki in the morning, one hour of French while walking or driving to and from the ice rink, one hour of German at tea time and one hour of French while lying in bed in the late evening. If I have to go to London, I work on the train. I might skip a session but it’s rare.
Quite often I don’t feel like studying, but once I get going it’s enjoyable. It is often frustrating, in particular because I make so many mistakes, sometimes the same mistake repeatedly, especially in German and progress in German is painfully slow. Gradually there reaches a point where something sinks in, and I no longer make the mistake.
I know loads of people who start a language and never progress beyond beginner or lower intermediate. I guess you need a deep down desire to master the language and a belief that with enough hard work you will succeed, even if others learn quicker.
I’ve been learning German for 3.5 years, probably equivalent to one hour a day for 2.5 years i.e. about 900 hours, and I’m a mediocre lower intermediate. The first 18 months were slow because I used the input only method which simply does not work for me. I’m probably one of the slower learners here, perhaps due to a poor memory or perhaps due to using poor methods for a long while.
To be honest I had no idea how much hard work learning a language requires! I think many of us are swayed by glossy marketing videos that tell us how easy it is.
I think you have an advantage. You already have English to a high level, and that will encourage you to believe that you can knock German on the head too.
As regards LingQ statistics, I found they were counterproductive. They were rewarding me for doing tasks that harmed my learning, or more accurately, were less effective. So my advice would be ignore LingQ statistics, and make sure you study every day for a minimum time, preferably one hour if not more.
