Struggling to find motivation

Open Forum in English
1

My primary motivation for learning languages is that I am interested in other cultures and I would like to visit other countries, read their newspapers and literature, watch their films, understand their jokes, etc. But unfortunately I find all cultures interesting (even ancient ones) and I am unable to focus on one language until I reach proficiency.

I lack economic motivation for learning languages. On the contrary, my jobs have depended on my ability to read and write English (and just English) in a professional capacity. Learning other languages has been purely a hobby and one that I often did not have time for.

The one exception to this was when I wanted to get a job teaching English in Japan. I didn’t need to know Japanese to get that job but I did not want to go to Japan not knowing Japanese. So I was really motivated to learn Japanese and I went from A0 to passing JLPT Level 2 (intermediate) in a short period of time. I guess I wasn’t a true A0 because when I was a kid I loved Japanese cartoons and I think some of that passively embedded in my brain. Then when I went to Japan I got really lazy and didn’t study Japanese at all. Everyone around me spoke dialect so I tried to learn their dialect and also the dialect of neighboring prefectures, and I watched a lot of Japanese TV and I am not talking about NHK. Oh heck no. I watched those crazy reality shows where you are thinking, ‘Are they really showing this on TV?’ Oh, and also those travel shows where they talk about how the ramen in some little town is different from all the other ramen. Well, as you can imagine, I failed JLPT Level 1 quite spectacularly.

Here is another example of lacking motivation: I recently spent six weeks in Berlin. When I got there I really wanted to learn German. My motivation was my interest in German culture. I like Germany and German people. I thought that maybe I could someday reside there, but it was just a wish or a hope, nothing definite. I also have the same hope of residing in other countries. If I hope to reside in ten different countries, it isn’t a sufficient motivator to focus on one particular language.

When I got to Germany, I tried to speak German and everyone was answering me in English. Then I decided to just speak English and everyone started answering me in German. Okay, whatever. Another thing–in Berlin they show American movies on TV every night, and they show really good ones, much better than the movies shown on American TV. Even though I like German-produced TV shows, I couldn’t resist watching my favorite American movies on TV every night. Except that they censor all the violence, and I mean all of it. Huge chunks of PG-13 cut right out of the film. Ouch. How do German people even know what is going on in the film with crucial scenes cut out? Again, whatever. I digress. The point is, what kind of motivation do I have to learn German if they show American movies on TV every night on multiple channels (the worst offenders being Pro 7, Kabel Eins, RTL in all its iterations, and VIVA for showing “Family Guy.”)

A similar problem with Russian. I’ve never studied Russian and I don’t know any Slavic languages. But I want the first Slavic language I study to be something other than Russian. Nothing against the Russians of course. It’s just that most of the languages I’ve studied have been of countries quite prominent in geopolitics and I want to learn a variety of languages, not just those of geopolitical power players. I really love the “Russia Today” channel because they broadcast news from a different perspective than CNN, NBC and the BBC. I stopped watching the Anglo-American news channels entirely because I just got sick of it. Bloomberg financial news is tolerable but I can find the financial information I want much faster online. Anyway, I like watching RT but they broadcast in English, so it lessens my motivation to learn Russian.

So to summarize, I am motivated to learn other languages but the motivation is insufficent to sustain me. If one doesn’t have economic motivation for learning a language, then in most cases it becomes a hobby and it must then compete with one’s other leisure activites, some of which are probably more important (such as exercise for physical health). There are so many languages to learn that I find it impossible to focus on one or two. Furthermore, the widespread availability of English-language media (even if dubbed in another language) is another demotivator. Not to mention that I am really lazy and undisciplined.

So how can I be motivated to focus on just one or two languages until becoming proficient? Or should I just be bad at all the languages I study?

2

“My primary motivation for learning languages is that I am interested in other cultures and I would like to visit other countries, read their newspapers and literature, watch their films, understand their jokes, etc. But unfortunately I find all cultures interesting (even ancient ones) and I am unable to focus on one language until I reach proficiency.”

This has always been my problem as well, even if in my case it’s limited to Europe and its languages. I find it difficult to reach a B1 level in many languages, because I want to learn so many and I have no particular reason to focus entirely on one of them.

3

It seems to me the Mikebond and Chillies are doing just fine. The key is to enjoy what we do in language learning.

4

I know where you are coming from. I think the secret is to embed your study with activities you already do. You mention exercise; listen to podcasts while doing that. Flashcarding can be done in very small chunks while waiting in lines or whatever.

Remember that a short time studying everyday is better than no studying for weeks because when you study a little you keep yourself open to be swept away by some killer content when and if it comes up.

5

@Chillies: “…The point is, what kind of motivation do I have to learn German if they show American movies on TV every night on multiple channels (the worst offenders being Pro 7, Kabel Eins, RTL in all its iterations, and VIVA for showing “Family Guy.”)”

I don’t understand. Are you saying they now show these films with the original English soundtrack…!?

Last time I was over in Germany (a couple of years back) the films on TV were still being dubbed into German…

6

I know quite a few people who are in a similar situation. They like languages, all languages, and have trouble pinpointing one to learn. I find that these people often take much more time to make any progress in any of the languages, since they so often bounce around between them.

If you keep at it, eventually you’ll get good at the languages, but it might be more beneficial for you to focus on one or two at a time, get those up to a good level, then move on to other ones.

That said, what you do should be reflected by what your goals are. Are you more interested in learning more languages up to an intermediate level or fewer languages up to an advanced level? If it’s the latter, you will benefit from focusing on one or two languages for a period of time. As you say, if the languages are competing with one another and with your other hobbies, you should spend some time to set your priorities straight. That way it will be easier to make good progress, since you’ll have a clear goal in front of you.

Good luck!

7

I do study some Polish almost every day, but I soon get bored because I can’t find any really exciting activity. The idea I had about moving to Poland and looking for a job there is not appealing enough. And I seem unable to manage my time better in order to find the time for the other languages as well.

8

@Mike

You live in (or near) Venice?

And you considered moving to Poland?

Erm…!

UPDATE
I don’t mean disrespect towards Poland, of course. But Venice is the most amazing city in the entire world!

9

I have completely opposite problem. I am not able focus on Russian properly even if it is much easier than English. I tend to escape from Russian to English all the time. Moreover I have endless bad feeling that I’ll forget English. After my first converstion with native speaker here on Lingq is this feeling stronger. I am not happy with that yet.

10

I dislike Venice: it’s a museum, not a city to live in. More and more local people leave the island because life is increasingly unbearable.

11

My problem is one of ADHD, I can sit still just fine (unlike other people I know), but my mind is all over the place. So I’ll try work on languages, but then within 10 minutes I have Google searches, Wikipedia, Facebook, AIM, MSN, news sites, and everything I keep going to and start reading about this or that, or having to find a song that just popped into my head.

They say the internet rewires your brain, and I think I’ve been an internet junkie for so long that my brain gets such strong cravings for so much information at once, and jumps from one thing to another.

@mikebond : At least they’ll be safe from the zombies, in case such an apocalypse would happen. Unless they can swim.

12

My motivation is simple enough: I like to read.
I feel motivated as long as I have a good book in my hands in the language I am studying. That’s how I have learned english (to the extent I needed to learn it anyway) and that’s how I improved considerably my knowledge of french in the last 5 months.
That said, I have found that I can’t study more than one language at a time, at least until I achieve an intermediate level in one of them.

@Rank: I agree with you about Venice. I can’t say if I would live there or not if I had the chance, but for me it is the most beautiful city I have ever been. I can understand mikebond feelings about it though, as a lot of people think Rio is the jewel of Brazil and I don’t feel particularly attracted to it either.

13

Thanks for all the great replies.

@Rank: Yes, you are right, the US films in Germany are dubbed in German, so I can improve my German by watching them. But they don’t inspire me to learn German. In fact, I start to crave the originals because the voice acting is such an important part of the film.

@Mikebond: Venice is one of the most beautiful places on earth, but like you I would never want to live there. Overall quality of life is more important to me than beautiful buildings and canals. I am thinking about moving to Poland and getting a job myself. I was blown away by Poland but I went there in summer and as a tourist for three weeks. I know that being there in winter and having a job would be a completely different experience. Having extremely limited job choices is for me a great detractor.

When I was in Poland I was told, “The Czech language almost died out and when they revived it they forgot to put the vowels back in.” I thought that was a case of Pot-Kettle-Black. But I found Polish people wickedly funny.

14

@agqcaldas2: I like your idea of reading as motivation. However, I have a strange problem with that. I learned French in high school (grammar, grammar, grammar) and I took French literature courses at university. For two years of university I read all sorts of literature including in Old (medieval) French. I got all A’s. Then I went to France and I couldn’t understand anything French people said said after six years of study. What a waste of time and money! I felt like a fool and a sucker. Now that I’ve forgotten most of my French I just want to learn conversation. Maybe later I will be more inspired to read French books.

15

What’s the problem with being able to read another language well? There are some languages that I can only read. I find it to be quite enjoyable actually.

16

chillies, I find listening pretty important. I like to read, and enjoy reading in new languages. I do, however, spend more time listening. Either it is the audio version of what I am reading, or other audi content, from podcasts or whatever. Of course, the ideal is to be in the environment interacting with natives, but that is not usually available to most language learners.

17

Oh, what a great dream it would be in an environment of native speakers of another language, Steve! But, I’d still listen to audiobooks and read, because I enjoy doing those things regardless. How about you?

18

Of course I would, and I do. I did in Japan and when I visit other countries I wander around with my iPod on listening to literature, or history or philosophy as I walk the streets. I prefer this to TV and movies. I learn a great deal, and then at night I hope to engage the locals in discussion around the meal table.

19

Farrago wrote:
“My problem is one of ADHD, I can sit still just fine (unlike other people I know), but my mind is all over the place. So I’ll try work on languages, but then within 10 minutes I have Google searches, Wikipedia, Facebook, AIM, MSN, news sites, and everything I keep going to and start reading about this or that, or having to find a song that just popped into my head.”

That’s what happens to me, too, except that I don’t use AIM or MSN any longer and I make a very limited use of Facebook (just to check the LingQ page and the beta language poll), but I often check my mail account, news sites, and so on. I wonder what I can do to focus on LingQ only for a longer time (a couple of hours in the morning and a couple of hours in the afternoon at least).

20

Like it or not, talking to natives on a daily basis even for 10 minutes is one the of best solutions you can have for fixing your motivation however the problem is the natives are either not helpful online or they don’t have ample time talking to you. You are stuck between a rock and a hard place, even doing with all of these passive actvities like listening and reading you are not sure you will be able to have a complete fluency in a real life scenario. I am not sure if tutors are available at lingq for offering conversations in your target languages if they do you should avail that opportunity. Whenever I have got an opportunity to talk to a native speaker even for 3 minutes I feel so great and it really helps me to spend more time with the language. Just imagine if we could afford to live in a target country with our passive knowledge background in the language.