How to keep motivated when studying English is one of the most important questions faced by all EFL students. Without motivation it is almost impossible to work towards any goal. There is nothing more frustrating than realising a month from now that you still haven’t made any progress! Imagine being in a shop and trying to communicate with the cashier, or needing to understand an official letter – and you still can’t. It’s making me angry just thinking about it. It’s time for action!
How to Increase Motivation
So how can you keep motivated when studying English? Firstly, keep in mind the reasons you wanted to learn English in the first place. Write these reasons down and make them alive with meaning for you.
When thinking about your motivations, don’t just write “I want to learn English so that I can talk to English people”, instead write something more specific.
For example, you might write: “I want to learn English so that … I communicate easily in shops / write letters to the bank easily / talk to my English friend Bob / speak on the phone without getting annoyed with my lack of understanding / talk in English to my cat / not get ripped off by the mechanic”.
Your reason has to be specific and relevant.
How to study English
Learning English takes a good dose of time and patience in addition to a large helping of effort. Your expectations for improvement need to be realistic. Don’t expect massive improvements in one week if you only study for one hour.
Equally, the way you study English is just as important as the time you invest. There is no point reading English for three hours if you don’t really understand any of it.
Another way to keep motivated when studying English is to make sure your study time is productive and that you achieve something new each lesson.
Whether that is a better understanding of a new word group, a stronger grasp of an English grammar point, new vocabulary, a more finely tuned ear, or something else.
Take your learning in small steps or else you will overload your brain and not take anything in. Remember, ‘slowly slowly catchy monkey’. (Yes, that’s another strange English idiom! It means slow, steady progress is the key to success.)
What are your language learning goals?
But the motivation to study English needs to be there before you actually start making real progress. So write down your reasons for learning right now!
When writing down your goals, it is important to make them stand out as Very Important to you personally. It doesn’t matter why your cousin is learning English or why your best friend isn’t.
All that matters is why learning English is important to you and how learning English can make your life better.
Then put your motivational sentences where you can see them. This might be magnetized to the fridge, tacked to the notice board, stapled to your desk, sellotaped to the chair in front of you, on your pillow, on the window, in the middle of the car windscreen – well maybe not there, but you get the general idea!
Put your motivational sentences where you will see them all the time and therefore feel MOTIVATED.
Why is motivation so important?
Motivation is important because if you can keep in mind all the time why you are learning English, then you will be more likely to succeed. It’s as simple as that.
This works for any goal – getting fit, stopping smoking, learning an instrument, improving your sewing skills or running a marathon. Motivation is key.
Motivation keeps you going when you would rather stop; it keeps you listening to your English podcast instead of your favourite music; it keeps you reading your English grammar exercise rather than switching on the TV.
Remember also that learning can happen when you don’t even realise it. So surround yourself with English and you will pick up snippets without even trying – a free bonus!
It will be worth it!
When wondering how to keep motivated when studying English, keep your end goal in mind. Just think where you will be this time next year if you stick with your studies and put in that extra bit of effort.
Your language learning efforts will all be worthwhile as you will speak, write, read and listen in the English language with much more confidence and fluency.
Think about the activities that will be easier and all the benefit you’ll enjoy when you reach a greater level of fluency. You’ll be able to travel more easily, socialise, work and enjoy life to the full in an English speaking country. Bring on the next EFL lesson!
What are your tips for staying motivated when learning English? Let us know in the comments.