Put Away the Books

Foreign language learning burnout often happens when you’re concentrating on book learning. When you’re spending most of your study time reading about grammar rules, doing repetitive drills, and reviewing vocabulary lists, it’s easy to get disconnected from the reason you’re learning. That reason, for most learners, is communication with other human beings.

Take a break from book learning for a while and concentrate on unstructured conversation practice. In other words, just chat and don’t worry to much about learning something new from each conversation.

If you don’t have much opportunity for conversation, pick up a low-cost audio course and just listen without doing any accompanying practice exercises.

This kind of relaxed practice may not build your vocab or introduce you to new grammar rules, but it will consolidate your knowledge and skills. You’ll become more adept at using the words and grammar you do already know. It’s also a lot better than disconnecting from the language completely.

Do What You Enjoy

One of the great things about language is that it’s used in so many different ways. If you’re not enjoying the ways you use the language you’re learning, try something different. Instead of relying on workbook exercises for your language input, use your language to do things you also enjoy in native language.

Watch movies, listen to music, read magazines, grab some new recipes online, hang out at online forums, or anything else you like doing in your native language. Consider it a working holiday. Take a few days off just to experience the language and immerse yourself in it without formally studying it. If you’re really burned out, don’t even write down new words. Just experience.

Consider Slowing Down

When you can’t wait to be able to communicate in your target language, it’s easy to set overly optimistic communication goals for a relatively short period of time and them push yourself to reach them. In some cases—like when you’re very highly motivated (or plain desperate) and surrounded by native speakers—this can work well. In most cases, particularly when you’re self-taught and don’t have much material to work with, it won’t do much besides wear you down.

If you think you might have underestimated the time it will take you to reach your goals, go back and adjust them to something that’s a little more realistic.

If you don’t think pace is the problem, then look for ways to make your study time more efficient. Test out mnemonic devices for remember vocabulary and new practice techniques for absorbing grammar rules. Faster Foreign Language Learning provides a wide variety of these “learning shortcuts” to make your study time more efficient.

Language Learning Burnout and Culture Shock

If you’re living in another country and speaking another language most of the time, both language learning burnout and culture shock are perfectly normal and all but unavoidable. This is especially true your first time living in another culture.

The best way to deal with these issues is to learn what’s coming (culture shock progresses through distinct stages) and realize that what you’re feeling is due to a natural period of adjustment and not your fault orthe fault of the people around you. Go easy on yourself for a while, but don’t completely break off contact with the language and both the burnout and culture shock will pass.

Related posts:

1. Learning a Foreign Language: Tips for Learning Grammar
2. Foreign Language Learning for Introverts: Speaking Practice Tips for Immersion Situations
3. Learning a Foreign Language Online: Cheap and Convenient or a Waste of Time?