How to stay motivated to learn French when life gets in the way

Motivation is a sneaky thing. It is very high when you start something new, for example studying French. And then, it somehow fades away and disappears entirely.

Or when it’s not your motivation which is at fault, life gets in the way. Urgent things show up and your study gets somehow forgotten

Did this ever happen to you? If so, you’re not alone. Most of my students have had this problem more than once when they eventually get in touch with me. In fact, almost every language learner has had this issue at some point, including myself.

In this article, I’m sharing 8 things that you can do to keep your motivation high and make sure that you’ll still be making progress in French even when life gets in the way.

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1. Remember why you started.

Motivation is a sneaky thing. When you start to learn French, your motivation is really hard. But as time goes by, you start feeling that learning French isn’t that interesting… or worse: something happens and you don’t have time anymore. You can’t … — Motivation is a sneaky thing. When you start to learn French, your motivation is really hard. But as time goes by, you start feeling that learning French isn’t that interesting… or worse: something happens and you don’t have time anymore. You can’t find time to learn French vocabulary or show up for your French lessons - or is this a motivation issue? In this article, you’ll learn 8 life-changing tips to keep your French learning motivation high.
#learnfrench #languagelearning #learningfrench

There was a reason (or even several reasons) why you wanted to learn French in the first place. Think of all the awesome things you will be able to do when your French is fluent.
Even better, grab a pretty piece of paper and write all these down.
When you feel your motivation drop, or you feel that there are things more important than learning French, read over the list again. That should boost your motivation and increase your chances of getting your next study sessions done.

2. Have a master plan.

“Failing to plan is planning to fail” - Brian Tracy

The first thing that I do with my clients, both in 1-1 coaching and in my group program, is to create a master plan that will serve as a guide for their entire French study.

We call this plan the Roadmap to Fluency and it’s in 3 parts, which I have detailed in this article. I recommend you check it out next if you don’t have a master plan for your French study yet.

Having a plan that always shows you what’s next considerably reduces your chance of just giving up. It’s a lot easier to keep learning when you know what to do.

3. Keep it around.

Keep the French language around.

Wether it’s through a daily French bath, creating daily habits or putting French things around you, you want to keep the French language a part of your life.

As the saying goes, out of sight, out of mind. And you really don’t want that.

4. Join a peer group

People are even harder to ignore than French stuff around you. You tend to feel guilty when you ignore your friends.

Joining a peer group is a great way to make peer pressure work for you rather than against you.

I have a great group program which you can check out. It’s called the French Fluency Accelerator and you’ll can check it out right here.

5. Beware the dreaded “intermediate plateau”

If you haven’t heard of it, the intermediate plateau is a moment in every language learner’s journey when they feel that they aren’t making progress anymore.

It happens when you have learned and can say many things, but there are many more that you still don’t know. What you know feels tiny in comparison to all that you “need” to learn now. You have a “to learn” list which feels endless and like it’s growing by the minute.

This is a very annoying place to be in.

There is a big risk of getting demotivated and quitting at this point. This would be a terrible idea since you might be very close to making it through and becoming fluent for good.

My best tip if you’re there is to know that it’s ok, it’s normal and inevitable to be in this situation - every learner has to go through this - and that you won’t stay there forever. All you need to do is keep studying.

6. Don’t quit. Stay in the room.

Even if you feel that you aren’t making progress as fast as you’d want, and that everyone is doing better than you.

First that’s probably not true. It’s very common for language learners, even for myself, to feel that everyone else is doing better than you are. And they all fell the same about you.

This is a very interesting group effect among language learners. Everyone feels that the others are doing better than themselves.

So, even if you’re feeling this, don’t quit. Keep showing up with your sessions and make sure to celebrate your wins.

One caveat: if you feel that the lessons you are receiving aren’t adapted for your case or the lessons, the group or the teacher make you feel bad in any way, then it could be a good idea to find another teacher or group. In this case you need to change rooms, and not quit.

7. Focus on what you can already do, not what you still can’t do.

The plan that we use in my programs, which you can download via this page, contains a built-in way to track your progress. It allows you to see at one glance all that you’ve already learned, and all the learning you still have to do.

As humans we have a strong tendency to look at what’s missing, not what’s already there, and to compare where we are to an ideal level. It’s just how we’re wired.

Unfortunately, measuring yourself against perfection is terrible for your motivation. So, if you feel demotivated, turn around and check how much you’ve learned since the beginning.

This should make you feel better instantly and give you a boost of motivation.

8. Get help and accountability

This can be provided by your peer group, or also by a 1-1 coach, tutor or language exchange partner.

If you have committed to show up for a weekly session, you’re more likely to show up indeed, than if you didn’t commit. And a supportive coach or tutor will be able to help you stay motivated as well.

By the way, if you’re ready to jump in and make faster progress, this is your reminder that you can study 1-1 with me or join my group program, The French Fluency Accelerator. I would love to work with you.

You can also get started for free with this starter kit:

Your next steps

If you like this way of learning French, you will love to learn with me as a student or client. Please check out:

My 1-1 coaching program, The French Transformation, if you need to improve your French fast.
My group program, The French Fluency Accelerator, if you’d like to join a community of students from all over the world. We have weekly practice calls together and the best online video library to learn French.