#3 Finding your "why"
When you have no will to work on your language skills, the "why" allows you to never give up
Finding your why is the thing that matters the most while learning a new skill like learning a foreign language.
It is exactly this why that won’t make you give up and that will bring consistency during your journey. Even though you might be bored at a certain level. Never forget, boredom is what makes you improve any skills, it is in this moment that the skill is being built. The learning curve is always fast at the beginning, then slows down (boredom), before reaching a very good level. You have to be consistent enough to be better than most of people around you at a certain skill, same applies to languages.
Personally, communication and discovery have always been the main reason behind learning new languages (Italian, English, German, Spanish).
Indeed, the world is big, full of people. I want to travel, binding links with people and discover new habits and cultures. I love talking to people and I am genuinely interested in the others and asking some questions. I believe that only talking one’s mother tongue prevents you from living such experiences.
Speaking another language makes you see your world and people in a different way. All of this constitutes my intrinsic motivation.
Some “why” I had.
Not speaking English prevents you to appreciate any experience if you travel abroad, whatever the country. This is why I have learned it.
Spanish countries has wonderful cultures and histories, it is a language spoken by a lot of people in the world. This is why I have learned it.
German is useful to find a job in Europe, it requires some logic to speak it well. This languages has a lot of rules but offers some possibilities of creativity. I see it as a game. This is why I have learned it.
Italian makes me see life in another way. I found in Italy people that appreciate each single moment of life deeply (la dolce vita is a real thing). I also have some Italian friends I would like to communicate with in Italian. This is why I have learned it.
I am not perfect at those language, they are not my mother tongue, but my motivation will enable me to reach a perfect level in a few years. This why makes me work on them every single day, even though it is just for a few minutes. This few minutes create hours which create days of learning.
It is not something that can be built overnight. It requires time.
That’s all for today.
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Quentin