Questions tagged [motivation]

Questions related to motivation in the context of language learning or teaching, e.g. its effects or how to increase it.

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What are psychologically good methods of learning the language?

I am developing a website for learning foreign language and first idea which came to my mind is to open courses where people learn grammar and put correct words as well as correct articles. Also some ...
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2 votes
5 answers
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How old is too old to learn Japanese?

How old is too old to learn Japanese well enough to have meaningful conversations? I am not even dreaming of learning any language fluently at my age however. In my opinion, 27 is generally too old to ...
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What are the reasons for learning a foreign language?

With Google Translate (and possibly other translators) becoming both ubiquitous and very good at their purpose, it seems that the problem of getting your message across to a person without knowing ...
SomeMan61's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
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How to continue improving my English despite the lack of immediate need?

I am originally from Russia and I've been living in the UK for the past 5 years. I work in IT so the requirements for English are not very high. I speak and write well enough to be understood by my ...
drsealks's user avatar
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11 votes
4 answers
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What are the implications of reading texts beyond my level?

Most texts, articles, books, novels, etc. that interest me in L2 are well above my level, requiring an intimate relationship with a dictionary in order to read. I can painstakingly plod through, but I ...
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From an economic point of view, what are the most important foreign languages to learn for Germans?

Discussions about which foreign languages to learn are often based on the number of native speakers a language has. However, on the job market, what languages look good on a CV is determined by other ...
Tsundoku's user avatar
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6 votes
2 answers
128 views

Is foreign music a good reason to learn a language?

I learned German while I was into NDH metal. Its the only language I learned well at all. But I stopped studying the language after I found out that I knew and understood German words that I didn't ...
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9 votes
4 answers
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Are there any reasons to learn a language you'll never use?

I have a gift for learning languages, but I haven't made much use of it. There's people younger than me that know more languages than I do. The only one I've ever learned was German, and that was ...
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What is the most widely spoken L2 (second language) in the EU28, besides English?

Many people are influenced/motivated to learn certain languages by how widely spoken they are. To that end, besides English, what is the most widely spoken language in the EU28? Bonus points for ...
AML's user avatar
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3 votes
0 answers
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How to avoid burnout in the first place?

People commonly get burned out when studying foreign languages, therefore it would be good to know strategies for avoiding burnout in the first place. What are known preemptive practices, mental ...
AML's user avatar
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8 votes
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How can I convince my girlfriend she is learning too fast?

I'm a native german speaker and my girlfriend is a native french speaker. Right now, she is using Duolingo to learn german. She is very motivated and often spends several hours trying to do as many ...
James L.'s user avatar
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How to overcome hurdles learning Chinese as a vegan?

Chinese seems to have many words indicating, or at least traditionally derived, from the killing of animals. Examples of these are 红, a character for red indicating prosperity, derived from the color ...
Joselin Jocklingson's user avatar
7 votes
1 answer
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Has the Brexit referendum negatively impacted British people's motivation to learn foreign languages?

In July 2016, the UK voted to leave the EU in what is known as the Brexit referendum. Even before the referendum, the British—like native speakers of English in general—were not known as the keenest ...
Tsundoku's user avatar
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5 votes
0 answers
146 views

How to overcome language learning fatigue when learning Standard Chinese?

An acquaintance of mine has been learning Standard Chinese in his spare time for a number of years. He passed the HSK3 test with a very high score and started preparing for HSK4. However, he recently ...
Tsundoku's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
56 views

Can stressing just on learning vocabulary cause demotivation?

I am studying the German language, I have studied the level B1 with a private teacher and passed the exam, after that period I began studying at home for the next level. But now I am feeling that I ...
Hussien Chahin's user avatar
11 votes
2 answers
168 views

How to motivate a tandem partner to do exercises that are not part of a compulsory language test?

Over the last two years, I have worked with tandem partners from China who come to Germany to study at university. Before they can attend courses at university, they first need to prove their ...
Tsundoku's user avatar
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11 votes
1 answer
131 views

Are there any studies on what motivates people to learn artistic languages such as Klingon, Dothraki and the Middle-earth languages?

The fictional worlds created in science fiction and fantasy sometimes contain characters that speak languages invented for these fictional worlds. These fictional languages are a category of ...
Tsundoku's user avatar
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9 votes
2 answers
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Are there any studies on what motivates people to learn international auxiliary languages such as Esperanto, Interlingua and Afrihili?

Esperanto is the best-known international auxiliary language (or IAL); it even has an Esperanto Stack Exchange site. But there are several other IALs, such as Interlingua, Ido and Afrihili. Are ...
Tsundoku's user avatar
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9 votes
0 answers
147 views

Evidence that the European Day of Languages motivates EU citizens to learn foreign languages?

Today, 26 September, is (or was) the European Day of Languages. The Council of Europe came up with the idea of a European Day of Languages in 2001, the European Year of Languages. The initiative has ...
Tsundoku's user avatar
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17 votes
1 answer
306 views

Are there any surveys or studies on what motivates people to learn minority languages and/or rare languages?

People have various kinds of reasons to learn a language. Sometimes a foreign language is just imposed on them at school, sometimes their choice is based on the perceived "importance" or usefulness of ...
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