Frequently Asked Questions About – Language Learning Burn Out

Language learning burn out can be a serious problem and it can really derail your efforts and many people will end up quitting. 

I have written about – What Is Language Burn Out and Why Does It Happen? – Along with many other articles that will try and link throughout here, but I still get a few great questions about the topic, and I have collated them all here.

They are in no real order, but hopefully you find them helpful and if there is a question you still have about burn out, just ask and I will try and answer it and add it to the ones below.

How Does Age Impact Language Learning Burn Out?

This is a tough question to answer. Age can play a role in how quickly you burn out, but at the same time, your lifestyle is probably more important.

It doesn’t matter what age you are, you can always end up pushing yourself too hard in your language learning and burn out …but if the rest of your life is also quite stressful, this is really going to speed things up.

I have found the stress from work on top of pushing too hard in my language has always ended up with burn out.  Maybe if I was 17 and didn’t really have any responsibilities in life, I could just focus on my language learning and it might not burn me out as quickly. Likewise, maybe when I’m 70 and retired I can just sit all day and study and will never feel burnt out.

However, at the same time, who will have more energy to study all day, the 17 year old, or the 70 year old. You can see how this question has many layers so it can be hard to say exactly if it is the age causing the burn out, or the lifestyle.

It is probably a bit of both and reality is that you can’t change you age, so just do what you can and push yourself as much as you can without burning out.    

(You can read more about – Signs That You Are Suffering From Language Burn Out)

How Does Language Proficiency Impact Language Learning Burn Out?

Your language proficiency will play a huge role in your chances of burn out.

Basically the more proficient you are, the less likely it is that you will burn out. This simply comes down to the fact that you are using less effort and it is going to take you longer to start feeling fatigued, so in turn, it is less likely that you will burn out.

When you become proficient in a language a lot of the process becomes automatic and this greatly reduces the strain on you.

Just think about your native language. If I asked you to read for an hour you wouldn’t really have any issues with this. You might feel a little tired, but it will fine. Now do the same in a language you are still learning and you will notice a huge difference and you will really feel drained after it.

If your second language is really good and you are pretty much fluent, you will probably feel tried, but to the same level as if you where still a beginner at it.

You can really see that proficiency can really make a difference, it just requires so much less cognitive load. When you start to become proficient you are not really going to burn out unless you really push yourself. 

(You can read more about – What Are The Causes Of Language Learning Burn Out?)

How To Build Resilience To Language Learning Burn Out?

When it comes to burn out, you shouldn’t really build resilience to it. Really you want to be good at avoiding it. You want to be able to recognise that it is starting and then act on this.

You also want to be getting better at your language, so that you just get more proficient. As I just discussed in the above question, the better you are at the language, the less likely it is that you will get burnt out.

Really if you can work on these two things, you will become “resilient” to burn out. You will be less likely to suffer it, and if you think you are, you will be aware of it and avoid it.

This may take some trial and error, but eventually you will get better at avoiding the problem in the first place, just don’t give up. 

(You can read more about – Should You Push Through Language Learning Burn Out?)

How To Stay Motivated When Experiencing Language Learning Burnout?

This is a tough one. The reality is that the burn out is going to drain your motivation and just your general energy.

When you reach burn out you will just not have the energy for anything, even doing simple daily tasks can become hard and your motivation to study will be long gone. When this happens you just have to stop and rest and try and just recover. Once this happens you need to think about what got you started with language learning in the first place.

You probably have some sort of reason for wanting to have this new language and you need to reconnect with that feeling and this will start to relight your fire and get your motivation back.

You have to focus on rebuilding your motivation, trying to “stay motivated” is going to be impossible if you are truly burnt out.

(You can read more about – How Long Does It Take To Recover From Language Learning Burn Out?)

How To Manage Burn Out When Learning Multiple Languages?

Managing the risk of burnout when you are learning multiple languages is going to be the same as if you are only learning one language.

You just need to avoid the daily fatigue and not let this build up so much that you become burnt out.

This is of course going to be more likely when you are studying more languages, as you will just be doing more.

Maybe you spend an hour studying one language and this tires you out …but you want to spend another hour learning a different language. This can result in you being fatigued a lot, so the risk of burn out is higher.

Ideally you just need to pay more attention to how you are feeling and also spread your studies out more evenly and you should then hopefully push yourself hard enough to make progress, while still not burning yourself out.

(You can read more about – Does Learning Multiple Languages Increase The Risk Of Language Learning Fatigue?)

Is It Better To Take A Break Or Switch To A Different Language If Experiencing Burn Out?

If you reach burn out, the only thing you can do is take a break. You are going to be physically and mentally drained and you are not even going to be able to start a new language if you are tired.

You need to rest and then recover …then start learning again. Ideally you should continue with the language you started with. Most people who burn out have not achieved what they want. They push themselves too hard to try and make faster progress, but it backfires and they burn out.

If you recover from your burn out and decide you are truly no longer interested in the language and want to try a different one, you can, but I would still suggest you stick with the original language you started with. Give it another chance and take your time with it and actually reach the level you wanted to.

(You can read more about – Should I Change My Learning Method If I Experience Language Learning Burn Out?)

How To Regain Confidence After Experiencing Language Learning Burn Out?

Becoming burnt out can really knock your confidence. It is very easy to think that you are just not built for language learning.

The reality is that you just pushed too hard and where not kind to yourself. It’s not that you can’t learn a language, it’s that you can’t focus at this high intensity for so long.

What you really need to do is be kind to yourself and no go so hard. Understand that burn out is normal and language learning is super slow. Once you can accept that, you can accept that it’s okay to make slow progress.

Understanding this can be enough to give you the confidence to carry on and believe that you can get there, even if it takes many years.   

(You can read more about – How Do You Overcome Language Learning Burn Out?)

How To Create An Effective Language Learning Plan That Avoids Burn Out?

Creating the best anti-burn out plan really involves you make a number of different plans and just testing them out and to be honest, you may get burnt out.

Annoyingly the best way to learn how to avoid burn out is to actually get burnt out.

I can sit here and tell you to study x,y and z and if you do that you will be fine …while this may be good for me, it may not be for you. You can certainly try this, but if it doesn’t work for you and you get burnt out …learn from it and adjust the plan and try again.

You will now know what burn out feels like and you will know your limits, so you can adjust your learning plan to deal with this.

Every ones study plan will be unique for this exact reason and it does take some trial and error to work it out, but so long as you keep trying, you will get there.

(You can read more about – How To Adjust Your Study Habits To Avoid Language Learning Burn Out?)

Can Group Language Classes Contribute To Burn Out Or Prevent It?

Group classes can contribute to burn out just as much as solo study.

Really the cause of burn out is too much fatigue. If you are pushing yourself to fatigue everyday and not giving yourself any rest, then you will eventually burn out.

Although, I would imagine group classes are not every day, and they are probably quite short. It is not going to be as intense as studying on your own for hours on end …so in this sense, group classes may be less likely to burn you out, but I guess it all depends.

Just be away of how fatigued you are getting and try to not let that tiredness build up over time and you will be fine.

Can Meditation Or Mindfulness Practices Help With Language Learning Burn Out?

This is a good question, and to be honest, I’m unsure. Meditation is something you should be doing as it can help you relax and it is something I do …but I have still ended up burnt out.

I think if you are pushing yourself too hard with your language studies, you will get burnt out regardless of what you try and do to stop it. Really the only way to prevent burn out is to limit how fatigued you get, which means you need to calm down and not study so intensely, so often.

Meditation may help you relax after, but if you have pushed yourself to fatigue, then the damage is already done. The only way to prevent it getting worse and turning into burn out is to make your next study session lighter, or take a longer rest.

How Long Can You Spend Studying A Day Before Burn Out Becomes A Risk?

There is no special length of time that you should study, as everyone is going to be different and you may also find this also changes for you, from day to day.

You need to pay attention to how long it takes you to feel fatigued and this is going to change depending on what you are studying, how you are doing it, what time of day it is and even just generally how you feel.

Some days you may be tired or just doing something very intense which is going to mean you are more likely to reach that state of fatigue a lot quicker, other days you may just be very relaxed and enjoy your studies and get nowhere near the fatigued level.

After a while you will generally work out how hard you can push yourself before you overdo it …you need to work this out, and then this will be your “magic number” this will be roughly how long you can spend studying every day and have a lower risk of burn out.

If you stay away from the fatigued feeling, it can’t build up over time and cause you burn out.

(You can rad more about – Will Immersion Cause Less Language Learning Burn Out?)

Can Overreliance On Language Learning Apps Contribute To Burn Out?

Language apps are not likely to cause you burn out compared to any other method of study. As I have mentioned many times, it all comes down to how fatigued you are and reaching this level day after day.

If you get fatigued from language apps, then you will be at a higher risk of burning out. However, most of these apps promote the fact that you should only do a little bit of study each day.

The reality is that you are probably under studying and you are probably not evening reaching your potential, let alone getting close to fatigue …if this is happening, you are never going to burn out, you are simply not pushing hard enough for that to happen. 

(You can read more about – What Role Do Learning Resources Play In Language Learning Burn Out?)

What Are The Consequences Of Language Learning Burn Out?

For a more in depth look at what happens during burn out you should read the article I linked at the very top of this article, but in general, burn out will not be a good experience.

You will feel tired and exhausted and lose the motivation to study and even trying to push through will just feel dreadful. You will eventually crash and have to stop doing anything, including studying.

You will have to stop and rest because you feel so dreadful, but after a couple of days you should start to feel better. The real problem lies with the fact that you may feel better, but you have no drive to get back to studying.

If you do not address this, you will just give up on your language learning and you may never go back to it.

(You can read more about – Can Language Learning Burn Out Lead To Depression?)

Conclusion

Hopefully these questions cleared up any confusion around language learning burn out and hopefully now you are better equipped to avoid it.

If there is something you are still unsure of, just ask and I will try and answer it and add it to this list of great questions.