How Can I Avoid Language Learning Fatigue?

If you have heard about, or even suffered from language learning fatigue, then you will probably know it’s not a great experience and you will want to know how to avoid it.

While it is natural and inevitable, it is not enjoyable so I will go through some simple things you can do to try and avoid it.

Really it all comes down to just managing how you study and paying attention to how you feel. If you do this, you should be able to avoid fatigue for the most part.

You Can Never Fully Escape Language Learning Fatigue

If you think there is some magic way to fully avoid 100% of fatigue when you are learning a language then you are wrong.

There is always going to be a risk of it happening, even if you try and do everything perfectly, it can still happen.

Don’t beat yourself up if you are trying to avoid it and it still happens.

(You can read more about – Is Language Learning Fatigue Normal?)

Don’t Let it Become A Long Term Problem

Learning fatigue is just going to happen sometimes, It’s not the end of the world and it’s not going to really affect your studies too negatively. 

The real problem is when you are constantly getting into this state. If you are fatigued day after day, this can all add up and you will get burnt out.

When you reach burnout, you will suffer and you will make no progress. This is why you need to try and avoid fatigue in the first place. The less you are fatigued, the less likely you will burn out.   

Listen To Your Body

The first way to avoid burn out is to actually be able to recognise it is happening.

Unfortunately the best way to recognise it is to experience it. As a beginner you are going to probably experience it a lot and you need to realise that you are suffering from it and also learn to recognise the signs and symptoms that it is starting.

Your body will be telling you, it’s not always easy to hear, but if you pay attention you will start to notice it and then you can act accordingly, which usually means stop and rest.

(You can read more about – What Are The Symptoms Of Language Learning Fatigue?)

Being Organised Can Help Avoid Language Learning Fatigue

Being organised with your studies is always going to help. It is of course going to make sure you are on course for progress, but it can also make sure you avoid fatigue.

If you have a clear plan, you know what needs done every day and you know that once you do that, you can stop.

I know too many people who just go for it. They have no plan and they just sprint into the language doing anything and everything they can …this is a recipe for disaster and these people nearly always fly past fatigue and go straight to burn out.

Having some sort of plan will just help you keep a decent pace and stop you trying to do too much at once. 

Slow Down And Take Your Time When Studying  

As I’ve mentioned, a big cause of language fatigue is from going too fast. It’s natural that we want to do as much as we can so we can start seeing progress, but you need to slow down.

While having a plan will slow you down and make sure you only cover so much each day, you need to actually slow down when you are studying each day. Take your time when you are doing things and you will avoid fatigue.

A part of this problem is that we are use to going at a pretty quick pace in our own language, even if we do not realise it. You can quickly read through something and understand it instantly when you are reading in your native language, which of course is not going to happen in your new language.

Your brain will need a few seconds longer to process the information in a different language, so just slow down and allow that to happen. Trying to push yourself will only cause you to get fatigued faster as your brain can’t keep up with what you are trying to do.

You may also need to slow down when you are reading about something in your own language that is about the new language. For example, if you are reading about the grammar and how a certain point works, just take your time and even read over it a few times.

It might take a little longer for you to be able to make sense of things, since it is regarding the new languages, so just allow yourself that time and accept that going slow is totally okay.

Cover Less Material During A Session

Covering less material can be hard to do, as again, we want to make progress, but it is the better option if you want to avoid fatigue.

This can be linked with the above point of going slower, basically pick one topic and take your time to cover it properly. Doing these two things together can be really helpful, but of course you may feel like you are not making enough progress.

It is too easy to set an hour aside and blast through as much information as possible. This is going to really push yourself to the limit and your brain is going to be a total mess by the end of it and you will be fatigued.

I would suggest you pick one topic and spend the hour covering only that. You might end up repeating things a few times, or just generally going slower, but you will end up understanding the topic a lot better and more importantly, you will not be mentally drained from it.

I would rather walk away from an hour of study where I really knew one thing properly, than try to study 10 things and have them all melt into one big mess as my brain is over worked and fatigued.

You may even still start getting fatigue from doing this, but its effects will not be as bad, you will have covered enough of the one topic when you where fresh that it shouldn’t really cause too many memory problems when you do start getting tired.  

Take Regular Breaks

Taking regular breaks is always going to help you avoid fatigue. If you plan these in, you will notice they do help.

If you try and sit for an hour straight you will notice that after 20 minutes you are struggling and that last 15 minutes is going to be a total waste of time as you will be getting really fatigued at this point.

Taking breaks may mean you have to study slightly longer to get the same hour of work …but a far higher percentage of that hour is going to actually be productive.

It may seems like the breaks are slowing you down, or getting in your way, but they will actually be keeping you far more productive, so just take them, you will get better results and have less fatigue. 

Space Your Learning Out Throughout The Day

A very easy way to get a lot done, but not suffer fatigue is to space your study out through the day.

Just break down what you want to do, and spread it out into small chunks throughout the day. You can sort of see this like studying for small periods and then taking large breaks.

This can be really effective as you end up stopping each small session long before you start to feel fatigued and then the long break in between also makes sure you refreshed for the next small session.    

(You can read more about – Why Should You Spread Out Your Language Learning Throughout The Day?)

Spend More Time Doing What You Enjoy

A lot of fatigue can be caused by stress, which is more likely to be caused when you are not really enjoying yourself. If there something you like doing in the language, do more of it.

You are going to be having fun and you are less likely to feel fatigued from this, so you can study more.

Of course this is not perfect as you will need to face some things you do not enjoy if you want to be well rounded in the language, but this approach can still help you avoid fatigue.

Eating Properly Can Help Avoid Language Learning Fatigue

You may not realise it, but your diet can really impact your language learning. If you want to avoid fatigue, make sure you are eating healthy …and enough. 

You are using your brain and pushing it to work harder than normal, so make sure you are feeding yourself the right food for it to remain healthy and operate at the optimum level. 

If you think you can sit there and eat sweets and other junk while studying, this will just make the fatigue worse. You will have all sorts of sugar crashes and feel awful, so avoid this and eat healthy. Your brain will work better and you will avoid fatigue.

You also need to make sure you are eating enough. Studying will drain you of energy and this will cause fatigue, so you need to replace that energy, which means eating more.

Eating more should help keep that feeling of fatigue away for longer.

Exercise Can Help Avoid Language Learning fatigue

While exercise if probably more important for your physical health, it can help with your mental ability too.

It can help clear you mind and refresh you, so if you start to notice the effects fatigue, get up and get moving.

Even going for a short walk can clear your mind and help you avoid getting deep into fatigue.   

Take Rest Days

While I like to tell people to study every day, I know this can be tough. Sometimes we need a short break and a day off is totally fine.

This is going to allow your mind and body to fully refresh and you should then come back to studying feeling fully recharged. You are less likely to get fatigued when you are feeling refreshed, compared to when you are starting from a position where you already feel quite drained.

Rest days can help, so if you think you need one, just do it.

(You can read more about – How Long Does Language Learning Fatigue Last?)

Conclusion

Hopefully you can see that while fatigue is unavoidable at times, we can still do a lot to try and prevent it.

So long as you are sensible and try not to rush things, as well as listen to your body, then you should be fine.

This can mean you do slightly less than you want, and things might take a little longer, but this is language learning. It’s a slow race, but you will still get there in the end and avoiding fatigue along the way is going to be the better way to do things, it will make the whole experience less painful.

(You can read more about – Can Peer Support Reduce Language Learning Fatigue?)