Should I Change My Learning Method If I Experience Language Learning Burn Out?

If you are suffering from language learning burn out then you need to identify what has caused it so you can make changes, and it could possibly be that the method you are using to learn is the cause of your problems.

This could potentially mean that you should change the method you are using which makes sense as when you recover and get back to learning the language again, you don’t want to repeat the same mistakes and just burn out again.

However, it’s not that easy, simply changing your method might not be the answer, so I will go through some things that might need changed instead, which will hopefully help you from getting burnt out again in the future.  

Make Sure You Take A Break Before You Do Anything

If you are suffering from language learning burn out, then the first thing you need to do is stop and rest.

You have clearly hit your limit and it’s starting to show. While changing up your method of study can be helpful it will not get you out of this situation. You really need to just stop and allow yourself some time to breath and feel refreshed again.

Take a few days, even a few weeks to just let the worst of the feelings fade away before you decide what you should do going forward as you will probably need to change something.

(You can read more about – Should I Take A Break If I Experience Language Learning Burn Out?)

Your Current Study Method Was Not Working, So Change It

You have to be honest with yourself when you reach burn out. Something was clearly not working within your study regime and this is exactly why you ended up becoming burnt out.

It is very possible that the method you decided to use to learn the language was the cause of the problem, or it could at the very least be contributing to it.

Changing your method of study could be an easy way to change things and try to approach the language from a new angle, which will hopefully this time not result in your getting burnt out.   

Your Current Method May Actually Be Okay, You Just Need It To Fit Into Your Life Better

The truth is that maybe you only need to change one or two things about your study method and that will fix the problem going forward.

You have probably researched how to study a language and you are probably just copying a method that has worked for someone else. A lot of the more popular study methods are totally fine, they will get you great results …However, you may just need to tailor things to fit your lifestyle a little better. This may be as simple as reducing the intensity, or work load, so that you find it more manageable

Just look at the Japanese immersion community. They try and spend every waking second exposed to Japanese. This method works …but it’s extremely intense.

Maybe you tried something like this and got burnt out …That doesn’t mean the method is bad, it just means you are going about it all wrong. Simply just changing how you implement the method may be enough to make it manageable.

If you are currently trying to learn 50 new words a day, try 20 instead. If you are spending 8 hours studying, reduce that to 4 hours a day. Basically just lower the pace or intensity and that should hopefully calm things down enough to stop you getting burnt out.

Yes, this does mean it will make things slower, but this may be the sacrifice you need to make. I would much rather go slow and controlled and actually get good at the language, rather than try sprint though things and just exhaust myself to the point where I give up long before I have seen any results. 

You Need To Pick One Method

You may even have ended up doing what I did, which was of try a few different methods all at once.

I thought I could do an hour of this and then an hour of that and overall I would make amazing progress as I was hitting the language from so many different angles. The reality is that I just overwhelmed myself and ended up getting burnt out.

All I had to change was just streamline my studies and just pick one method and actually stick with only that for a while.

This just allowed me to not feel so overwhelmed and I was actually able to make progress. Now if I want to try a different method, I stop the method I am currently using and exchange it for the new one for a few months to see how it goes, rather than trying to do them together.  (Although once I started immersion, I didn’t look back, this is my only method now) 

(You can read more about – What Is Learning A Language By Immersion?)

Make Sure Your Studies Are Fun

The method you use to learn a language isn’t too important, but how fun you find it is.

If you are doing a method that you hate, you will burn out a lot easier. The method may work and you may see results, but if you are not enjoying yourself then you are basically going to end up fighting with yourself to study every day.

This extra stress is going to drain your mental resources a lot faster and you will slip into burn out a lot easier.

If you are actually enjoying what you are doing …it won’t feel like studying. If you can make your studies fun and enjoyable you will actually want to engage with the language and you will be excited to work on it.

This little shift in mindset can be huge and it really will make the difference when it comes to burn out. Make your studies fun and it will make your life easier.   

Take Some Steps Backwards In The Language

Often your method is going to be okay, it is just that you are pushing too far forward when you are not ready for it.

This means you need to take a step backwards and go over some things you have already covered.

Instead of trying to push forward and make progress, spend some time going over the basics again. This may seem like a waste of time, but you are strengthening your foundational knowledge. 

The stronger your foundation, the easier you will find it to progress in to the harder material …and more importantly, you will be less likely to burn out as you are going to be less mentally challenged by what you are doing, since your foundation is solid. 

It Might Not Be The Method, It Could Be the Content

The method you could be using may actually be totally fine, you might just be using material that is not great and is causing you to feel burnt out.  

This could happen in a number of ways, it could be boring and lacking in fun, which I’ve already discussed is going to cause you to struggle and will lead to burn out.

Or it could be that the material is too difficult, again causing you burn out. If this happens, step back and cover the basics like I mentioned above. 

We learn the language most effectively through content we actually enjoy, so finding this is vital if we want to see success in our language studies, it really makes the difference between invigorating us to push forward and grinding us down to burn out. 

Conclusion

Hopefully now you can see that the method you are using may be problem, but it could also just be how you are using that method, along with the content you are using to learn the language.

If you can play around with these factors you should be able to get back to learning and actually making progress, while also not burning yourself out in the process.     

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