Signs That You Are Suffering From Language Burn Out

Experiencing language learning burn out is a very unpleasant experience and you may not even realise it is happening until it becomes really unbearable. You may just think you are tired, unwell or even that you are just not cut out for language learning.

This negative experience can lead people to quit learning a language altogether, which is something I really want to try and stop happening.

We can all learn a language, but burn out can also happen to us all. It is important that you can spot the signs and symptoms and deal with them, rather than letting it get worse and ultimately end in you completely quitting.      

You Will Be Constantly Fatigued

Being constantly fatigued from language learning will eventually lead to burn out.

If you want to avoid burn out, then you need to avoid the fatigue. You need to be able to recognise that you are entering this state when you are studying and take action to rest and recover.

Fatigue is basically when you study too hard during a session and drain yourself of energy. This makes you feel tired and makes it hard to concentrate and focus on what you are doing. This will also affect your memory and you will notice that it becomes difficult to learn new things and recall the things you should already know.

It is easy to get into a state of fatigue; it is unavoidable at times, but it is vital that you do not allow yourself to constantly get this way. Every now and again is fine, but if you are constantly doing this your body will just run out of energy altogether and you will basically get stuck in this state …which is burn out.

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

Physical Signs That You May Feel When Burnt Out

While burn out from learning a language is caused by mental strain, it will still affect you physically.

Exhaustion – The most noticeable symptom is that you are you going to feel exhausted. This will be like an extreme form of fatigue and you are just going to feel completely drained of energy. You may really feel like you have ran a marathon and ache all over and actually need to just rest to recover from it.

Brain Fog – You may also suffer from brain fog where the best way to describe that is like your brain is not firing properly and everything feels hazy. I could ask you a really simple question and you would struggle to come up with the answer. This can be quite scary as you can feel like your brain is actually broken, but the reality is that you are just mentally exhausted and need to rest.

Headaches – I also found that I was getting very bad headaches. The second I tried to think about anything, it would hurt and then I had a headache for the rest of the day. Maybe this was more a migraine, but I’m not really sure but I guess the two are interchangeable in this instance.        

The headaches can be pretty bad and you may even have blurred vision or even feel dizzy. This can in turn make you a feel nauseous, which is pretty extreme, but it can happen.

It’s crazy to think that studying too hard can lead to you feeling like you might throw up, but it can happen. Your body is screaming at you to stop and rest, so just listen to it and try and relax.

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

You Will Try And Avoid Things Around Your Language Learning  

A huge indictor that you are starting to burn out is that you will start to avoid things. You will probably not even notice that this is happening for a while, but hopefully you can catch it.

Basically you will just not want to study, you might put it off, or avoid one area or task. It can feel like you have no energy to do the task, but it can also be the other way round where you are kind of scared to study, as you think it will tire you out.

I know I have started avoiding studying as I started associating it with feeling super tired and headaches. Some of this may be subconscious, which is why you might not even notice it at first, this is what happened with me, and then I realised what I was doing.     

You Will Have A Lack Of Motivation

As well as generally trying to avoid studying, you will also notice you have a lack of motivation.

This can be normal at times as motivation can come and go through the course of your language studies. You have to remember that we may be studying for years, so it makes sense that motivation can dip at times.

However, even if you are extremely disciplined you will still struggle to find the energy to study. When you start to see this happening it probably means you are burnt out, or at least getting very close. 

You Will Feel Overwhelmed

You will probably notice that you just have a general feeling over being overwhelmed with everything in your language.

This can of course be tied into the feeling of avoidance, as the second you feel overwhelmed, you will want to avoid studying, which is never ideal.

However, even if you do force yourself to start studying you may feel the whole process is overwhelming and even studying something simple can seem like a massive struggle and you will just want to stop and walk away from it.

You Will Generally Feel Negative Towards Language Learning

I think a lot of what you can experience when burnt out can be described as just a negative feeling.

It can be quite hard to describe but you will just not really enjoy anything to do with the language. You may even question why you are doing it and find excuses to stop.

Some people also describe their general feeling as emotionless or dethatched, which is very much the opposite of what got them started in the language, it is like their passion has faded away and now the language is more of an inconvenience in their life, rather than a joy.  

You Will Feel Like You Are Making No Progress In The Language

Burn out and making no progress are often interlinked. However, working out what came first can be hard to determine.

Sometimes we get burnt out and our performance drops, causing us to plateau, where as other times we may notice that we are not making progress and then try to push ourselves harder, in an attempt to overcome it …which leads to burn out.

Making no progress in your language is not an automatic sign that you are burnt out. It can be totally normal at times is not always related to burn out. We can all go through plateaus where we feel like we are not getting anywhere, but if you are currently noticing this I would stop and check what’s going on with your studies to make sure you are not burnt out, or heading down that path.    

You Might Have A Lack Of Patience

Being burnt out with your language learning can cause you to have a lack of patience, with both the language and everything else in your life.

This is understandable as you are going to be stressed and tired, which can always lead to a lack of patience.

You may find that you quickly get annoyed with yourself when you make mistakes, or when you can’t remember something. This of course is closely linked to making no progress, which can be frustrating and cause you to lose your patience as well.

You may also find that you are short with the people around you; the resentment towards the language may be passed on to others, which is never nice. If you find yourself getting like this you need to ask if yourself if you are feeling burnt out.

You Might Want To Learn, But You Physically Can’t

You may also suffer from a situation where it feels like you okay, but at the same time you are not and it can feel very confusing. 

Some people still want to study and they still have the strong motivation to learn. However, when they try and sit down, they suffer from everything above, which blocks them from making progress.

It can feel like body and mind is at war with each other and you are in the middle trying to push forward, while being stuck at the same time and basically getting nowhere.

I have had this happen before and I would try and study and it just wouldn’t happen and then I would get annoyed that I couldn’t do it. It took me a while to realise that my body is just physically trying to stop me from pushing myself over the edge and I realised I was going to crash again if I didn’t stop and rest.

(You can read more about – Frequently Asked Questions About – Language Learning Burn Out)

Conclusion

Now you should know some of the main signs and symptoms of language learning burn out. You may not experience them all and you may not even notice some of them. They can all be subtle and sneak up on you, but eventually they will get louder and louder.

The important thing is to actually pay attention to these signs and then act on them. If you think you are starting to burn out, stop and rest. You will make more progress if you stop and allow yourself to get refreshed, rather than carrying on and draining yourself further.

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