What Is The Difference Between Language Learning Burn Out And Fatigue?

You will often hear the terms “fatigue” and “burn out” mentioned around language learning, and it can often seem like they are the same thing and the terms are often interchanged …but they are actually not the same thing.

Fatigue and Burn Out are very different. They are very closely related and one does lead to the other, but they are actually two very different problems, which I will go through here in more detail to hopefully clear up any confusion that is often found around these two problems. 

What Is Language Learning Fatigue?

Language learning fatigue is just that tired feeling you get when you study for too long or too hard. 

The important thing to realise here is that this happens during a single study session and it will happen to us all. It doesn’t matter who you are, or what you are studying, you will eventually get fatigued.

Studying requires energy and eventually you will run low on this and start to feel tired, this is fatigue and it is totally normal.

Fatigue is also a short lived problem. You can stop studying and wait a few hours and you should feel better, if not, you can have a good night sleep and wake up the next day fully refreshed and free from fatigue.

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

What Is Language Learning Burn Out?

Language learning burn out is a form of long term exhaustion. It is caused by pushing yourself too hard for too long. You basically allow your energy levels to run low over a long period of time and you never give yourself the time to let them replenish and recover, so you just crash due to a lack of energy.

Language learning burn out can take a while to set in and it can also take a while to recover from. It is hard to say exactly how long, as every ones experience will be slightly different.

Burn out is often confused with fatigue as a lot of the symptoms can be similar, but it is a much deeper problem.

(You can read more about – What Is Language Burn Out and Why Does It Happen?)

Burn Out Is The More Serious Problem

When you compare the two problems side by side, burn out is the more serious problem.

I think a good analogy that can help you see the difference between the two is hunger. Fatigue is just your everyday hunger. You get the feeling and you need to eat and the problem is solved.

Burn out is more of an extreme hunger, it’s more like actual starvation.  It builds up over time and is a more serious issue.

Both situations are a form of “hunger” and I think this is where the confusion lies with a lot of people and why they you will see the term “burn out” and “fatigue” often interchanged. I just think people don’t realise there are different levels to the “problem”. 

Repeated Fatigue Is The Number One Cause Of Language Learning Burn Out

Another reason why people often get burn out and fatigue confused is because fatigue will lead to burn out, in fact it is actually the biggest cause.

If we go back to the analogy of hunger, it again makes more sense. You start off hungry …but that does not mean you are starving …although, if you don’t eat for a long time, you will start to enter the state of starvation.

It is the exact same with fatigue and burn out. You can easily get fatigued today if you repeat that day after day …it leads to burn out.

If you also think about starvation, you do not need to completely stop eating to suffer from this. You might think you are eating enough, but really you could be slowly starving yourself. This is a more realistic way to look at language learning. You will push yourself into fatigue every day and then “rest” …the problem is that you are not resting enough and over time this builds up and results in burn out.

The build up of your daily fatigue can really creep up on you if you are not paying attention you can easily miss it and then the next thing you know you have crashed and hit the wall and are burnt out.      

You Need To Try And Avoid Both Fatigue And Burn Out

Whenever you are studying a language you need to pay attention to both fatigue and burn out. Both situations are going to negatively affect your studies, so you need to try and avoid them as best as you can.

Burn out is probably easier to avoid, as it takes longer to set in, however, if you do suffer from this it is going to severely set you back.

Fatigue is something you need to watch out for during every study session. It can happen pretty easily, and quickly, so knowing the signs and symptoms are really going to help you spot that it has started and then you can take action to stop it getting any worse.

Sometimes You Can’t Avoid Fatigue Or Burn Out

I think it is also important to realise that sometimes you can’t avoid either fatigue or burn out.

You can do everything right, and still suffer from it, especially fatigue. It is very easy to get caught in the moment and push yourself a little too hard during a study session and the next thing you know you are deep into a state of fatigue.

As I already mentioned, it is really important to be able to listen to your body and know when you are starting to feel fatigued and also more broadly speaking, being able to recognise when you are starting to get burnt out.

If you can’t avoid it altogether, then the next best thing you can do is at least identify that it is happening and take action from there.

(You can read more about – How Common Is Language Learning Burnout?)

Conclusion

Hopefully now you can see that there is a difference between language learning fatigue and burn out.

They may be similar, but there is enough of as difference to be able to identify them as separate issues. You really need to try and avoid both of them and the better you get at this, the more enjoyable you will find your language learning.

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