Why Is It Hard To Concentrate When Learning A Language?

When you get started in language learning you will have good intentions with big goals, but these will be quickly crushed, and that’s normal.

You might say to yourself that you are going to spend the whole afternoon studying, only to find you are completely brain dead after 45 minutes.

Learning a language seems fairly effortless, you just kind of read and listen and remember things …but it isn’t that easy and one of the hardest parts is just trying to stay focused on it.

It is can be extremely easy to lose your concentration and I will now go through the many different reasons this can happen so you can try and eliminate them and stop them from happening, which should hopefully help you be able to concentrate for longer.  

Language Learning Is Mentally Taxing

While learning a language may look fairly effortless, it’s not. You may be just sat there reading and listening, but it is actually extremely mentally taxing.

Everything is going to be new to you and your brain has to work twice as hard to work out what is going on in the new language.

Basically processing the language can drain your energy and your concentration levels extremely fast. You will actually be shocked how quickly this can happen. You may find that after 10 minutes you are struggling to focus.

You have to see it like going to the gym. If you are not used to physical exercise you are going to get tried very quickly, the same is true for mental exercise. The good thing is that you can increase your mental stamina with practice, so you will be able to concentrate for longer, which will make language learning easier.       

The New Language Is Not Automatic Yet

The biggest reason why language learning is so mentally taxing is because you are manually doing everything. The processing of the language is not automatic yet.

Think back to when you learned to drive and had to actively think of every step. You had to look in the mirror, signal, press the break, glance at the speedometer, change gear, move the wheel, check the mirror again and so on. Your instructor probably said these steps out loud and after a few goes probably made you say them out loud too, as where doing them.

I remember I would come home mentally drained from a driving lesson and actually covered in sweat. Learning to drive was mentally and physically hard for me. However, I kept at it and now it’s pretty much automatic. I don’t need to talk myself through each step.

Language learning is actually the same. It may take a while, but the processes will start to become more automatic and you will need to use less mental energy to get the same things done. It just takes times to reach this level. 

You May Be Tired From Other Things

I am sure you are a busy person. We all have to do things in our life and whatever it is, it will take energy from us and it’s normal to get tired.

If you decide to learn a language you are going to have to squeeze it in to your already busy day. It’s common for people to start their study in the evening; the problem is that you will be tired from the day.

Language learning takes a lot of energy, so if you are trying to then start this when your fuel tank is already low, it’s never really going to work. You are just not going to have the ability to get focused and reach the required concentration levels.

You can of course try and get around this by studying earlier in the day when you are fresher. This is something you can play around with and see how it affects your concentration levels.

You Might be Learning Above Your Level

While pushing out of your comfort zone is always a good idea, you can go too far. I have noticed that if I am studying something that is too difficult it becomes very easy to lose concentration.

If you comprehension levels of the language are too low you just sort of stop paying attention. Every word you hear is meaningless to your brain and it’s almost like white noise, so your brain just tunes it out. However, the second your brain does recognise a word it will perk you up.

If you are finding this happening a lot, take a step back and try and study with something slightly simpler. You will probably find you are able to concentrate more on this as it will be more comprehensible.

You Might Be Studying Something Boring

If you are studying something that is extremely boring you will very quickly lose concentration. I don’t think this has anything to do with the language, as this will happen in your native language too. If it’s boring, you just switch off.

This can be an issue when language learning as a lot of the basic stuff is boring. You will hear advice to read or watch stuff aimed at kids, which let’s face it, isn’t exactly very exciting for an adult. Annoyingly this is the level you probably are at, but the content is so dull that you can really struggle to get through it.

In the early days you just have to battle through this and try and get past it. Once you get past this you can start to focus on studying material that you actually find interesting and this will really help you increase your concentration levels.

How Do You Overcome Concentration Problems When Language Learning?

If you have noticed that your concentration seems terrible, it can be extremely frustrating.

When you start studying and quickly loose all your energy, you are probably wondering how you can improve this, so that you can actually make some progress in the language, which I will go through now.

Give It Time, You Will Get Better

The main thing to understand is that it will get better. It is like what I said above, it will become more automatic to you and you can get the same amount done using less energy.

Just keep working and your skills will grow. As you develop you will be able to concentrate for longer. It’s a slow climb, but you will get there.  

It’s exactly like running, extremely difficult at the start, but over time you will be able to go for longer and further, you can adapt. 

As a beginner, just start with 10 minutes of study at a time, slowly work your way up, going for longer and longer.  After a few years will find that you can spend 10 hours in the language and it won’t even be tiring, just give yourself time to adjust.

Take Frequent Breaks

You need to take breaks often. There are some things in life that you can just do by powering through; language learning is not one of these. The second you feel your concentration slipping you need to stop and take a break.

If you are not focused on what you are doing, it’s completely pointless. You are just wasting your time, so you may as well waste your time having a short break and then try again after a few minutes.

You don’t need to stop for long. Just get up and walk around the house and comeback. Even a couple of minutes is going to be enough to recalibrate your concentration. 

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

Study In Small Chunks, But More Often

Another way to incorporate frequent breaks is to study in small, frequent chunks. I am a huge fan of this. It does two things:

Firstly it allows for you to have a good level of concentration while you actually study and then it also allows you to squeeze your study into your day much more easily.

Let’s say you want to study for an hour a day. Instead of doing a solid hour, break it into 4 session. Do 15 minutes throughout the day. It’s still an hour, but it’s a powerful hour.

I start losing concentration after 20 minutes. So really if I sat for an hour …I’m really only sat for 20 minutes. If I do four 15 minutes, I’m concentrating properly for a full hour.

It’s also easier to find 15 minutes throughout the day than a solid hour, so this method is extremely useful.  

Go Back On Yourself

I’ve already discussed above that if you are studying things that you do not really understand it can be hard to focus. If you are finding that this is happening, then spend some time recapping what you already know and refreshing this.

Taking a step back and looking at some previous material will give you brain a break from the new topics and you will be able to concentrate a lot better on this older material.

This is also never a bad thing. You will be solidifying your current knowledge, so even if you find it easy, the repetition is still beneficial.

You will find this material slightly easier, and therefore you can concentrate for longer. You may find you can sit for an hour and do 10 beginner lessons, where as maybe the 1 advanced one you where trying was burning your concentration out after 10 minutes.  

Make Sure You Study Area Is Ideal

Sometimes we lose concentration due to outside factors. You need to make sure your study area is clean and comfortable and most importantly, distraction free.

This means somewhere quiet and relaxing where you can sit down and focus. You want the world around you to disappear so that it is just you and the language. If you can get into this state of mind you will find you are able to concentrate for much longer. 

(You can read more – How To Fight Procrastination In Language Learning)

Find Your Motivation

If you are struggling with your focus and concentration it is very easy to want to give up and walk away from it all. Learning a language is hard and there are hundreds of other more relaxing and enjoyable things you could probably be doing instead.

If you have this feeling, just take a second to look back at why you started learning this language in the first place and allow that to keep you going.

You want to do this for a reason, so don’t forget that reason and remind yourself of this when you feel your focus is not there.

This can be hard, especially when you are tired. However, it can help you from totally giving up and never coming back to your studies.

If you are tired, take a break and come back to it when you are refreshed. Understand that you need to rest, but having that motivation to carry will help you when you are really struggling and want to give up.

Conclusion

Struggling to concentrate when you are learning a language is normal, even if it is annoying, but it will get better with time.

Hopefully now you can see some of the main reasons that cause this problem and you can eliminate them if you find they are affecting your concentration levels.

Just always remember to take breaks and try and study when you have plenty of energy. This will make sure you are able to concentrate fully and actually make progress in the language.