There’s no doubt that learning English takes a lot of time and effort.

Introduction

You need a special kind of motivation and determination to overcome the difficulties you will encounter on your journey to fluency and being able to speak like a native.

And it isn’t just about having enough willpower to sit down with your English textbook for hours every day. You need to have a clear goal, make a plan for how to achieve this, and find ways to motivate yourself along the way.

So if you are struggling with keeping up your motivation levels when learning or improving your English, this article is for you!

I’ll show you how you can build up your motivation by focusing on why you want to learn English in the first place, then we’ll look at ways of maintaining that motivation so you don’t give up when things get difficult.

Let’s get started!

Find a reason why – be clear about the benefits that studying English will bring you.

Super-charge your motivation by getting really clear on your intentions. Think about the following questions and write down the answers to help you really clarify your thinking.

• Find a reason why – be clear about the benefits that studying English will bring you.
• How will your life improve if you speak English?
• What opportunities will become available to you if you feel more confident in English?
• Visualize yourself as the English-speaker you’d like to become. What does it feel like? What kinds of things can you do easily that are difficult for you now?

Set goals

A goal is a dream with a deadline.

You need to be specific about what you want to achieve and when you want it by. If your goal is vague or open-ended, such as “I want to learn English” or “I want to speak English better”, this could take years of hard work before achieving something worthwhile. To make sure your goals are realistic and achievable, use SMART:

Specific – Your goal should be specific enough that other people know exactly what it is without having to ask for clarification or additional information (e.g., “I want to read a book in English”).

Measurable – Set a quantifiable target that can be measured against another value (e.g., “I will read three books this year”). This makes it easier to keep track of how much progress has been made towards reaching your overall objective (and also means there won’t be any arguments later on about whether or not something was actually achieved).

Attainable – It should seem possible within the time frame allowed by yourself/your schedule/your budget etc., otherwise known as ‘it’s just too hard!’ reasons – so don’t set yourself up for failure before even getting started! Easy does it… Make sure all aspects are covered first before moving onto another one; if needed then break down into smaller parts which might take longer but will provide more satisfaction once complete.”

Relevant – This part fits in with the reasons why about. How will achieving this goal be relevant to your life? Will you be able to watch your favorite movie stars speaking in English? Will you be able to travel without worrying about the language barrier? Will you feel more confident making deals at work? Think about how your goal is relevant to your life, both professional and personal.

Time bound – Set up a deadline to review your goals. This could be at the end of the month or at the end of a three-month period. This is a time to reflect on what has worked well and what hasn’t worked so well. It’s also a time to reward yourself for all the work you’ve done and celebrate your progress.

Make a plan that you can stick to

Now that you have your SMART goals written down, create a plan that helps you follow through on your goals.

Schedule “English time” in your calendar every day. You can program the activity you’ll do that day, or you can make a list of activities you can do and choose one each day based on your mood or skill you’d like to practice.

Examples of “English Time Activities”:

• Listen to a song in English and look up the lyrics or use lyricstraining.com   
• Read a book, a story, a blog or an article
• Watch a series or film
• Play a vocabulary game
• Do online grammar exercises
• Speak to a friend in English
• Write in your English journal
• Review your vocabulary
• Use an app
• Talk to a language exchange partner

Make sure you choose activities that are suitable for you and your level

Now that you have a good reason to study English and a plan for when and how to do it, you need to do is make sure you have the right tools.

Good study materials and resources can help motivate you by making studying more fun, interesting, and rewarding. They can also help make sure that your learning is effective.

You should find study materials that match your level of English ability—in other words, materials at a level where it’s possible for you to understand the main ideas but still challenging enough that there are new things for your brain to learn (but not so difficult as to be frustrating).

For example, many clients ask me if it’s better to watch films with or without subtitles. And if they watch with subtitles, should they be in English or their native language?

My answer to this question is always the same- the main objective should be to ENJOY what you’re watching while watching it in English. We want to make consuming English content part of your daily routine, so we want to use our tools like subtitles to modify the level of the activity.  It’s a little like modifying an exercise at the gym or in yoga class. Our real objective is to create long-term language habits, so we want the activity to be at your level. If it’s too hard, you’ll give it up and won’t try again for a long time. Go easy on yourself!

Some suggestions for modifying material and content to make them more suitable for your level:  

• Use subtitles in your language first. If that’s easy, experiment with subtitles in English. If you find your attention wandering, go back to subtitles in your language. If you think you’re ready to watch without subtitles, try watching a show or film you’ve already seem without subtitles, but if it’s too complicated, put the subtitles back on.
• Watch sitcoms in English. They’re short, predictable, funny and the dialogue is often very useful for day-to-day situations.
• When reading for pleasure in English, do not look up every word! Look up words only when you don’t understand the overall meaning.
• Choose readers at your level  
• Listen to podcasts or videos which make the transcripts available

Try Temptation Bundling

Temptation bundling refers to the idea that we can allow ourselves to participate in a guilty pleasure, such as binge-watching a reality show, only when we are participating in a positive activity at the same time, for example watching that show in English. This tool can make it easier to get started with an activity.  

Examples:

• Watch the Kardashians or TikToks or true crime podcasts. These types of content are designed to be addictive, so take advantage of that to improve your English.
• Read a gossip magazine or a sports magazine 
• Go to Starbucks to study (I did this when studying French! The only time I treated myself to an expensive coffee was if I was studying!)
• Treat yourself to a nice notebook and pens to write your notes or journal

Make learning social, by getting friends involved or connecting with other students online.

In addition to starting small and making it a habit, you can also make learning English more social. This can help you stay motivated by connecting with other students online or finding a language partner in person. It’s helpful to have someone who is also struggling with the same aspects of the language as you are, so they know what you’re going through.

If you have friends who are already studying English, try setting up regular study sessions together where both parties commit to a time each week (or month) where they will see each other at the same place and time every week (or month). This will give both parties something to look forward to!

Get support from family and/or teachers – ask them for help if things get tough.

The most important thing to remember is that you are not alone in this journey. You have a support system in your family and teachers, who can be great sources of encouragement and advice. If you are struggling with something, don’t be afraid to ask for help!

If all else fails, set a timer for 8 minutes and study until the time is up.

If you’re feeling especially unmotivated on a particular day, just put on a timer for 8 minutes and just study until the timer beeps. You may find that after the 8 minutes has finished, you want to continue working- that’s great! If not, you can still feel proud of your efforts for getting in some English practice every day.

Don’t forget to celebrate the small wins

Following on from the last point, it’s very important to celebrate your achievements and progress. Just noticing how much you’ve improved can actually help you get and stay motivated to continue putting in effort

Here are some ways you can reflect on your progress:  

• Create a list of the things you CAN do in English
• Use a habit tracker to see your progress
• Look back on your journal or notes and see how much you’ve improved

Conclusion

I hope this post has given you some direction and inspiration when it comes to learning English. Remember that it’s okay if you don’t feel like studying every day, and that taking time off can be a great way to refresh your mind and make sure you feel motivated again when you return to your studies. You may also want to check out our post on how to improve your fluency without a speaking partner, which offers more tips for staying focused on improving your language skill