Learning English, or any other foreign language, shouldn’t be stressful. Unfortunately, sometimes it happens, but it’s because many people set themselves too fast a pace of work. How to avoid it?
What is your goal in learning a foreign language?
It all depends on how you learn and what your approach to learning is. To avoid stress when learning a foreign language, it’s worth considering what your goal is. Remember that you always learn for yourself and your own benefits. If you learn to impress someone, then you will want to do your best to impress them, which leads to nerves in all learning attempts and frustration. The language should be useful to you – it should help you find a better job, get into your dream school, make foreign friends – depending on your goal. It’s worth setting yourself an achievable goal. Even small achievements in learning English, or any other language, should be your reason for pride. This way, you will begin to see your progress and reduce stress.
Organize the time you spend on learning
To avoid unnecessary nerves, try to plan your day or week so that your study hours are roughly at the same time. A daily routine will make you less stressed, and it will be easier for you to focus on learning a new language. Of course, unexpected situations happen sometimes, which can affect your daily plan, it cannot be avoided. However, if you organize your schedule, your daily plan will be calmer, and you will save yourself unnecessary nerves.
Language learning techniques that make it more enjoyable
It’s worth remembering that learning a foreign language (or any other foreign language) is not just “sitting with your nose in books.” There are many ways to make the time spent on learning more enjoyable. Try to diversify your language learning routine with various language games, listening to radio/podcasts in a foreign language, watching videos related to your passion, but spoken in the language you are learning. If you like creativity and creating, try to write a short poem or rhyme about a given topic. This way, you will relax and not be as stressed about learning because it will be associated with something enjoyable. Try different learning methods and choose the one that suits you best.
Motivating deadlines
Don’t set too demanding timeframes for learning. Because you will be afraid that you won’t have enough time, you may start to get more nervous. Sometimes such stress or the deadline itself is motivating and makes it easier to get to work, but if you’re not understanding of yourself, it can have the opposite effect. If you don’t achieve the desired level of language proficiency in the set time, don’t worry about it. It’s very difficult to estimate how much time you should spend learning to achieve your goal because it’s often an individual matter.
Should I learn English (or any other foreign language) with a teacher or on my own?
This is also a very important topic that many people stress over. It’s worth remembering that both learning with a teacher and self-learning have their pros and cons. Learning with a teacher can be stressful, and the hours may not be flexible. However, with a teacher, you can be sure that a specialist is supervising your learning, selecting appropriate exercises so that you can practice your knowledge on every level of the language. The person who teaches you can also answer all your questions, which can be difficult in self-learning. Self-learning is more convenient because you decide when to learn the language, but no one enforces your learning, which can make you susceptible to discouragement.
The best solution is blended learning
If you want to combine the benefits of both methods, it’s worth considering blended learning. It’s becoming an increasingly popular type of learning that allows you to learn effectively at a time that suits you while also contacting a teacher who will oversee your learning.
Self-learning English and other foreign languages. If you think you’re able to properly enforce your own learning or if learning English or another language with a teacher stresses you out, e-learning may be the right choice for you. However, this is an individual matter that needs to be adjusted to your needs.
We invite you to try our language courses on professional e-learning platforms!