Dealing with language learning burnout

Does working through that textbook seem like an awful drag?

Or perhaps the idea of attending a conversation class fills you with dread?

Do you prioritise cleaning the toilet or do other unappealing tasks above cracking open your flash cards and drilling?

Are you tired of your language learning journey and just want to give up?

Lannguage learning burnout is a very real thing.

Overwork, too much pressure (external or internal), lack of enjoyable tasks, slow progress, and boredom contribute to burnout in real-life jobs. They are the same reasons that cause burn out when learning a language.

I know, I’ve been there. Both in a workplace, and when learning German.

Note: if your burnout is more related to your work rather than centred on your language learning – please seek the help of a doctor or mental health professional. They can help.

My path to language learning burnout

When I arrived to live here in Germany, I didn’t understand or speak German at all.

I took three intensive German courses back to back. At the same time, I had to spend a lot of time with doctors and specialists who couldn’t speak English, and go to many gatherings with family members who could only speak German.

I craved the evenings at home with my partner (we spoke English), and really looked forward to the English courses I was teaching at the time. English gave my head a break. And I dreaded the next doctors appointment, class or family gathering. There was so much pressure to speak correctly, learn quickly, and be able to communicate clearly. Even though it was mostly me who put myself under that pressure.

I got through the exam, finished the next round of specialists, and all I wanted to do was to retreat into an English bubble and not come back out.

I was definitely burned out.

Withdrawing can lead to recovery

So, that’s what I did. For a while at least. I took a break.

• I avoided German as much as I could. Which meant turning down a few social events.
• After a couple of months of staying in English 100% of the time, I wasn’t struck with dread at the thought of speaking a little in German, although the phone was still too daunting.
• A few more months, and I didn’t feel like I needed to avoid music with German lyrics, or subtitled movies.
• A few more months, and I felt I wanted to start reading The Hobbit in German. I found a podcast where I enjoyed both the topic and found the speaker amusing.
• A few more months, and I felt the urge to open my grammar book for a few exercises, do the occasional word puzzle or crossword, and start listening through the Pimsleur audio course that I’d put aside after the exam.
• Another few months, and I could face trying to read the local news websites again in German.

And at this point, I felt completely fine and not pressured to chat with my new physiotherapist.

Even now, I feel a little knot of anxiety in my stomach when someone calls on the phone though.

What to do when you are burnt out from language learning

1. Take a break. If you can, make it a complete break. This is a lot easier when you are learning a language in a country where it isn’t spoken. Just as doctors prescribe a break when you have burnout from your job, you should take a break from the language. If you try to push through, you’ll probably give up on the language for good, you’ll hate it that much!
2. Start with enjoyable tasks. Listening to music, watching movies, anything that doesn’t feel like a chore. Don’t push immediately into revising grammar or word lists.
3. When you feel up to it, start reading. Reading a young adult novel in German was the soft way to slip myself back into word lists. On the Kindle, I highlighted the words that I didn’t know, and skipped forward. Not knowing a word here and there didn’t break my enjoyment of the story, as I knew the context from reading the book in English. Later, I collected those words, noted definitions in the ebook, and created a list. These words were much less dry than any encountered in a textbook. Alternatively, read a non-fiction book about one of your hobbies, in your target language. You know the vocabulary in your native language, so it’s easier to pick up the words in the target language.
4. Find something fun to listen to or watch regularly in your target language – a podcast, radio show, TV show – anything that is semi-regular. Don’t force yourself to consume it though – only do it when you are in the mood.

Throughout this ‘recovery’ process (and afterwards), give yourself rewards for doing anything to improve the target language, even if that is listening to music.

Leave the grammar, drilling, uninteresting word lists, exams and classes for when your complete enthusiasm returns.

And I promise it will return!

Have you had a language learning burnout?

What made you burn out? How did you get through it?