Stay Positive!

Learning a second language could be one of the most challenging things you do in your life. Many people find that they lose some of their early confidence and optimism when the going gets tough, so it is worth considering the following reasons for staying positive.

You Will Get There

Personally, my biggest fear when I started learning Spanish was that I sounded like a fool. Also, after a lifetime of knowing exactly what I was saying and what other people were saying to me it was strange to not understand more than about 5% of most conversations. There came a point in my learning when I lost confidence and decided to stop talking so much, because I thought that I sounded silly and because every time I spoke to someone it felt like a struggle. Thankfully, I regained confidence again when I spoke to some new friends and I realised that I was slowly but surely improving. You will get there if you stick at it and stay positive.

Everyone Makes Mistakes

Making mistakes when you are learning a foreign tongue is a tough situation to handle. I would get really angry with myself when I said something which didn’t make sense or mixed up two words. We would all like to speak perfectly right away but this simply isn’t possible and everyone makes mistakes in the learning process. On a positive note, you will almost certainly learn more from the mistakes you make then the things you get right, if that makes sense.

It Isn’t a Competition and You Aren’t Losing

I also used to get pretty jealous when I saw other people who seemed to have learned the language better than I was doing. This turned into something which held back my progress for a while but then I realised that comparisons like this are plain silly. When you decide to learn a second language you aren’t signing up for some sort of competitive event. Some people will learn more quickly than you and others will learn more slowly but you all go through the same process. You aren’t losing and there are no shortcuts which others take and which you are missing out on.

It Is Worth It in the Long Run

Finally, you should try never to lose sight of the reason which you have for learning the language in the first place. We all have different motivations when it comes to studying something new and it is important that you are clear on yours right from the start. Once you have learned it well then you will have a hugely valuable life skill which could come in useful in a lot of different occasions during the rest of your life.

Are you in need of a boost of positivity? Don’t forget that learning a language is a fun and enormously rewarding experience which will enhance your life if you stay positive and keep learning.