Motivational Quotes to Help You Learn Languages

We didn’t think that sharing a learning plan would be what you need today. We thought it would be better to help you maintain high levels of motivation (because slacking off and not feeling too motivated does happen). In this article you’ll find motivational quotes and good ideas to give you a little boost in your language learning process. These are quotes you could put up everywhere at home, on your fridge, mirrors, in your bathroom…

Motivational Quotes to Keep You Going Strong

Two Souls in The Same Body (of a bilingual)

Good old Charlemagne! He didn’t just have the crazy idea of inventing school, but he also knew the importance of speaking a second language.

Is having the ability to speak another language due to having a second soul? Hard to tell. What we can agree on, however, is that talking a second language allows us to have a bigger picture of the world.

This just happens to be the subject Panos Athanosopoulos, Professor Of Psycholinguistics at Lancaster University, studies. His whole research is to find out whether our bodies can have two spirits. Well, whether the body of a bilingual can acquire two different ways of thinking. The answer? It seems that learning a second language does allows us to see things two different ways. A person who speaks both French and Spanish has the ability, for example, to think the way the French think and to think the way Spaniards think at the same time. This must be equivalent to having a second soul, right?

Motivation, Key to Successful Learning

In other words, the more motivated you are, the more able you are to learn a new language.

Many factors come into play when it comes to learning a language. Actually, in 1989 Bernard Spolsky grouped together what he believes to be the essential factors for learning a new language. In it, we can find personality, age, ability… and motivation. Many researchers agree that motivation has an impact on learning in the sense that it is often the very cause for learning: we learn simply because we want to speak the language. But does it give better results? It has been proven that strong motivation stimulates learning, it’s what pushes us to work, revise and repeat.

Conversely, as this quote says, experiencing a decline of motivation could make us perceive language learning as an insurmountable obstacle.

So, how to maintain a high level of motivation? You could write your goals, along with everything you’ll be able to do with this new language, on sticky notes and stick them in different places in your apartment where you’re bound to see them (next to the quotes in this article, for example). Find other tips to stay motivated in this article.

Study, Review, Study, Review

Learning doesn’t end by simply learning a lesson off by heart. Learning is a long-term project. This is what this quote is basically saying. And that’s the reason why we’re constantly telling you how important it is to review.

Indeed, according to a report by Pashler et al, regularly extracting information from our memory reinforces it. To go into more details, extracting information from your memory makes the path this piece of information has to take in your neural network more reliable, easy and quick to use. Reviewing forms its own trail. The more you revise, the quicker the information will come out of your memory until you’re able to extract it effortlessly without needing help or clues.

In other words, it doesn’t matter what you’re learning, what is important is to make it last. So, use and reuse it regularly.

Learning How to Learn in Order to Learn Better

This quote is perfect for learning foreign languages because to learn a new language, the most important thing to do is to know how to learn…

At MosaLingua, we are convinced that the method used for learning has an impact on the motivation of the learner, and on the results—more precisely, the ensemble of knowledge assimilated and acquired by the learner. We are equally persuaded that there’s nothing boring about learning a new language. We lean toward relaxing and pleasurable learning.

So, what learning method should you adopt? Here’s my advice:

1. Start with easy cards available on the MosaLingua apps. There’s no need for running, you could easily start with the traditional ones such as “hello”, ” how are you?”, “goodbye”, etc.
2. Create an environment favorable for learning: listen to foreign music, watch TV, films and series in the language of your choice. Now that’s what I call pleasurable learning.
3. Focus on written comprehension by reading online news media or novels.
4. Finish off by learning grammar…

Of course, this learning method is just an example. It’s up to you to find one that suits you best. Learn to learn.

Speak to Learn

To be heard, you have to speak, but that’s not the only things speaking does… To improve—especially when it comes to learning a language—you have to speak. In my opinion, there are two distinct phases when it comes to the learning process: before speaking and after speaking with, ideally, native speakers. Apart from the pronunciation and intonation, speaking improves oral comprehension, and understanding of how the language is used (using tenses, grammar and word order). Have you ever realized that you find it easier learning a language once you’ve started speaking with native speakers? Indeed, we learn faster from the moment we actually use the language.

So, how can you find opportunities to use the language?

• You’ll find plenty of language exchange websites you can use with webcam or a simple microphone to speak with native speakers. These websites allow you to make contact with people who, like you, want to learn a foreign language. It’s up to you to find what to talk about.
• You can also inform yourself about universities in your town. Many universities, student associations to be more precise, organize exchange programs with Erasmus or languages exchanges with foreign students. The perfect occasion to have a nice time, meeting new people and trying out your newly acquired knowledge.

Do you know other motivational quotes for learning foreign languages? Don’t hesitate to share them with us below. We could maybe create an image for it 😉