With the fundamentals in hand and the environment for learning Chinese, how do you plan to stay motivated over time? I’m so glad you asked! After we consider some of the answers possible, you’ll still find that the best solution is to make your goals as clear as possible. The clearer your goal, the more energized you will be to attain it!
Gain Clarity of Mind
To be successful in learning Chinese, you must find the drive to keep going! But, what happens if you’re losing your drive, or even thinking about quitting? Realize that the most important thing you can do is to revisit your goals for learning the language. (If you started your journey in Mandarin Chinese without goals, then today is a great time to get started)!
Since success in a language is determined by how well you’ve mastered your goal, then you must begin by examining that goal. Identifying the goal and clarifying it will bring you the success you desire! Success in language is whatever you define it to be, whether that is having a brief conversation with a native speaker, being able to recognize and recall a certain number of characters, or the ability to write a sentence or two in Mandarin.
Therefore, it is crucial that you spend a little time to visualize what it will be like once you have reached your goal. What do you imagine being able to do? Imagine all of the amazing possibilities, then decide what it is that you want! (This is no joke, but rather the key to your success, so take a moment to define it now)!
Questions for Refining Your Goal
- What abilities or skills do you want to have?
- How will it look when you are able to do that?
- How will others respond to me then? How will I feel?
After taking a few minutes to dream about the goal as if it has already been achieved, you will find that the goal is much easier to put into words. Even consider writing it down and as you do so, let the small details from your dream bring an overwhelming satisfaction to your heart! The celebration of attaining this goal and smile on your face are possible!
Challenges are a part of the process, but you have the ability to overcome these! Even though delays and setbacks may occur, still it will be your perseverance that will move you forward. Your determination will get you to the goal you have set!
Other Motivational Options
Consider viewing one Chinese movie every few weeks so that you can learn both language and culture simultaneously. Thankfully, many libraries carry ever growing collections of films that you can enjoy with or without subtitles. It might even be possible to convince some of your friends to watch with you.
Play the Chinese character game where you try to think of ten different ways that you can use the same character. This helps you to become more familiar with the way the character is used, but also helps you remember it better! Another version of this game is to start with one character, make a word (usually two characters), then use the second character as the starting point for the next word – it’s really a lot of fun!
Finally, try creating a matching game. With the backs of the cards blank, you can place a character on one card and then the PinYin on another. To improve the game, consider sets of three to form successful triplets. In this way, you’ll need a character, PinYin, and then the English in order to form a complete set. You will ultimately decide which of these options works best for you, but have fun continuing to learn Chinese!
Explore this site for convenient ways to learn Chinese, or try out some expressions on my lens.
