Why Is Language Learning Hard?

Language learning is hard work no matter how long you’ve been practicing. Regardless of how many languages you speak already, learning a new one is going to come with some challenges. It does become easier to learn the more you learn, but there’s no way around hundreds of hours of practice to reach fluency no matter how talented at language learning you are. It’s hard. But not to worry, you can do hard things. You’ve got this.

Language learning is hard because

of the effort, mental strength, and endurance it takes to train your mind to learn a new skill. It’s even harder depending on your learning background, how many languages you speak already, and your motivation for learning.

Your Learning Background Makes Language Learning Harder or Easier

Learning a language is like learning anything else, the more experience you have learning and educating yourself, the easier it’ll be to apply those skills to language learning. When you have less experience and struggle with learning new skills, learning a new language becomes much harder.

You can improve this by doing the work now to learn. As you learn a new language, you’ll also be improving your ability to learn anything. Depending on your learning background, you might need extra help from tutors and many classes - like I did. This will make you a better learner and will make learning more languages later on easier if you choose to.

The More Languages You Speak, The Easier It Becomes to Learn More

It becomes harder to maintain those languages, and those languages will vary in fluency, but the actual process of learning a new language becomes easier because it’s familiar. Just like your learning abilities facilitate learning a new language more easily, learning a third or forth language is easier because your linguistic skills transfer between languages.

The first time you learn a foreign language is the most difficult because you’re also learning how to learn language. You’re rewiring your brain as you challenge what you previously knew to be true about communication because learning a second language requires you to reexamine what you know about your native language.

Learning a third or fourth language is easier because you already know how to learn language. All that’s left to do is apply your previous knowledge about language learning to your new language. The skills and strategies that you developed as you struggled through learning your second language are the same as you’ll need for your next languages. The new challenge becomes maintaining multiple languages and accepting the different levels of fluency and usages for each language which will be unique your personal language goals & motivation.

Your Motivation for Learning

Your reason for learning a language needs to be enough motivation to keep going through years of struggling. It also needs to be revisited as you learn to ensure that you’re on-track to meet your goals and that you’re adjusting as needed, especially if your motivation changes. It’s hard enough to keep going through all the endless hours of practice and struggles learning a new language, but being clear about your motivation helps.

It helps you refocus when you lose your way.

It helps you keep going when you want to quit.

It’s the driving force that’s going push you though all the hard moments of language learning on your way to fluency.