Learn a language on your own – Step 1 – Choose your interest
As I told you before, your objective is not to learn a language. Your objective will be to use that language as a vehicle to enjoy things you like. The idea behind the strategy is to use your interests to keep you always motivated.
The most challenging thing for a language learner is to be motivated for the long term, as learning a language is not a short-term endeavour.
Remember that the language is going to be your medium and not your objective.
The first step is to choose something that you really like, something you’re passionate about, something that you are curious about.
From now on, I’ll refer to it as an “interest”. And by interest I’m referring to any topic, subject, theme, passion, hobby or thing you may like. It’s whatever you are interested in, or curious in or just feel like doing.
Once you have that interest, you will use the language you want to learn to dive into it. You will work on your interest for as long as it suits you, for as long as you enjoy it.
If one day you are done with your current interest, or bored with it, or just feel like you want to switch to a different one, then you will just change. Any interest you choose will last for as long as it works for you. What really matters is that you always have an interest that motivates you to keep using the language you want to learn.
You are going to use as many interests as you need. And using only one interest or many of them will not be a sign of success or failure, as every user/learner is different.
Characteristics of any interest you’ll choose:
- It can be whatever as long as you really like it.
- It can be generic or specific.
- It can be long-term or short-term.
- You can change it as many times as you need it.
Now, I’ll share a list of some possible interests. But there are hundreds of other interests waiting for you. The sky is the limit.
When you choose your first interest, or whenever you switch to a new one, you have to think about something that:
- You are interested in…
- You love to…
- You want to learn…
- You are crazy about…
- You want to know more about…
- You are passionate about…
- You are curious about…
- You would like to become…
- You like…
- You need to learn…
- You are into…
- You want to be…
- You are a fan of…
- You want to help…
As you will see below, it can be pretty much anything as long as you like it:
| You are interested in… | history urban legends stand-up comedy |
| You love to… | make friends from abroad take care of your garden watch films |
| You want to learn… | how to build a shed how to ski how to play chess |
| You are crazy about… | electric cars “The big bang theory” series videogames |
| You want to know more about… | how to become a coach how to play the piano how to become a vegetarian |
| You are passionate about… | tattoos boats english accents |
| You are curious about… | UFOs lighthouses artificial intelligence |
| You would like to become… | a great speaker a marathon runner a bird watcher |
| You like… | real crime histories Dan Brown books basketball |
| You need to learn… | how to tell jokes how to create your first app how to sing |
| You are into… | painting cars fishing |
| You want to be… | a professional cook a yoga teacher an online business owner |
| You are a fan of… | Coldplay Ricky Gervais Freddy Mercury |
| You want to help… | people with disabilities in an NGO like “Doctors Without Borders” the elderly in your community |
Now, it’s your turn to start thinking about your first interest. Whenever you have it, it’s time to start…