Hey there,
Do you guys have any tips what I can do to stay motivated when it comes to learning French and Spanish? I kind of reached level B2 even though I sometimes feel I’m just around A2 
I just can’t motivate myself to study more. I tried everything: Study books, novels, apps, music, podcasts, YouTube videos… French and Spanish are both extremely important languages in Europe, I’d say, and I’d need them for my job (translator) but I just don’t feel like studying them 
I could start learning a new language every month and would progress quickly, feel totally motivated and everything but when it comes to FR and ES … sigh
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I will offer only a bit of advice, don’t study them. I know that may sound harsh, but sometimes looking at understanding a language as “study” can be a bit intimidating. A better motivation, for me, is to be able to converse with others in their own language. Perhaps, you could make acquaintance of native speakers of either language and just have conversations. I think another thing that can encourage motivation is knowing what your goal is. Do you need to be at B2 level for your job? Is A2 sufficient? If you only need to translate at a basic level, then perhaps just a conversational understanding will do the trick. Find content that you enjoy, really enjoy, in your target languages. Something that you would enjoy in any language, to encourage you to keep consuming said content. I watch YouTube videos from native speakers(in German, Spanish and Romanian) that are not “teaching” anything about the languages, but I enjoy the subject matter so much, that it is a pleasure to watch and doesn’t ever feel like studying.
I hope this helps a bit, I can only speak from my perspective, but I think if you take the “study” out of the process and just enjoy the language, you may have more success with your motivation.
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B2 is the total minimum, I definitely need to reach C1. I’ll look for some YouTube videos I might like, maybe that helps. And maybe some novels. Thanks for your tips!
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Congratulations, you have reached what is often referred to as the “intermediate plateau.” This drop in motivation is quite common at this proficiency level.
I find it helpful to take a break at the intermediate plateau. I realize that this may not be ideal with your career, but perhaps you can step away from formalized study. One idea is to watch video content in your first language (or another language you’re comfortable with) but put on the subtitles in French or Spanish. You’ll be “reading” without having to actually commit time specifically to your language studies. Another idea is to pursue your interest in starting to learn a new language, but by laddering the languages. In other words, you could learn whatever other language by using French and/or Spanish as the language of instruction. This way, you can pursue your interest, while still having regular exposure to the languages your career is mandating. The main thing is to try to find ways to incorporate the languages you need to learn into the things that you actually want to do. The motivation should return in a matter of time. Good luck!
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