Pacing and language study

Learning a foreign language is obviously a long-term project to say the least. One key to not losing momentum is learning to pace yourself.

Whether you're working on a big project at the office, training for a marathon, or redecorating the house, it's great to go with the momentum when you have it, but equally important to stop your work for the day before you totally burn out! The problem with trying to squeeze every last drop of energy out of a session is that you end up feeling just that: completely drained. That's never pleasant. And then, you finish an otherwise wonderfully productive session with the thought, "I can't look at this any more," which translates into resistance to starting again the next day. It's completely counter-productive.

Instead, find a reasonable place to stop for the day while you're still feeling interested, eager and enthusiastic. Then you'll be ready to pick up again the next day -- with a full tank of energy to have another successful session. This will help eliminate lots of unnecessary stops, starts and jolts, making the road to language learning a nice, smooth ride!