Someone made me aware of a pact that the user futurianus made here: http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=25814&PN=1
It has to do with a few guidelines you can follow to stay motivated and learn effectively. It is written with Chinese in mind, but it applies to any language.
Without further ado, here it is:
“You need to make a PACT with yourself throughout the learning process.
–PATIENCE: Be prepared to take at least a couple years or more to learn the language. Take a long distance running approach. Do not be too anxious to learn it too quickly. Take it easy and slow. It takes time to learn a language. Remind yourself to enjoy the process of learning, and have patience.
–ASSURANCE: Whenever you hit a plateau and even have a feeling of despair that you will never be able to master it, you need to remind yourself that if you keep on treading on patiently, what you do will accumulate and will let you come out on the other side where things will become a lot easier and let you taste the fruits of your efforts. Tell yourself that you will someday surely become fluent in this language. Hold on to your hope and sense of assurance.
–CURIOSITY: Find out more about the culture and people. Keep up your interest level high and motivate yourself to learn the language. It is important to maintain high level of interest and curiosity.
–TRANSMUTATION: Think of yourself as Chinese. Think that you are already a fluent Chinese speaker, even when you have to babble through your conversations at the beginning. You need to make as much effort as possible to identify with the people who are the speakers of the target language. You must become them. This should be your goal as a language and culture learner. You must become transmutated into a Chinese. You must cast a magical spell on yourself and turn yourself into a Chinese in acting, thinking, feeling, talking, grunting, sighing, laughing and dreaming. Let go of your mother tongue and sense of national identity, and constantly self-hypnotize yourself into transmutation.”
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