Motivation Through Self-Nudging: A Study Confirms the Benefits for Language Learning

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Do you have trouble motivating yourself, or do you often just choose the easiest option? There’s a solution for that! With so-called self-nudging, you can achieve your language learning goals more easily than you think! Bad habits are a thing of the past.

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Self-Nudging – What Is It, Exactly?

Who doesn’t know this: you’ve planned a productive evening, and now you’re sitting on the sofa, being bombarded by both your phone and the TV. There’s neither the time nor the energy for effective language learning. But there’s a scientifically-proven solution!

“Self-Nudging” is a concept that’s all about giving yourself a little push. And that’s exactly the goal of this process: you use small, simple tricks and changes in your daily life to make better decisions. Self-nudging and language learning go hand-in-hand, helping you, for example, to complete your daily lessons and find a good routine.

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It sounds suspiciously simple at first, but it actually works: Ralph Hertwig from the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and Samuli Reijula from the University of Helsinki presented their research findings in the journal Behavioural Public Policy. This included the best way to achieve motivation through self-nudging. According to the scientists, four small steps lead to long-term success.

Using Self-Nudging for Language Learning – Here’s How!

1. Place Reminders and Cues: What do you see every day? At what time can you spare a few minutes (almost) daily to use for language learning? Place specific cues in your environment that remind you to learn. Even a small, eye-catching note on the refrigerator door can turn into a focused 15 minutes of study time while dinner is in the oven.

There are a few providers that make a (quick) lesson in daily life possible. With apps, they are now available on every device, making mobile learning easy. We can particularly recommend Mondly, Busuu, and Gymglish here. But for a complete list with various recommendations: You can find the Top 10 Online Language Courses in this practical article.

2. Framing – Consciously Frame Decisions: Think about it – why are you actually learning your target language? Maybe your next vacation is just around the corner, the next career opportunity, or an exciting exchange with friends who speak another language. Imagine what it’s like to finally master the language – and always keep this in mind when you’re tempted to choose mindless scrolling on social media over your next online lesson.

For intensive learning, providers with many features, such as Rosetta Stone, are particularly suitable. In their learning suite, you can go from beginner to pro over time. Language lessons are also a good idea to gain practical experience. Here, our clear recommendation is Lingoda; the sophisticated concept of this language school is second to none.

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3. Minimize Hurdles – Maximize Learning Time: This is all about eliminating all “pointless” distractions as much as possible. What activities do you use to pass the time that don’t actually move you forward or make you permanently happy? Of course, you don’t have to give up everything strictly. For example, it’s often enough to just put your phone on silent for a while or turn off the TV. Consciously make time for language learning, and motivation through self-nudging will come naturally.

4. Pressure Through Social Contracts: If you find it hard to motivate yourself intrinsically, you can also use external nudges. How about a competition among people in your circle, for instance? Who in your group of friends can get the most points on Mondly or Duolingo? Alternatively, some providers integrate such challenges and social “pressure” directly into their courses. LingQ regularly offers new tasks that you can complete with the online community. This is extremely motivating because your own ambition is also at play. If you don’t study, you not only disappoint yourself but also fall behind your fellow learners.

Conclusion: Motivation Through Self-Nudging

It’s completely normal not to be highly motivated every day. But when distractions take over, you can thankfully take action. Self-nudging is a scientifically confirmed method that also shows its effectiveness in practice. The four steps mentioned above are simple and can be integrated into any daily routine. This way, motivation through self-nudging can be increased in the long term, and time in daily life can be used wonderfully.