Consistent hard work is one of the biggest factors that determine someone's success,

and it's true for language learning too.

While it's important to choose a course and study method that's right for you,

at the end of the day, the results you see are a product of the effort you put in.

However, the quantity of time spent studying a new language

doesn't necessarily determine the quality of your study.

Spending three hours a day watching movies doesn't help you learn much if you're not actively engaging with the language.

In this video, we'll talk about how to actively engage your mind while studying.

Number one, think of your brain as a muscle.

You might be familiar with the phrase, feel the burn, or maybe no pain, no gain.

If you've been to your local gym recently, there's a chance you might have heard one

of these phrases or seen something similar on a poster on a wall.

In the world of sports and workouts, there's a common idea that the discomfort you feel

when running, lifting weights, or doing some other physical activity is what brings results.

The discomfort you feel is your muscles being pushed to their limit.

It's the limit pushing that strengthens your muscles so that over time your performance

increases.

In the context of language learning, it's helpful to think of your brain as a muscle being trained.

Just as we need to push against our physical limits when exercising,

we also need to push our mental ones when learning a foreign language.

Have you ever studied or practiced your target language in a way that left you tired or even exhausted?

If so, you've experienced what it's like to push your brain out of its linguistic comfort zone.

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