5 Tips to Tackle the Foreign Language Notebook and Keep Yourself Motivated

5 Tips to Tackle the Foreign Language Notebook and Keep Yourself Motivated 5 Tips to Tackle the Foreign Language Notebook and Keep Yourself Motivated Demand evidence.Without tangible evidence that what youre doing is working, motivation is hard.When you start to lose weight, youre motivated to continue when your clothes fit a little looser and the numbers on the scale go down.And you know exactly what to do to continue the trendâ€"eat well and exercise.Learning a language is decidedly more difficult.The evidence isnt as easy to come by, and theres so much to do to make progress.Thats where a foreign language notebook comes in handy. Why Should You Keep a Foreign Language Notebook?You may be asking yourself: Why would I want to take the time to set up a notebook?  I could use other resources to practice and learn?Here are some of the most important reasons why this particular learning resource is so handy:Keep up with your progressThis is the main idea behind a language notebook. The notebook will allow you to see the progress you’ve made. Let’s say you want to be able to write a letter in French. This is the perfect place to do it. So, you write the best letter you can. During the process, questions arise and you look at some of the aspects of letter writing that give you the most trouble.You focus on improving by writing more letters, emails or other correspondence. At the end of the month, youve written 15 letters. Now go back and look at that first letter. Where have you improved? What do you know now that gave you such a hard time at the beginning? This can be just as motivating as seeing the scale go down!Create a single space dedicated to the new languageWhen youre trying to reach fluency in another language, learning can sometimes be sporadic. New words might pop up throughout the day or a question may arise during your commute. Put all the information on those scraps of paper or Post-its in one placeâ€"your notebook. Rewriting this information and  reorganizing your notes is a great way to move information into your long-term memory.Its also important to mention that if youre learning multiple languages (good for you!), then you need multiple notebooks. This will help with compartmentalizationâ€"so when your Portuguese notebook is out, youre only focused on it!It’s a place to practice new vocabulary, grammar and writingAlthough the work you do in your foreign language notebook will positively affect all areas of language learning, its a great place to specifically target essential writing skills. Written communication is just as important as oral communication, and to truly master a language you need to be able to write it.Have places in your notebook where you can address tricky grammar rules and where you can draft longer paragraphs utilizing new vocabulary and grammar. When you need to reference that rule again, its easily accessible!It’s tailored to youUnlike an app or online course where someone else has set up the lessons, you get to be your own teacher. By no means do you have to set up elaborate lesson plans, but you do get to set up the notebook in a way that works best for you.Are you an educator learning Spanish? You can have a place in your notebook dedicated to that vocabulary. Going to China for business? Think about what youll need to be successful. You might find that having a space for cultural and social norms is just as valuable as having an area for vocabulary.Well discuss this in more detail later on in the post, but the content of the notebook is completely up to you! Whatever youre lacking, you can design a notebook to meet those needs.It’s privateNo one else has to see your notebook. It’s the equivalent of your teenage diaryâ€"you can record your mistakes and your progress, then look back on previous pages without judgement.It’s motivatingWeve already discussed the importance of motivation while learning. Along with allowing us to measure our progress, a foreign language notebook can also encourage us to keep going by providing a creative outlet.Your notebook can be as colorful and fun as you want it to be. Feel fre e to add pictures, positive quotes or color-coding to your hearts content. Many of us have little tchotchkes on our desks to keep us going, like a favorite pen or a souvenir from that trip to Italy. Your notebook can serve that same purpose.Anyone can do itAnyone at any level can start a foreign language notebook. If youre at the beginning of your language-learning journey, a notebook will help you lay the foundation of your new skills.The more advanced learner might find their notebook with only a couple of sections dedicated to new vocabulary, grammar structures or more nuanced components of the target language. Thats the beauty of it! No matter where you are in your studies, you can use a notebook to your advantage.5 Tips to Tackle the Foreign Language Notebook and Keep Yourself Motivated1. Find the right notebook for youAs we talked about before, the beauty of keeping a foreign language notebook is how customizable it is. You choose what kind of notebook you want to use and set it up however youd like. Your language notebook can be as simple or complex as it needs to be. You can create it to have a strict design with lists or have a loose structure.Now you may be wondering, where do I find the time to set up and use a notebook for my foreign language? Youre not alone! If the idea of setting up a notebook is overwhelming, you could order a  foreign language notebook online.If you already have some ideas in mind but would like to see more examples, check out YouTube to see how others have organized their notebooks  to give you some ideas.Planning is an important part of choosing the right notebook. So once you have an idea of how big or small youll need it to be, you can better decide what you need. You can use a plain, lined notebook  or repurpose an old binder and fill it with notebook paper. Or, if you just want to give a language notebook a try but need a place to begin, you can find language worksheets on the internet and use your notebook as a place to house those.2. Divide your notebook into sections: vocabulary lists, grammar practice, writingBy dividing up your notebook into sections, youre designating spaces to focus on different goals and concepts. Having a space for vocabulary, grammar and writing practice is a good place to begin because theyre the fundamentals of language fluency.Keeping a list of vocabulary helps you track which words you struggle with and words youve memorized. You can create an alphabetical list or segment words by categories, such as food or telling time.Similarly, keeping a section for grammar concepts gives you something to refer to when you forget a specific structure, and a writing section is a great place to practice those vocabulary and grammar skills.How many pages youll want per section is up to you, but dividing a notebook into three equal sections is a good place to start. Use sticky tabs to divvy up the pages into these three main sections. Experiment with color codingâ€"differentiating top ics with color can be especially helpful to visual learners.After a while, or if you think you need room for more sections, you could add a space for more complex vocabulary lists or a thesaurus-like section where you list words with similar meanings, which can be helpful when writing.3. Find creative writing ideasStruggling to come up with what to write?Here are some ideas to jump-start your practice:Write letters or emails to friends and family.Write a few diary entries.Review your favorite books, movies, shows, recipes or restaurants.Create dialogues using new vocabulary or grammar structures with different scenarios.Plan a dinner menu.Write a magazine article.Create a make-believe travel journal.Use the writing section of your notebook to write whatever you want, but its a good idea to keep it varied. Its like using different equipment at the gym, working different muscles makes you stronger overall. Writing creatively makes your language skills stronger, allowing you to use new vocabulary words and grammar.4. Write down goalsUse the notebook to write down goals for yourself in the target language. You might even create a section dedicated to goals and check the goals off once theyve been reached.Think about what you want to achieve. How many sentences do you want to be able to write? What kind of writing do you want to do? What new words do you want to be able to use? Which grammar concepts do you need to master?Set up a series of goals, each one getting bigger or harder as you go along. For example, challenge yourself every couple of weeks to write for a longer period of time without using a dictionary. This way, youre forcing yourself to focus and challenging yourself to be imaginative with the language.5. Create a system to reward yourself when you reach a goalSet up a reward system for yourself. Since youre recording your goals, youll know when youve achieved them. Its important for you to recognize how far youve come!A reward  could be something as s imple and childish as fun stickers  or new stationary. Maybe youre keeping a list of foreign movies to watch in your notebook, so now would be a good time to reward yourself by watching one!Completing a goal and moving onto the next one means youre moving forward with using the language. It may not be as fun as seeing the scale go down, but its just as motivating!To sum it all up: Your individual language journey should be customized to you.A foreign language notebook is a practical and useful tool for the serious language learner to personalize their learning experience.So, go get one!And One More ThingFind motivation for your language learning creativity in FluentU. FluentU makes it possible to learn languages  from music videos, commercials, news and inspiring talks.With FluentU, you learn real languagesâ€"the same way that real people speak them. FluentU has a wide variety of videos, like movie trailers, funny commercials and web series, as you can see here:FluentU App Browse Sc reenFluentU has interactive captions that let you tap on any word to see an image, definition, audio and useful examples. Now native language content is within reach with interactive transcripts.Didnt catch something? Go back and listen again. Missed a word? Hover over or tap on the subtitles to instantly view definitions.FluentU Interactive TranscriptsYou can learn all the vocabulary in any video with FluentUs quiz mode. Swipe left or right to see  more examples for the word you’re learning.FluentU Has Quizzes for Every VideoAnd FluentU always keeps track of vocabulary that you’re learning. It uses that vocab to give you a 100% personalized experience by recommending videos and examples.