Learn Chinese with motivation

If humans were like machines, learning Chinese wouldn't be very difficult. After all, language learning is not that complicated.

如果人类是机器，那么学习中文便不会太困难。毕竟，语言学习并非如此复杂。

However, this requires you to spend a lot of time, but since humans aren't like machines, this is harder than it looks. Few people can decide to study Chinese 50 hours a week and then just do it. Most find ways of procrastinating or get distracted by other things, especially if we have a lot of time on our hands.

然而，人类不是机器，语言学习需要你花大把时间，所以这会比看上去难。有人决定每周花50小时学习中文，却很少有人能真正做到，大部分人都会找各种方法拖延时间或者被其他事情分心，尤其是在时间充裕的情况下。

Motivation is the key

This means that motivation is very important, because it determines how much time you spend learning Chinese, and that in turn decides how much you learn. Of course, the method you use matter as well, but even the best method is useless if you don't actually study.

这意味着动力十分重要，因为它决定着你会花多少时间学习中文，并且还反过来决定着你将学到多少。当然了，你的学习方法也很重要。不过，如果不是真心学习的话，再好的方法也是徒劳。

The thing is that even a method that isn't very good might still be useful if it's interesting.

关键在于，即使方法不是很好，但是只要有趣，还是会很有用的。

Increasing motivation

Therefore, it's very important to be aware of motivation and do your best to maintain and increase it. Here are a few suggestions:

因此，了解动力并尽力保持和增加动力尤其重要。以下是一些建议：

Know why you're learning – Why do you want to learn Chinese? Specify what the reason is and what benefits it will bring you. Becoming that better version of yourself who knows Chinese is a strong motivational force.

知道自己为何而学。你为什么学习中文？找出原因以及它将带给你的好处。懂得中文、成就更好的自己本身就是一种强大的动力。

Make learning instrumental – Use your Chinese to achieve something real. Perhaps you can watch movies or read books that aren't available in English or you can speak with people in Chinese. If you can tie your work to Chinese, that's a great idea. You can also use Chinese to learn new things!

学以致用。用你所学的中文去做些实际的事情。你可以观看外语电影，阅读外语书籍，或者你可以用中文与人们交谈。如果你可以将你的工作与中文相联系，那是个很好的做法。此外，你还可以用中文去学习新事物！

Know yourself and your preferences – Try to identify things you like doing in your language and then convert these into Chinese! This could involve many things, but start with sports, games or music.

认清自己和自己的喜好。试着用你的母语弄清楚自己喜欢做的事，然后将它们转化为中文。这样做可能涉及很多事情，不过可以先从运动、游戏或音乐开始。

Don't underestimate the role of motivation. You don't need to think every minute is fun, but it's important that you think it's meaningful and takes you closer to your goals.

不要低估"动力"的作用。你不必认为每分钟都得很有趣，重要的是你要意识到每分钟都是有意义的，这样会让你越来越靠近自己的目标。

Translated from: about.com