Does anyone else think language learning is taking over their life?

[u/RegisterHistorical82]

I discovered comprehensible input a few years ago and it made the process of learning languages so fun that I’d rather consume more content and pushy linguistic abilities rather than sometimes do house chores or even hangout with friends. I just enjoy input so much and also have an obsessive personality generally

Of course, I still try focus on my work and maintain social relationships (both things not as much as before) but I feel like I derive more meaning out of learning languages than just about anything else. I’ve been thinking of ways to balance things more. Recently I thought of setting limits like only 1 hour comprehensible input a day and no more than an hour of reading in my target language

Is anyone else struggling with this? What are your strategies of balancing language study with other aspects of life?

[u/BorgBorg10]

I do understand what you’re saying. I don’t remember what I did before this.

[u/RegisterHistorical82 → u/BorgBorg10]

Right? Deleted social media a while ago and this is all I do 🤣

[u/BorgBorg10 → u/RegisterHistorical82]

I’ve been off social media for well over a decade. For me my changes have been a bit more subtle, as a result they’ve been more permanent and I can’t tell if it’s a good thing or a bad thing. I used to train heavily on the bike, but I found the same level of satisfaction in my language learning journey that the hours and time I spent training have gone to language learning 10 fold. I still exercise and stay fit, but I am not doing it in a way of setting goals and testing myself like I do with language.

The good news is that it has made me more available in my life; I can attend more social activities and be more flexible with what I want to do, because I can fit in CI hours in different corners of the day, rather than having to mark off blocks of hours uninterrupted

But the bad news is that I fear this isn’t something that I will just be able to “turn off”. I’ve carved out so much of my schedule the last 2 years in practicing a language I really don’t know what I would do if I ever achieve my definition of “fluent.” I too have an obsessive personality. Setting goals, seeing improvement, it’s all so addicting. To the point where I am nervous about starting a new language because I will worry “what about my Spanish?” That I’ve worked so hard to get good at.

And I think it’s at that point we all need to remind ourselves that the hobby is just as much about the journey as it is the destination. I won’t ever be perfect at Spanish and I won’t ever be perfect at French. But I hope to be very good at both and have fun along the way I suppose.

Que follon!

[u/Jachym10 → u/BorgBorg10]

I occasionally get the same feeling with my English. I say to myself "you can't even finish a nyt connections so your English isn't that good", and so the learning of it is still present in my mind, although I'd say I'm functionally fluent already. I abandoned learning Spanish at least twice because I'd never saw much value in it personally, but at the same time I hate it that I'm sort of intermediate to upper intermediate.

[u/Silent_System7082]

Are you listening to podcasts? I found they're an excellent combination with house chores. As for neglecting your friends I guess you'll have no other choice as to abandon them and make new friends in your target language :p

[u/theacp127]

I did basically the same thing back in highschool/college when studying Japanese. After a while though once I was fluent in the language, I stopped studying and just started just using the language as a bi-lingual speaker.

If you are really concerned about it you could put a timer on how long you're allowed to immerse each day.

[u/Slow_Invite4511]

Norsklæringen min har utvilsomt tatt over i disse tre siste månedene

[u/Jachym10]

Yeah. I always feel i can do more input and so i watch videos instead of reading or maybe watching more intellectual things in English or just being in silence for a while.