My fear going into this is that I will lose motivation and no longer feel the excitement I feel now. I don’t want to have the burnout you’re talking about, and I’m hoping little things like this forum will help.

I would say the fact that you’re posting on here for encouragement is a good sign. You know what you want to do, and you’re just looking for a little help to start doing it again.

So get excited! Learning another language is something that can take you places, and in this case you may end up in a neat place like Japan. I know the effort required will be worthwhile. Anyway, what’s stopping you except for yourself?

Obviously I’m excited to get going. I hope I don’t lose that!

Also, I think it is important to create lots of opportunities to learn things “accidentally.” It is a great feeling when you see a word or phrase in a sentence while focusing on something else, and then you see it again and recognize it without even having spent any time on it. It’s like you learned it for free, and it helps keep your spirits up when faced with things you see every day for a week and still can’t remember.

Think about a really good pianist. Think about why they are really good. Are they really good because, when they first started out, they were super excited about being great someday and, as soon as they get all the tedious practice out of the way, then they can start having some fun jamming away? Or, are they really good because they actually enjoyed the practice (maybe not every minute but a lot) and they got really good as a SIDE EFFECT of their hobby of PRACTICING? I’d wager the latter.

If you goal is to know Japanese, studying will be tiresome and you will always see the prize as over the next horizon. If you goal is to LEARN Japanese then every time (most times) you sit down and study is an enjoyable success. So acquiring fluency might eventually happen as a consequence to your studying, but it should not be the goal.

You can force yourself down unpleasant roads to reach desirable destinations but only if the road is short. Initial excitement about the destination might get you started down the path but, unless you are (in general) enjoying the journey for it’s own sake, you’ll end up quitting and turning back eventually.

I don’t think saying to “get excited” is quite as ineffective as your examples. It’s not meant to motivate; lasting motivation, in my experience, will come from within. It is, however, meant to push you in the right direction. I think it is important to welcome encouragement while understanding that this is ultimately your challenge and your journey.

I also agree that to begin learning (and even to begin again) and to find lasting motivation, one will absolutely need to get excited. It’s an important first step. And, jay palin, since you’re looking for us to kick you into gear, I hope this is helpful!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpN98L1XL50

You have to love the language and learning it. That’s not overnight.

Just do with Japanese what he is doing here with “walking” :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAqFNa316_Q&feature=iv&annotation_id=annotation_96732