Hello  I'm new to the forum but not to language learning.

I had studied Japanese with limited results for a couple years until I made the switch to Mandarin Chinese almost a year ago. (My significant other is Chinese, and it just seemed more and more obvious that learning Mandarin would be more useful.)

Anyway, I've been stuck in a rut for a couple months. I've only been doing the bare minimum to ensure that I don't slip backwards. On a day to day basis, I've only had the motivation to rush through my anki reviews while having lunch. This is strange because prior to my slump I had one of the most productive months in the entirety of my language journey.

How should I get back on the horse, and what are your tips for avoiding slumps/periods of low motivation?

Thank you. 

In my experience these things just take care of themselves.  Sometimes we just go into a slump, but it's always short lived.  

I think you are doing the right thing by doing the minimum and keeping up with reviews.  Stopping reviews would probably be catastrophic as once you stop, it's that much harder to start again.  And it's not as if you are at a complete standstill because you are consolidating your knowledge so you know it better than ever.

[ファブリス]

Imho taking one day off a week is very good for motivation. I always burn out when I don't take days off working on my sites.

If it's SRS reviews, one day off is manageable. I did that when completing Remembering the Kanji.

(2015-11-19, 4:49 pm)yogert909 Wrote: In my experience these things just take care of themselves.  Sometimes we just go into a slump, but it's always short lived.  

I think you are doing the right thing by doing the minimum and keeping up with reviews.  Stopping reviews would probably be catastrophic as once you stop, it's that much harder to start again.  And it's not as if you are at a complete standstill because you are consolidating your knowledge so you know it better than ever.

Thanks for the response, your wisdom feels uplifting.    I would certainly be worse off if I had to deal with a mountain of neglected reviews.

(2015-11-19, 5:58 pm)ファブリス Wrote: Imho taking one day off a week is very good for motivation. I always burn out when I don't take days off working on my sites.

If it's SRS reviews, one day off is manageable. I did that when completing Remembering the Kanji.

Thanks for the feedback! I actually was already in the habit of taking days off lol. During my productive month, I was adding 15 new cards every weekday, and just reviewing on the weekends.

What has made my rut somewhat hard to gauge is that I'm not actually experiencing burn out. I've become stuck in a state where I'm perpetually telling myself I'll make progress tomorrow, and just try not to slip backwards today.

While I'm not depressed, my motivation to learn language has been zapped as if I was.

[ファブリス]

(2015-11-19, 6:18 pm)SunlightUnderWater Wrote: I actually was already in the habit of taking days off lol. During my productive month, I was adding 15 new cards every weekday, and just reviewing on the weekends.

Well for my suggestion a true day off, means on that day you do absolutely ZERO language learning. No adding cards, no reviewing, and you even make a point not to think about it at all, whatsoever until the next day.

(2015-11-19, 8:09 pm)ファブリス Wrote:

(2015-11-19, 6:18 pm)SunlightUnderWater Wrote: I actually was already in the habit of taking days off lol. During my productive month, I was adding 15 new cards every weekday, and just reviewing on the weekends.

Well for my suggestion a true day off, means on that day you do absolutely ZERO language learning. No adding cards, no reviewing, and you even make a point not to think about it at all, whatsoever until the next day.

I get you now.    I can imagine completely abstaining from any language learning for a day would be a good way to hit the reset button on my mentality towards my studies. Thanks for the advice

(2015-11-19, 4:17 pm)SunlightUnderWater Wrote: Anyway, I've been stuck in a rut for a couple months. I've only been doing the bare minimum to ensure that I don't slip backwards.

In addition to the excellent suggestions you've already gotten I found that seeking out new media always gives me a boost in motivation. In particular you might try a media type you've never tried before, for example a magazine with an interesting cover.

I'm also in low motivation.

I usually keep a list of all the things I will do once I get to a certain level like read this novel, watch that anime, play that game etc. then whenever I feel like I'm burning out I go over it or actually try to do some of the things in it just to remind myself that the reason why I study is to get to a point where I can do them effortlessly