While we all know that plants need good soil, water and sunlight to grow, the amount of water and hours spent under the sun should vary depending on the type. Too much or too little could result in less blooms, meaning all your effort could go to waste.

Colin Baker, the author of A Parents’ and Teachers’ Guide to Bilingualism, compares language learning to gardening. He says that teachers and parents are like gardeners that prepare the soil, plant, water, and care. Growth in languages is greatly promoted by skilful gardeners, but is also affected by the nature of the plant, other flowers in the garden, the changing in environment, and shifting language climates.

Together, we need to build a good base (soil), and to work on improving our language skills constantly (water and sun), not too much, not too little. 

However, there usually comes a point in the language learning process when we don’t feel motivated enough or we aren’t seeing any results (yet) and we haven’t been seeing them in a while. If you can relate, just know that it is perfectly ok to take a break. A week or two won’t do any harm. Or you could try a different language learning method. You could do something other than the course. There are so many ways to improve your language skills. Change the water. 🙂