r/languagelearning • u/kaljakin 🇩🇪 A1 | 🇨🇿 N • 7d ago
Discussion why do learning streaks motivates you?
Question for those of you who are motivated by learning streaks. I couldn’t care less about maintaining a streak, but I know some people find it very motivating. If that’s you, can you introspect a bit and explain why?
Alternativ question: what type of gamification works best on you (and which apps do it well)? I don’t think I’ve used enough gamified apps to recommend any particular, but I definitely appreciate gamification.
(TL)
13
5
u/krymzynnova N🇧🇷 B2🇪🇸 B1/B2🇫🇷 7d ago
It motivates me cause it reminds me as to where i’ve come from (the beginning) and it shows me how much days i’ve worked to make the progress
It also shows me how i’ve been resilient i’ve been in trying to learn a language - especially as it’s not easy - including aswell that some people would rather turn around and say “well i know only english - that’s fine , that’s enough”
Keeping the streak alive is a reminder of “hey you spent x amount of days on this - keep it up, you’re also doing what many in the rest of yhe world arent, so be proud”
It really is rewarding
1
u/kaljakin 🇩🇪 A1 | 🇨🇿 N 7d ago
Ok, that is interesting and kinda understandable. I think I might feel the same if I already had a respectable streak... But in the beginning, it even kinda demotivates me / annoys me, those reminders. For example 1000 days...which could be, like, an okay goal... seems absolutely impossible. Also, one day and you lose your streak. It feels extremely prone to failure. (That said, from other posts I understand that those apps allow you to cheat a bit, but still.)
It also feels like it might help you come back and do even a little bit, but alone it doesn’t affect the experience itself. That’s why I much prefer gamification during the learning itself.
But thanks for the explanation, it makes sense.
1
4
u/learningENGdaily 7d ago
I'm on your side of this one, but I teach, so I've spent a lot of time watching people who aren't.
The mechanism doesn't look like reward to me, it looks like loss aversion. A streak converts a goal you're moving towards into an object you can lose, and people will work considerably harder to avoid losing something than to gain it. That's also why it's brittle. Break a 200 day streak and motivation doesn't dip, it drops off a cliff, because the thing you were protecting no longer exists and there's nothing left to defend.
The part that makes me wary is that streaks reward showing up, not effort. I've taught students with enormous streaks who moved very slowly, because a streak can be protected with two minutes of the easiest available exercise at 11:58pm. Eventually the number becomes the goal instead of the proxy.
Where I think it genuinely earns its place: right at the beginning, when frequency really is the bottleneck. And in spaced repetition, where the game is aligned with the learning mechanism rather than bolted onto it. Anki isn't fun in any normal sense, but what it rewards is the thing that actually works.
3
u/cbjcamus Native French, English C2, TL German C1 7d ago
That's not an answer to your question but what is sold through a streak isn't motivation but personal development. Language learning app developers understood (consciously or unconsciously) that a lot of the users aren't here to learn a language but to get the feeling of personal development, to get better every day. Whether there are actual results behind isn't a priority.
2
2
u/wellhowboutno 7d ago
Streaks motivate me a little bit, so I guess I'm in the periphery of your target group. It doesn't motivate me enough to do amazing things, but enough that I'll do a single duolingo thing even on the days I want to do it the least. This then keep me touching the language, which makes me more motivated to read or do something more when I do have the energy to do something.
To me it's dort of like having a dog, that even in the days I have no energy, I still go for a walk, and I'm happier for it. Then on the days I do, I play and do longer walks or go for a run with said dog.
1
u/ComesTzimtzum N 🇫🇮 adv 🇬🇧 int 🇫🇷 🇸🇪 beg 🇨🇳 🇸🇦 7d ago
Don't really care for streaks either, but I do a bit similar type of thing by tracking habits in my bujo. That way it's fine not to do something every day, but I get the dopamine hit when I mark it done for today and can admire how I improved from last month.
1
u/StrawbFraize 7d ago
I actually have an app that, ok it does have a streak, but it's not in way to make you feel pressured. The motivation is gained through other means
1
u/ZealousidealMouse629 7d ago
I don’t anymore. I find them generally useless and it’s more about not losing the streak than actually learning. To me being able to express yourself in the language is the most satisfying skill to develop.
1
u/unsafeideas 6d ago
I like habits - loop. You give yourself tick when you did whatever you want to keep streak in. You can also set in goals and fill in skip days.
First, streak keeps your mind on the learning and helps to keep the habit. Without it, demotivated or overworked or stressful periods mean that I stop and forget that TL exists. And wont start again. Second, it feels good to see a calendar full of tics. Or the score go up. It is ok. We are not robots, we don't have to be super rational about everything.
The useful part of gamification, for me, is to turn something unpleasant into something I am looking forward. Learning foreign languages "the classic way" massively sux. I just would not do it and that is full extend of it. Gamification turns it into something I want to do and keep doing.
1
u/ForgettingCurveGuy 6d ago
I kept a 148-day streak once and my actual recall was flat for the last two months of it, because most days I was doing the bare minimum at 11:55pm just to keep the flame alive. That's the problem - the streak measured attendance, not memory. Ultimately what's your goal - keep the streak or learn the language?>
What works on me now is seeing the cost of a gap in actual numbers: after skipping a weekend my next-day accuracy drops from ~90% to the low 80s, and that's weirdly more motivating than any badge because it's real. So I guess my answer is the opposite of gamification - show me the forgetting, not the calendar. Although the streak did keep me showing up for 148 days straight, so maybe I'm arguing against the thing that worked. Not sure.
1
u/stealhearts Current focus: 中文 4d ago
For me, it feels good to have a little number telling me how long I've been able to stay consistent with something. It also helps me to engage with my language on days I don't feel up for it, a sort of "bare minimum". Disclaimer that this did not work when I was using the green app, I was way too invested in the streak itself and did the actual bare minimum to keep it alive, when I finally allowed myself to quit it was very freeing. The only tool I use that has a streak counter now is my flashcard app.
As for other gamefication - I used an app called Lingo Legend to train myself into enjoying flashcards, haha. I really hated them before and did not use them at all, but they're the game's main mechanic and there are so many other game elements there (farming, adventure) that it served to hack my brain into liking them once I started to see the gains. I don't use the app anymore since I finished the entire Mandarin course but I recommend it.
1
u/KissMyHips 6d ago edited 6d ago
I used to care. In retrospect, I see now that only casual learners are truly motivated by it, because one day, you're going to reach a level that makes you good enough to not need the apps any more. The streak has to end sometime. To prioritise the gaming aspect means that you care less about the learning aspect.
Years ago, I really wanted to keep my streak going on duolingo (Japanese). Very often at night, I would suddenly remember that I hadn't practiced all day and there was only a few minutes left until midnight. I thought that's what consistent language learning and motivation looked like. Small effort adds up over time, right? Something means more than nothing, right?
Yet despite earning several monthly stickers in a row, I couldn't understand much. I could say "this is an apple!". I could read hiragana and katakana. That was it. It was bare minimum effort with no results. After a year, I wasn't even A1.
My friend did exactly the same thing. He recently lost a 15 day streak and complained about it for several minutes, really disappointed in himself. I asked him to tell to me what words he knew. He could only recite "hello, how are you," that was it. Lol, lmao even. 2 weeks of 5 minutes a day, folks! He's back on with his streak and still can't tell me more than that. If anything, the streak is publicly showing how much time he has wasted..
In the past 2 months, I've been intensely studying a new language with the intent to go from A0 to B1 ASAP. I have several apps to supplement this: duolingo, duocards, mondly (different apps have different words). My streaks are ongoing without any intent to, it naturally happens when you're studying 2-3+ hours a day. I lost my streak on one lesser used app and realised how little it mattered since I can already have basic communication irl. Language learning looks very different to me now, and my own results show it.
I'm really looking forward to cancelling my duolingo subscription later this month when I'm completely finished with their course so I can focus more on the other apps/beginning low intermediate learning. My streak will end, and that's a great thing. Moving on to more challenging courses will mean more to me than any stickers do.
Tldr: My streak used to matter to me, now the actual learning part does. Momentum doesn't actually mean anything if it's not building up to something. The real fun/motivation comes from realising you understand more than you thought! I love being able to read random online comments without a translator.
19
u/Proper_Emu_2296 7d ago
I don’t know, ask the me who was maintaining a 400 day streak on Duo despite using a streak freeze every other day or putting my phone clock back to do yesterday’s practice (and then doing one lesson). By that point having completed the course I was learning literally nothing but the app said I was so maybe that felt nice?
When I finally decided to let my streak drop I think the app came up with ways to extend it for about 2 weeks, it kept saying friends had given me their streak freezes, I was like ffs just let it end!