Motivations for Learning English as an Adult

The trend of learning a foreign language, especially English became quite popular as soon as people understood that knowing more than one language can open up wider opportunities for them. From then on, language schools and tutoring have become quite well-spread. As a result, there are globally very many adult learners of foreign languages and English is on the top lines. So, what motivates adults to learn English? Let’s look at some factors that play an important role here.

— Travel

Learning a new language creates new possibilities for people to travel and learn more about the world. They are not restrained by the language barrier, can socialize in a new culture, ask for directions, order at a restaurant and feel good about themselves. It’s much more interesting than carrying a dictionary with you, learning a couple of keywords and phrases and gesturing around to make yourself understood.

— Globalization

It’s not a secret that English is the language of globalization. Everything is happening in English, international conferences and events are held in English, computer language is, well, basically English, many countries in the world have English as their state or at least second mandatory language, etc. Hence, knowing the language brings you closer to the world and whatever’s happening there.

— New contacts

Knowing English helps you create and maintain relations with people from different countries and nationalities. It widens your contact list, creates more opportunities for personal and professional development, acquiring leads that can later help you in your job or business, etc. This also makes you feel more of a wide-scoped person if we can so, granting you a wider scope of worldview.

— Business

If you know English, it will surely make you look more attractive to prospective employers. We know that businesses are trying to employ people who know more than one language, can communicate for business needs, negotiate and sell to foreign clients, make the business more presentable and modern. It will increase your promotional opportunities and pave the path of climbing a better career ladder.

— Self-development

Other than the extrinsic motivation, we cannot fail but mention that some people learn just because they want to, they want to enrich their knowledge and worldview, become more educated, etc. This, probably, is the best motivator, as intrinsic motivation always works better than the outside factors. It is more stable and constant.

We should probably also state that adults are not always self-motivated to learn. Sometimes, it’s just their employer who wants them to level up, sometimes they just need to study for a test, etc. In these cases, it’s very important to help the learners find the motivation they need to learn better. All the aspects mentioned above can help, however, making learning more enjoyable and fun is the best way to encourage the learners to participate in the classes and register progress. How to do it? — We’ll talk about it next time.