Hi. I'm a person who is addicted to learning foreign languages. :) I've found myself interested in learning them about 4-5 years ago. I'd been studying English for about 16 years in different schools and I wasn't able to use this language. Because they used to teach us many different rules and structures. While being in high school I decided to go to a language school and try to improve my skills. We were using just English during classes and outside of it and after some months I could understand many things and I could finally use this language. So it definitely helped me a lot. I think that grammar is an unnecessary thing which should be learned subconsciously. Many people think that it is the most important thing to be fluent in grammar because it is the fundamental part of any language.

So in my opinion this is the main reason people give up on learning languages.. They try to know every single structure and rule but they can't use their knowledge in daily situations. And then when they find it out they're upset and they slowly start to give up on making progress. "It's not the language but the speaker that we want to understand." and "To learn any foreign language first you need to fall in love with it." The second quote is a very important thing.. If (as you said) you're in love with a language you are studying and you've got a zeal to learn then it is more likely you'll be inspired enough and you'll quickly see results.

Sorry for a long message, but when I start to write I cannot stop. :D

Hope I helped and sorry for my mistakes.

I know lots of people who say "I learned a language in High school but I could never speak it and have forgotten all the grammar" and ask me how I speak 3 foreign languages. I tell them high school classes are usually the WORST place (at least in the United States) to learn a language because all your doing is learning grammar rules out of a book.

They ask me what I mean and I say, "remember when you were a kid and you learned how to ride a bike?" They say, "yeah..."

I say, "You did that by reading BOOKS about the theories of balance and gravity, right?"

At this point they look at me like I'm nuts and say, "No, of course not!"

I nod and say, "Exactly. Riding a bike is a physical skill so you need to get on the bike and RIDE or you'll never learn how. Speaking a language is the same thing: a physical skill. You need to open your mouth and SPEAK or you'll never learn how and high school classes don't give you that opportunity."

People don't tend to think of languages as something you physically have to practice, they think it's all theory. They have this mindset when they go to learn a language, can't figure out why they're not improving with theory alone, get frusterated and all the passion goes away and they quit.

Sad but true.

I, of course, story of my life, do not agree with most people here. I like these exams. They set a fixed goal for your studying. And I very much like the analytic reading questions. They are just little puzzles. And an exam score is unbiased, clear. Also I think one just sometimes has to cram information, and one has to be hard on ones selves. Life cannot always be fun, and neither can language learning be that. I never give up anything. I only temporarily gave up learning Korean because of a job shift and I am not going as much to Korea anymore as before. People who give up are just softies. Be tougher on yourself. Be more critical towards your own level. Work harder, and don;t be a wimp.

In short, it's too hard to keep yourself motivated for a long period. People give up as they don't have enough motivation to fight with obstacles during a language learning. Learning a language it is a way long process and the key is to find a good reasons to raise your interest into a language.

I absolutely agree with Monika. The rules of a language many times make it a boring learning. That's why the better method is to try to learn like a children, this is, progressively and in immersion. The time and practice will bring improving and a consistent learning. The rules and grammar are also important, of course, but the focus need to be the learning for pleasure and not a hard and boring moment.