I think that intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy are very important aspects. This last as a ability to reach goals and to use effectively strategies and resources learned in previous educational experiencies.

Full immersion. Having to buy food in the foreign country.

Social links.

Dear mayra and ian,

thank you very much for your opinions. In my opinion, the learner who learns a foreign language in his/her country and doesn't have a chance of full immersion will be most successful if he/she is gifted, ambitious , hard-working and also - biolobically strong enough to "win" in the sense of being the first in the competition which is always present when people are being educataed. What do you think of 'being biologically strong or "resilient"?

Janina, I think that intrinsic motivation as well as student-teacher relationships are significant. you may see the following paper, its about coach-athlete relationships, but you can changes and modified it in your project:

Mageau GA, Vallerand RJ. The coach-athlete relationship: A motivational model. Journal of Sport Sciences. 2003;21:883–904.

You may also see the instructions of Constraints-Led Approach for creating the best environment for learning classes, like Teaching Games For Understanding (TGFU).

Best wishes

You're welcome Janina. Yes, I think resilience is relevant to many learning subjects too. Being biologically strong enough to persist, being ready to continue after making a mistake and "race new challenges".

One of the prerequisites is the verbal behavior developmental cusp/capability of incidental language learning (called Naming in some literatures. This highlights the sources of the learned conditioned reinforcers (intrinsic stimulus control from experiences or direct conditioning).

Self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation terms do not supply the mechanisms of experience that make these constructs possible. There i.e. a body of research that does do that.

R.Greer thank you very much for disclosing your views of behavioural approach to the issue of attaining success in autonomus foreign language learning . I admit - they are absolutely new to me. So far I've been reading about "ambition fulfillment", "self-fullfillment' as the main powers of making a successful learner.

Behzad behzadnia -it's very interesting that you mention a "coach", similarly to sports. I agree with you that a successful teacher shoud be like a coach for the autonomous foreign language learner. I'll take advantatage of the sources you mention. Many thanks to you for your voice in the discussion.

There are many things that make a successful learner in autonomous learning of a foreign language.I believe ambition , hard-working, and incentives can make a successful learner.

In addition to many things the others have already mentioned, let me stress one very important factor: LISTEN (be it in person, or online or on TV or radio) to NATIVE speakers of the language you learn from the very beginning in order to minimize the foreign accent while speaking the language in question.

Thank you Artur for reminding this very old but sometimes forgotten rule of learning a foreign language through any kind of listening.