I like learning languages, i know german, but i want to keep going! So i decided Japanese because its a very cool place and i would love to visit some day but sometimes i look at my lesson and think “bleh i don’t feel like it” How do i motivate myself to do it without making it feel like a chore?
If a lesson gets the "I don't feel like it" reaction, then there's probably something wrong with it. Too many new terms, too many questions, too many schedules, uninteresting words, and so on.
I'd advise you to look at your schedules critically and figure out what exactly about them makes you demotivated. And then remove it by changing settings
Daily lessons should be fun and easy enough that you'll be able to do them when sick and with a high fever. Anything above that you can do on your good days, but for consistency's sake, the bare minimum should be just that--minimum.
I can only tell you what motivates me. I watched Secret of the silent witch. Since the anime isn‘t finished, I read the light novel. Until I found out that not everything is tranlated to english, much less german yet. I do not want to wait years for the translation so that I can finish reading it. It will be faster to „just“ learn reading japanese.
The best motivation for me is that I can understand anime that are not translated into German better and more freely. I also think that Japanese is a very interesting and elegant language, and when you're in Japan, you will be able to speak with them and read like dinner menus without a translator. It would also make me proud to speak this language, and no one else in my family and school would understands it.
i've felt like that and i decided to go to 本の検索 - にほんごたどく (a bunch of japanese books) and find an easy book to translate a few words to get the idea. あれは何？ - にほんごたどく(the first book i read, very simple vocab and grammer just translate a few words as words are commonly repeated again in this book) hope this helps!
Similar to what the others said, think of some benefits you want from learning the language. Is it to travel or read menus without a translator or even to watch or read your faveroite manga or watch anime? It can be as simple as making new friends somewhere else too.
Figuring out why you are studying can help keep your motivation. And the reasons can change all the time. At first it was to travel and order food for me before changing it to getting confident enough to step into a ramen jiro (technically described as a ramen cult with small sizes being x2 of your typical ramen and it's an eat and get out ASAP with unspoken rules and etiquette) without getting flustered or using cheat cards.
