Staying motivated is the biggest challenge for advanced learners of Mandarin.

Connecting with other language learners is a great way to solve that problem. Having an accountability partner is a forcing function when you want to give up.

And it brings discipline.

What's the best way to get the most of out of having an accountability partner, and stay motivated? Try these 5 rules:

1. Be clear about goals. It's important to agree what you are trying to get out of the partnership: How do you measure success?

2. Share goals in public. There's nothing like making a public statement to keep you going when times are tough. This can be on social media, with friends, in WeChat groups.

3. Make it a habit. Agree a weekly or monthly session to meet at the same time and place (on or offline). Put it in the diary. Set a reminder. Diarise your prep time too.

4. Agree the content. Remove the friction of choice by agreeing source material and topics ahead of meetings. Ideally, focus on one source or theme until you've found a rhythm.

5. Measure progress. Agree metrics to measure your progress and score yourself at the start. Check-in every 3 months and measure by the same metrics. A sense of progress brings momentum, which drives improvement.

What's your experience?

How have language accountability partnerships helped you stay motivated and improve your language skills as an advanced learner of Chinese?