I've been studying Russian language forever (since I was a kid), and I'm terrible at it. However, a few years ago I was finally able to articulate to myself why it was important to me that I had this language and I was finally able to develop strong intrinsic motivations. I'm long past the time where my mom gives a shit if I know it or not, and her generation of the family never spoke the language anyway.
With my own motivation I made huge gains in the past few years, but now I've kinda hit a wall. Progress is minimal, and it's a little boring. I'm trying to crowdsource some advice.
As I'm writing this I'm realizing my plateau coincided with my work schedule changing and I lost the opportunity to have a weekly Russian conversation with two of my friends.
People on the telegram suggested watching a movie you're really familiar with in the target language. Obvs the best way is conversational connections, but that's not accessible to everyone.