Studies on motivations for learning a foreign language, especially in the Chinese context, are few and far between. In this study we investigate the motivation of 128 primary school students aged between 7 and 9 for learning English as a foreign language (EFL). The participants had studied EFL for six months and provided an elicited response about their motivation to learn the language. Our analysis of the 362 metaphors in the data reveals that students were enthusiastic and excited about studying EFL, that they felt happiness, that they were eager about engaging in learning through playing, and that they felt they would attain useful and purposeful outcomes despite acknowledged difficulties.