Yes, a lofty goal can be damaging. Goals are good and bad.
Accept yourself as you are. Imagine yourself as you could be. And further accept yourself as you were, and even accept and love yourself regardless of what could be next.
One reason to discover a language is to grow in this way within.
So I am loathe to adopt too much corporate buzzspeak, but I think we can take some of that as an exercise to critically think about “Goals” when it comes to SLA.
OGSM(T) and SMART are things you may hear and simply ignore, but let’s take them as an exercise on SLA.
My Objective is to become “proficient” in an L2. This is inclusive of Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing and Cultural Knowledge.
To achieve this Objective I set high level Goals in a SMART manner.
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Time-bound
See how each meets those criteria? Great, now we are going to put them on the shelf and sort of forget about them, because people are awful at thinking and acting long term.
Now instead, let’s talk Strategy. My strategy is how I will actually go about this. Not the day-to-day, but things I will do to achieve the high level Objective. Strategy may usually involve projects or initiatives, but in our case most things are a collection of Tactics. So to achieve my Objective, I am going to take the things I know are effective for SLA.
Active Study and Practice, and a lot of Input.
I will use Memrise or Anki to study vocab in sentences.
I will have conversations with native speakers and get feedback.
(I will integrate their feedback.)
I will spend some time echoing/shadowing native speakers.
I will post on Reddit and in Discords with native speakers trying to pass a “Turing test” if you will.
I will read novels of interest to me.
I will listen to podcasts about topics that interest me.
I will watch shows that interest me.
I will learn about the culture and norms.
I will participate in a 90 Day Language Challenge.
Okay, seems like a strategy that will get me somewhere so let us turn into things that are Measures.
Now what are my Tactics. The things I do on a daily basis? (Really this can be things I do daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly or ad-hoc, but we’ll just say daily here.)
Read for a half an hour a day.
Listen to native content for an hour a day.
Active study/practice for a half an hour a day.
Now the trick is, if I do these things on a daily basis, I am naturally building towards my high level goals and objective and I can see how this breaks down on a day-by-day level.
All of this is to say, I do not agree that Goal setting is damaging so long as you do so in a way that is thoughtful. We are on a journey that takes time, a lifetime. There are no shortcuts on the journey. And really what we need to focus on are building habits each and every day. There is also no way to avoid active work, and that’s okay. Best to enjoy it!
Sometimes the cumulative effect in terms of the progress in the language is only discernible over a more extended period. An adequate analogy is a saying in Chinese; just by looking at the mountain, a horse has to run to the extreme on the verge of death to get to the destination. Sometimes we may have to take a detour or even backward when considering the straight distance to the destination. Identifying and acquiring the crucial skills as missing and indispensable pieces would enable one to advance to the next level according to the personal learning style.
I emphasize the areas or skills that need to be reinforced rather than a definite end goal. Another important aspect of language learning is the receptiveness of the content and learning methodology to the learners because we are a critical factor playing a more significant role in the equation. Usually, I devote a specific amount of my time to a particular language skill over one or two weeks besides routine activities, such as minimal pairs, intonation, the different formalities of the language, and distinct grammatical structures that I need more work on. It’s not so strange for me to review the Lingq Mini Stories for Korean at my current word count of 27k, albeit I had never used it when I was at the beginner’s level because I found it unappealing at the time. Reading a book may offer a lot more vocabulary in terms of broadness and density. However, it’s for the very same reason I prefer TV series at a particular stage of learning just because the sparsity of lines and other elements from the movie provides a more friendly ambiance and enables me to absorb the language more efficiently.
It’s okay for me to set up mini-interim goals regarding acquiring fundamental skills in the languages. It will be too much to think about making the best slam dunk if you start as a rookie on the court. If I dream about making interstellar travel after watching the movie would be another story.
Even just by looking at all your lists and numbers and the structure, just suspecting a lot of logic in there—I got a panic attack, forgot my name and the last 1000 known words in both NL and TL! Spare me, I have a family 
As much as I admire those, who can stick to the plan, I’m really scared of you guys, nothin’ can stop you, you all the way up, all the way up! Hope you’ll always have only good measurable goals, not evil measurable ones! ;>
Really your focus should be on the day-to-day :). And because SLA is mostly “solved” you do not need to reinvent the wheel with strategy or anything. Pick something that is known to work, and break it into that smallest piece you can do every day, and so long as you do that, the rest will sort itself out and you can forget everything else written here!
I like to think of us humans (definitely not Chat-GPT3 bots) as a collection of the choices we made for the past 20 years. Am I making the choices today that results in the future me I want? Great, now do it tomorrow too! If not, what do I need to change?
Elon Musk should venture out into this SLA business and come up with an idea of developing language based unique pills. Take these two Japanese pills, German pills before going to sleep and viola even with family you can learn to speak any foreign language fluently in 3 weeks. No need to exercise your brain cells. Easy peasy LOL
or else opt for Steve’s way. Just enjoy the process even if it takes 20 years to reach your goal or move on to the next language before not achieving fluency in any one of them.
In the end, it is an individual choice. Had I not set up a high bar Thanks to Matt vs Japan, I would not have understood conversations effortlessly at shops, at immigration offices, and radio announcements on buses and trains here in Germany.
Almost three years ago my interview for extending my student visa was entirely done in English. Fast forward a couple of weeks ago I was in the same place for the same purpose. This time the whole interview was done in German completely and the immigration officer did not for one minute switched to English and she spoke for 10 minutes nonstop in German.
If I compare myself with my old self, then I have definitely made progress. The same people at 18 months were incomprehensible at one point; now they are fully comprehensible to my ears at 35 months mark.
Processing keeps happening in the background. If the full-throttle intensity is working out, why would you slow it down?
If you already have the habit then you do not need any of this advice :)! In fact, I think for people really enjoying the process, they will eventually reach a point where they do not need to keep track at all. They will just enjoy their lives in new world they adopted. If you are enjoying what you are doing, why “stop” after an hour every day? Just go full throttle forward like you said :).
This “advice” is really geared towards the people that do not know where to start or do not know how to make (or even measure) progress. The oh I wish I was a reader people. The I wish I could play an instrument people. The I wish I could exercise or lose weight people. The way you change that is by simply doing it, or to be a bit less reductive, making new habits for yourself. Habits also do wonders to combat “moods”. When it stops being fun, but you still find it important.
I don’t think you meant it literally, but either way, I don’t think we ever get to ‘level the playing field.’ That’s the scary part - no matter how much we do, it’ll still pale in comparison to what natives have done.
I doubt we can ‘close the gap’ either, as natives just continue getting full time immersion, pretty much until they die. Add in the fact that, in langauge learning, the rich get richer… We’re fighting a losing battle I believe.
We can, of course, improve from zero to something that can ‘hang with’ natives (in most scenarios), but even then we’re still very far from a native’s overall ability. Even that costs us an unbelievalbe amount of our time (as adults), of which the vast majority of us either aren’t willing to, or simply can’t afford to spend.
Chorus:
Learning a new language is hard, that’s a fact,
But if your goals are SMART, you can get on the right track,
It’s achievable, it’s relevant, just take it step by step,
And before you know it, you’ll be speaking with finesse.
Verse 1:
It ain’t easy to learn a new language, so be specific,
But it’s worth it, 'cause the benefits are terrific,
You gotta set goals that are measurable,
Otherwise, you’ll get lost in the struggle.
Chorus:
Learning a new language is hard, that’s a fact,
But if your goals are SMART, you can get on the right track,
It’s achievable, it’s relevant, just take it step by step,
And before you know it, you’ll be speaking with finesse.
Verse 2:
You gotta stay focused on what’s relevant,
Learn the words and phrases that are prevalent,
Immerse yourself in the culture, that’s the key,
And don’t be afraid to make mistakes, you’ll see.
Chorus:
…
Verse 3:
Make your goals measurable, track your progress,
Keep a notebook, write down every success,
Learn a little every day, that’s the way to go,
And don’t forget to practice, it’ll help you grow.
Chorus:
…
Verse 4:
It’s important to set goals that are achievable,
Don’t try to do too much, that’s inconceivable,
Take it one lesson at a time, don’t rush,
And don’t forget to have fun, that’s a must.
Chorus:
…
Verse 5:
Learning a new language is time-bound,
Set a deadline, that’s the way to get around,
Give yourself enough time, but not too much,
And don’t forget to celebrate, when you’re in the clutch.
Chorus:
…
Outro:
Learning a new language takes time and effort,
But with SMART goals, you can reach it, no matter the weather,
Keep your head up, stay motivated and inspired,
And before you know it, your skills will be admired.
So don’t give up, keep pushing, and stay true,
And remember, the most important thing is to enjoy the view,
Learning a new language can open doors you never knew,
So keep on striving, and your dreams will come true.
© GPT