It’s that time of year, I haven’t posted because I’ve been busy studying languages:). The following is my language learning plan for 2018 with a bit of personal insight. Please share your plan and/or goals, your accounts will give me extra motivation. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask. About me: I have a family, full time job, love to travel and train BJJ and still manage to consistently study foreign languages ~4 hours daily:
Language Plan for 2018:
Arabic (60-90 minutes daily) - This is my target language. I already completed Pimsleur Egyptian Arabic level 1 twice. I have travel to the region and managed to have some basic conversations. My main resource is Rocket Language Egyptian Arabic and once I complete it, I will move on to Glossika Egyptian Arabic. There was a DLI study that concluded that students who started with a dialect performed better in MSA then vice-versa. I haven’t tested but A1 currently would be a solid self assessment. My goal will be B1 by the end of the year and to be able to conduct a meaningful conversation that flows. Instead of studying MSA next year, I will give my Egyptian Arabic a Fusha flavor…This british guy YouTube channel “Arabic with Sam” teaches just that!
German (20 minutes) - I completed Pimsleur levels 1-3 and the first 30 lessons of Assimil. My main resource will be LingQ, I will simply read & listen everyday and see where I’m at at the end of the year. I attempted to speak it while in Germany and with friends in the US but I have a long way to go. I haven’t tested but A2 currently would be realistic self-assessment.
French (30 minutes) - I completed Pimsleur levels 1-5, Assimil, private lessons and studied alot via GLOSS; tested B2 but need alot more speaking practice. My main resource will be LingQ, I will simply read & listen everyday and speak as much as possible to anyone. I’m on the hunt for a consistent language partner (1hr per week).
Macedonian (30 minutes) - I have been studying this language on/off for ages but because it is a minority languages, it has been hard to find resources & people to practice. Based on feedback from native speakers, I’m fluent (B2). My main resource will be to read & listen on LingQ and speak with a languages partner 1 hr per week.
Spanish (15 minutes) - I have tested C1 and I’m a native speaker…lol, that exam was extremely difficult, I believe foreigners will test better:). Anyways, LingQ is my main resource, I will read & listen and speak to friend and family. My opinion is that even your native language can atrophy if you don’t read and try to expand your vocabulary. I will dedicate 15 minutes to improving daily.
Chinese (15 minutes) - I completed Pimsleur level 1 and fell in love with this language. I already have basic conversation with natives at local restaurants and this language (Mandarin) is so much fun (I like the rhythm). My main resource will be to read Pinyin and listen alot at LingQ.
Portuguese (15 minutes) - I started ~2 weeks ago and at 15 minutes daily, I’m progressing fairly quickly. I have been studying BJJ for over 10 years and I have trained in Brazil so it only seems natural to learn it. I even had some basic conversations a couple of days ago. I just want to continue exposure and see where I’m at by year’s end.
Serbian (20 minutes) - I’m using Glossika GSR files as my main resource. I have experience with Slavic languages so it all seems familiar to me. We’ll see where 134 hours gets me.
Notable mentions:
1 - I studied Russia to a C1 level many years ago. Maybe I will revive in 2019.
2 - I’m currently reading a book in English titled “Balkans”.
3 - I studied Italian in college and sucked, now that I know how to learn languages, I will try again maybe in 2019, I don’t want to confuse my Portuguese studies
4 - Romanian is such an interesting romance language but don’t want to confuse my Portuguese Studies
5 - I tested B1 in Bulgarian (reading/listening), I can’t speak it but that was encouraging (benefit of studying Macedonian)
Wow, that’s really ambitious! But it sounds like you have the time, so go for it!
For me, I want to get to Russian someday, as well as French, but I’m moving and undertaking some non-langauge projects right now. Once I get a new iPad and am all settled (early in 2018), I’m going to do another 90 Day Challenge for Spanish to finally get over Advanced Level 3 (33,200 known words). I would like to get to 2 million words of reading as well.
Because I can’t do that hardcore reading right now, I’m just watching Spanish TV shows. My goal for “listening” in this way is to get to 600 hours. I’m at 554 right now. What I may do is start the series Velvet on NetFlix once I get rolling on all this. Even if I do 1.5 hours a day of learning, I might watch an epsiode a day as a reward.
Then I might might finally get to Don Quijote. I’ve had it LingQed up for years, just waiting to tackle it. I might do that before I start a new language project.
Trying to get a little advice on time here…Do you, jrdking, spend all 4 hours at once - like in the morning? Or, alternatively, do you split your day up into segments, perhaps dealing with one language at a time. I will not be doing any other languages except spanish at the moment, but I am curious as to how you are daily going to go about it.
Good luck with your endeavours. I suppose for me it will be to continue to trot down the path of Germanic languages and start to take my first steps into Dutch, and Scandinavian languages. I will have to also probably read a lot in French and Spanish so I don’t lose them and will also be looking into Italian as Italian is for me the one that got away.
That’s an insane plan jrdking! Good luck! In theory I have the time for 4 hours of language learning a day, but I never even approach that. Maybe 2018 is the year that I really commit and go hard.
My ‘plan’ for the year is pretty much the same as always, which is to go back and forth between a few languages without mastering one, and then to regret it later on. More specifically for 2018, Portuguese is my big focus and given that I’ll be spending about 7 months in Portugal/Brazil in 2018 without working, I really have no excuse not to get to 30,000 words. I’ll also be going to Spain twice, as well as Bolivia and Paraguay, so while I’m in those countries I’ll switch over to Spanish, which is already my best language but still has plenty of room for improvement. I also might spend a couple of weeks in Italy so I’ll refresh my Italian while I’m there.
Ambitious goals jrdking. Pushing me to try to increase the amount of study I do even if I don’t have that much more time to spend.
I heard letting other people know your goals might be bad for the odds of succeeding. I find reading these kinds of threads motivating though so hopefully that negates that.
Goals for 2018:
Increase the korean input.
Complete hanja level 8-3 (currently at level 5).
Started studying Italian a few days ago and I want to keep that going all through 2018.
I still have English to learn but I thought that it was time to add another language. Now, during 2018 I’ll be using Linqg, than ever before, to learn Russian. Russian from nada.
The next language I would like to learn will be Japanese, there is a reason for that - ouss!
IMO there’s no significant difference between stick with your goals for yourself or tell others - the most relevant is your attitude toward your goal. For example, Steve told us that he will learn Arabic, does anyone doubt that he will not?
Usually, year-end promises and changes of “bad” habits are very vague (I’m going to lose weight, I’m going to exercise more, and so on). What I read is that to change a “bad” habit you need to put another “good” in place.
Our brain spends a lot of energy and learned how to “save” by letting the activities run on automatic. The classic example is driving: at first you have to think a lot, but then everything goes “automatic”. Therefore, it is more effective to put yourself to do the “right” thing until it is automatic for you. For example, read Korean from 10pm until 11pm every day. To lose weight, understand that what makes you fat is your lack of control over what you eat. Changing quantity and quality over the weeks / months will therefore be more beneficial. However, what most are looking for are crazy diets with quick results and in the long run end up fattening everything again.
In other words, when setting a new goal, create a consistent plan to achieve its result; be realistic and deal with adversity, this is effective.
Nice plan and you really motivate me to spend considerably more time on learning languages here on lingq.
My main aims for 2018 are Greek, Portuguese and Russian.
As for Greek I mostly import newspaper articles these days and try to learn this vocabulary so that I will be able to read newspapers also away from lingq later. Apart from lingq I l learn Greek on mondlylanguages, memrise and now I have ordered a textbook (Ellinika A’ : Methodos ekmathisis tis ellinikis os ksenis glossas) with 2 CD. I want to order the next part Ellinika B’ : Methodos ekmathisis tis ellinikis os ksenis glossas´ later.
Portuguese is the language I have started recently but it is similar to Spanish, and to some extent also to French and Italian which I already speak so this is not difficult to learn. By the end of the year I want to achieve a level where I will be able to write in Portuguese at least about everyday matters with native speakers.
I had studied Russian for many years at school but then in life never used it so this is rather kind of revising the language.
I will also continue to listen and read English and French because I really like material available here on lingq for these languages and I want to master these languages as perfectly as possible.
Italian and Spanish are on hold at least as far as lingq is concerned but I plan to concentrate on them again especially in case I will be planning a trip to either of these countries.
To me it makes sense, I don’t feel like it affects me, but I think it might do subconsciously. The results are most definitely not 100% in line with the conclusion, just on average. You might be less affected or not affected at all.
As for the example with Steve I’m not sure it fully applies (maybe it does?) he is definitely putting himself on the spot in contrast to just stating goals in a forum thread with no follow up on the progress by others. It is also hard to evaluate as we will never know how his progress would have been had he not mentioned his plans.
I don’t want to stray away more from what TS intended so I’ll leave the discussion with this message.
I split up my time based on windows of opportunity throughout the day. This is easier during the work week because I have a routine. During the weekend or while on vacation, I ensure to be mentally present with my family and not be on headphones listening to languages. Also, I either go to the gym or train BJJ in the morning therefore, I will not get up extra early to study languages but I will stay up late. Here is my routine during the week:
Wake up 5:30
Gym/Training 6-7
Arabic 30 minutes on the commute to work
Serbian & German ~35 minutes during lunch
Arabic 30 minutes on the commute home
After dinner French/Macedonian 60 minutes (back to back)
Mandarin, Portuguese, Spanish back to back ~45 minutes around 10 pm
Review Arabic flashcards last 15 minutes before going to bed at 11
If I’m running to the store, doing chores around the house etc, I will use this time to listening to the languages that I have a strong proficiency in (Spanish, Macedonia & French)
My weekend plan looks nothing like that, this is when I speak with language partners or private lessons, no time during the week
I attended DLI many years ago and studied almost 10 hours daily, this helped with my mental dexterity but without motivation, it’s almost impossible. I started this plan 2 weeks ago to see if it’s realistic and so far I’ve been consistent…time will tell.
Wow, your travel plans for 2018 is amazing and motivating! Nothing like being immersed in the culture. Im building a good base in many languages in preparation for when I retire so I can do more hardcore traveling:)
Yes, I read the same thing about goal sharing :). The key for me is motivation and I will keep referring to motivational post like yours to keep me going. I occasionally watch videos or read articles about Polyglots to get language learning ideas but more importantly motivation. I found an article about this Canadian Hyperpolyglot Axel van Goud (he is featured in a hyperpolyglot video with Steve Kaufman & others) who maintains 22 language to speaking proficiency and is learning more…I think to myself, what’s my excuse…lol
For example I lived in Korea and travel there on occasion but just haven’t had the motivation to learn it.
You actually made a great point which is the accountability of your goals. For me personally, I will actually take a test (and already have for some) to measure my progress and can ofcourse share those results. But I have no issue with speaking to a person in the languages that we share. I’m currently in search of a French native speaker for speaking practice :).
Thank you. By the way in the future I would like to learn Arabic too, completely from scratch. I have been just looking for resources (textbooks with CDs) and Living languages complete Arabic seems good. It includes also 9 CD. But maybe there are also some other, better?
