Five reasons to set a language learning goal
Having a goal in mind can help push you some of the tough times of learning a language
Learning a language is no easy task so it helps to have an idea of where you’re going and what you’re going to do. Below are five reasons to have a think about your language learning goals.
1. A goal will help you on track over a longer period of time. Eg, if your goal is to have a conversation with a native speaker in one year, how can you break this goal down into manageable chunks to work on everyday? One way to create a workable method is to begin making short speeches on your own, either in front of a mirror or just aloud. You can record these for your own records to gauge if you are getting better according to your own pace.
2. A goal will help you keep motivated. Many times throughout the language learning journey we'll feel like we don't want to do something, but having a goal will help us "check the box" on our way to accomplishing our goals. Remembering the long term in the short term will help us pick up that textbook, open the APP, or recite the conjugations even when we don’t want to.
3. A goal will give you focus. There are a lot of materials out there and it's tempting to scroll through the APP store to see what the latest and greatest trends are, but will that help you achieve your goal? Picking a goal (and one APP!) and sticking to it will do more than finding yet another APP to download. Try to commit to an APP or program for at least six weeks before deciding whether or not it’s working.
4. A goal will make things “non-negotiable”. If we don't have a goal or a schedule in place to make those goals happen, then oftentimes we'll succumb to our feelings of the moment. By having a set of goals to hit, we will be able to make “non-negotiable” time slots for our language studies which will help us achieve our larger goals. Much like a work meeting, having a goal to complete a task within a given period of time, be it fifteen minutes, a day, a week or more, will help us decide what is necessary to do right now and what can wait (such as looking up yet another recipe for baking cookies.)
5. It makes things easier! Trying to learn a language bit by bit, here and there, doesn't always lead up to a good result. As a result, having a goal to achieve can help put us through those times when we need to focus on the present perfect something or other verb conjugation + declension mashup.
Some goals to think about:
Having a conversation with a native or naturalized speaker (2-3 minutes, 5 minutes, etc.)
Giving a presentation
Making a YouTube video
Writing an essay for school
Writing an email without using a dictionary
Creating an advertising campaign for a product you like to use
Be able to read a full page of text and only using the dictionary six times
Being able to write without looking up the character (eg, in Mandarin)
Remember the subject+verb agreement in inflected languages (eg, French, Ukrainian)
Understanding what your colleagues are saying about you!
Any more?
And there you have it, five reasons for setting up some goals in your language studies. Now, make some goals and start checking the boxes to get them done!
-Steve