This time last year, I set some language learning goals for 2017.
Some went better than planned.
Others went horribly wrong.
Which made me wonder: why did some goals keep me motivated right up to the finish line, while others got relegated to the bottom of my to-do list, behind more important activities like reading BuzzFeed or staring out the window with my finger up my nose?
Looking back, I found something interesting: the successful goals had 3 basic principles in common.
And, just as importantly, in the goals that bombed, at least 1 of these 3 principles was missing.
In this article, I’ll share these 3 important keys to setting successful language learning goals, so you can use them to achieve more in your own language learning goals this year.
Let’s start by looking at the language learning goals that went well last year, and why.
Language learning goals I smashed in 2017
Have a 15-minute conversation in Mandarin Chinese
At the beginning of 2017, I did the Add1Challenge, an online language programme where you learn as much as you can in 90 days, with the aim of having a 15-minute conversation with a native speaker at the end. In this challenge, I studied Mandarin for around 1 hour a day and managed to stick to it most days.
Here’s my level when I started the challenge.
And here I am having a conversation with my Mandarin tutor 3 months later. I did 45-minutes in the end, and I’m pleased with how the challenge went.
Pass the boss level Italian exam
Another goal was to pass the highest-level Italian language exam (C2 in the Common European Framework). I took it in June and passed.
Become fluent in French
Back in July, I gave myself 5 months to become fluent in French. I already had intermediate-level, so I wanted to break past the intermediate plateau and reach advanced level. As a way of measuring my progress, I decided to take one of the highest level French language exams (DALF) at the end of November.
Great news… I just found out that I passed!
I got 83% overall. The pass mark is 50% so that’s a pretty good result. I’ll write a post with more details in January.
Go on a language adventure
Another goal was to go on a language learning adventure abroad.
Back in August, I caught the bus over to the south of France and tried to speak French the whole time. This was mostly successful, apart from a couple of exceptions, like spending the first week in an antisocial Airbnb where I struggled to find people to chat to, and when my Italian other half Matteo came to visit for a week. Although I still managed to practice French as Matteo’s learning French too so we ended up speaking Fritalian (a mixture of French and Italian).
The last 2 weeks went well because I found an Airbnb with a really sociable French host and met some lovely people via Couchsurfing. I even manage to make a few friends who I communicate with entirely in French and have been back to visit since.
3 easy steps for setting language learning goals
Why were those 4 goals successful? Looking back, I discovered that they shared 3 basic principles.
1. Choose a clear, short-term deadline.
In the case of the #add1challenge, this was the end of the challenge. For Italian and French, it was the exam date.
2. Focus on one goal at a time
When I started my French mission, I was trying to do 5 things at once, but I wasn’t doing any of them well (or enjoying any of them). So I sacked everything else off and decided to focus exclusively on French.
This worked really well: I became more focused and had more time to dedicate to learning French, so I made better progress. I watched and read more stuff in French, and increased the time I spent chatting to native French speakers online via italki. Doing this, I felt more immersed in French culture, which made the whole process more rewarding.
3. Make it a habit
For each of these goals, I made sure that I set up some strategic language learning routines.
This means that I decided when and where I was going to learn a language each day and tried my hardest to actually stick to it. I didn’t always manage, but I frequently did, and that was enough to make progress over time.
Here are some examples of the habits I got into:
- Set aside a specific time every day to work towards my language learning goals.
- Listen to foreign language podcasts as I go about my day.
In January, I’ll post a tutorial on how to build effective habits for language learning. In the meantime, you can learn more about the routines I set up for each language in these posts:
- How I learned Chinese without leaving the house
- How I’m becoming fluent in French (from my living room)
Language learning goals I slacked off on
Looking at these 3 principles, the reasons I failed to meet my other goals are now obvious. Let’s look at the language learning goals that didn’t work and why:
Read loads of Italian books
I’ve got a big pile of Italian books that I’ve been wanting to read for years, so last year I set myself the goal of reading them.
But somehow I just didn’t get around to it.
I kept telling myself I’d start tomorrow until it got to October. But by October I realised it was too late, so I gave up completely.
Keeping in mind our 3 principles, there are 2 reasons this language learning goal failed:
The deadline wasn’t short enough
My deadline was a year away, which made it very easy to keep telling myself that I’d “start tomorrow”. It would’ve been more effective to break this goal down into smaller steps, say 1 book every 2-3 months.
I didn’t set up an effective routine
While I have gotten into the habit of reading before bed, I only manage to read a page or so before I fall asleep, and I’m often so sleepy I can’t remember what I read, so I have to read it again the next day. Not the best strategy for getting through 1000s of pages in a year!
Reach the next level in Spanish
I aimed to get to an upper-intermediate level in Spanish (B2 in the Common European Framework).
There’s one clear reason this didn’t work:
I was focusing on too many things at once
In July I realised that I had to stop pursuing this goal. If I’d continued with Spanish, I wouldn’t have had as much success with my French mission.
Learn to discuss more complex topics in German
My German goal failed for the same reason my Spanish one did: too many things at once. I started the year studying German for an hour a day but gradually gave it up as I focused more on my other goals.
Last year’s language learning goals: an overview
Overall, I’m pleased with how much I learned in 2017. Even the goals I didn’t meet taught me some valuable lessons that I can put into practice when setting goals for learning a foreign language this year.
To sum up, I’ve learnt to:
- Choose clear, short-term deadlines.
- Focus on one goal at a time.
- Implement effective habits and routines.
My language learning goals for 2018
Here’s how I’m applying these 3 ideas to set effective language learning goals for 2018.
1. Choose a clear, short-term deadline
Become fluent in Spanish
My current mission is to become fluent in Spanish by June. I’m already at intermediate level, so I’m aiming to take my level up to advanced, just like I did with French last year.
Read about how I define fluency and how I plan to get there in this post:
Become fluent in Spanish in 1 year without leaving the house (a step-by-step guide)
2. Focus on one goal at a time
Start becoming fluent in German
Once I’ve reached my Spanish goal, I plan on doing something similar for German. It’ll take longer than my previous French and Spanish missions because German is more difficult, and my current German level is lower.
I predict that it’ll take me around one year to reach fluency in German, studying for 2-3 hours per day. If I was starting from scratch, it could take around 18 months.
A year is a long time, so I’ll need to break this goal down into fewer, short-term deadlines. I’ll think more about this when I’m ready to get started in June/July.
Go on a language adventure
I’d also like to go on another language learning adventure over summer. It’s too far away to think about the details yet, but I’m hoping it’ll involve travelling to a different country and chatting to the locals in their language.
Build effective habits
Read in a foreign language for 45 minutes per day
This year, I’m aiming to get into the habit of reading a foreign language novel for 45 minutes before bed.
I’ve tried this many times before and failed, so this year I’m going to try again, using a special technique for building habits. More on this in next week’s post.
Over to you
What are your language learning goals for 2018? Share them with us in the comments below!
