Planning For Language Learning Success

One thing needs to be clear, languages are hard. They are full of exceptions and people use them in creative and unique ways. This is their beauty, but it is also maddening for us language learners. This means that we are going to have trouble sometimes. We may take one step forward and two steps backwards. Let’s be clear that this will happen and accept it. Then when it happens we won’t be surprised and lose heart.

One of the main problems in language learning is motivation. It could be the main problem. We have trouble, we have a bad speaking session, we make slow progress, we lose motivation, and then we give up. So from a one perspective the key to successfully learning a language is staying motivated. But how can we do this?

What is your main motivation

One of the keys to motivation is clear planning. We need to be clear about our reason for learning the language. This reason needs to be related to our other goals and needs to fit into our vision for our life. For example, if you are learning French because you like the sounds, but you are planning on studying in Spain and don’t really know much Spanish, then French does not really fit into your larger goals at this point. If are learning French because your girlfriend is from France and you want to marry her and live in Paris, then French is connected to your other life goals. When the reason for learning a language is related to other life goals, we are more likely to stay motivated when things are difficult. We can look at those other goals and remember how language fits into them, and thus, we are less likely to quit.

What skills do you need

Once our reason for learning the language is clear, we need to be clear about what we want to be able to do in the language. For example:

I want to be able to speak French easily with my spouse and her family and enjoy watching French TV/Movies and reading French books.

This helps us figure out what we need to study. From the goals statement above, we can see that our goals involve, speaking, listening, and reading. Writing is not as important. This means that we need to focus on these skills.

Be honest about your current level

Another key to a good plan is being honest with ourselves about our current level and abilities. If we are just starting to study French, then read The Hunchback of Notre Dame in the original French is not a realistic goals and is going to kill our motivation.We need to pick activities that train the skills we need and are appropriate to our current level. A better activity would be to read a children’s book in French. Once we have done that, then we have accomplished our goal and this will give us motivation. This is also known as the principle of comprehensible input; it means that we need to pick activities that are only a little beyond our current level so that we can understand most of what we read or hear and can focus on learning the new things. If there are too many unknown elements, then our brain will stop paying attention and the target language will simply become noise. Start small, learn a few new things, then learn a few more new things; repeat this process and very soon, you will have learn a lot and will be able to understand longer, more complex things.

Make specific goals

Another key is having concrete goals. Some people like the idea of SMART goals. Goals that are:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Realistic
• Time based

If our goals are specific and measurable, then we will know if we are making progress or not. For example, “I want to be able to read French literature” is not specific, realistic, or measurable. French literature is a huge field and would require understanding a massive number of words and grammar. It is not measurable because we don’t really know if we have reached this goals. How many books to we need to read before we have accomplished it? “I want to read Harry Potter in French” is a much better goals. It is specific (Harry Potter vs. French literature), measurable (one book), and it is probably realistic too if we are at least intermediate French level. If our level is still low, then we should try a simpler book. After we accomplish the simpler goal, we can move onto something more complex.

How much to plan

It is important to have a clear final goal. What do you want to be able to do with the language you are learning? Once you are clear about your final goal. How much other planning should you do? In reality that is up to you. I recommend that you try to make SMART monthly goals. Try to plan one month at a time. I feel like a month is long enough that you can work on something and make progress, but it is not too long that it is difficult to make a plan. Planning an entire year of language learning goals would take a lot of time and your goals and needs would probably change after a few months. So try to evaluate your current level and how much progress you have made each month and then make a plan for the next month.

Pulling it all together: an example

My current goal for Dutch:

I want to be able to enjoy talking with native speakers and have them enjoy talking with me. I also want to be able to read Dutch books and academic articles and enjoy watching Dutch films/TV shows.

This means that I need to train my listening, speaking, and reading skills. At this point, writing is not a particularly useful skill given my goals so I’m not gong to focus on it.

In order to train my listening skills, I am currently listening to and transcribing De Gebochelde from Verhalen van Sherlock Holmes. This is a decent goal for me. It fits with my ultimate language learning goals (Being able to enjoy Dutch books and films). I have studied 500+ words and have a basic understanding of Dutch grammar. I cannot understanding native speakers when they talk quickly so I used Audacity to slow down the recording.

When I listen to the recording, I use Audacity or another program that lets me select and repeat a specific part of the recording. This means I can listen to it many times if I need to. I can also compare what I have transcribed with the text so I am also getting feedback in the process. This makes it a realistic goal because I am doing things to make the material comprehensible for my current level (slowing it down, listening many times, comparing with the text). It is also specific because I’m listening to one story. It is measurable because I can see how much progress I’m making by the number of minutes I have listened to and transcribed in my notebook.

This is something I look forward to doing because I have always loved the Sherlock Holmes stories. Doing things that are related to my ultimate language learning goal, seeing the progress I’m making, and actually working with material that I enjoy gives me motivation. It can do the same for you too.

Do this now

Get some paper or open a note on tour phone or computer and spend a few minutes thinking about your ultimate reason for learning your new language. How does this reason relate to your other life goals? once you have an answer, write it down. Next consider what you want to be able to do with your new language; this should relate to your ultimate goal. do you want to speak with your family that lives abroad? Do you want to move to a new place? do you need to be able to read and write or is speaking and listening sufficient to reach your main goal? Write doen the skills you need and what you feel your current level is in each one.

now that your goal and the skills you need are clear, what can you do to make progress. you need to pick activities that are appropriate to your level. if they are too difficult, then it may hurt your motivation and you may not make progress like you want to. Once you have these activities figured out, try to make SMART goals for each activity. Write these down.

Congratulations, you now have a solid language learning plan that is Integrated into your life goals but is specific enough to help you know what you need to do today to make progress.

Resources

You can download a free language planning worksheet here to help you start your language learning planning so you can have clear goals that is right for you.