In which I make a poor attempt at being organized...
So, for as long as I remember I have aspired to become a polyglot! I’ve dabbled in studying languages here and there, but now that, well... My calendar has been cleared dramatically, I figure now is a better time than ever to re-focus and reach some of my language goals! I have a pretty long list of languages I plan to learn, but for the next 6 months, I’m going to be focusing only on Spanish!
From July 1st, here is my current study plan:
Daily
Vocabulary - Duolingo ( I know, I know, the owl haunts me), Memrise, and Drops
Listening/Speaking - Language Transfer ( YouTube ) / Pimsluer ( Free Libby Download )
Reading - ...TBA. I’ve tried Beelinguapp, but I think at my level it’s just not my cup of tea? I might look into it more for more basic selections?
Writing - Sentence Building with Anki / Journaling ( May start posting here just to hold myself accountable? )
Monthly
Check-ins! - I plan to post updates at the end of every month just so that I can track my progress! I may post recordings of myself speaking or try to make more posts only in Spanish, or something else I come up with! Either way, it’s just something I plan to do to make sure I’m staying on top of things.
So that’s the plan! If anyone is interested in the apps/programs I’m using or are looking for a study buddy/accountability partner feel free to give this a like or send me an IM! I’m always looking for ways to practice and I’ll try to be as helpful as I can!
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The goals for the next 30 days ( ending Sunday, July 10th ), are going to be focused on consistently maintaining my learning routine and weekly check ins.
Resources: Refold Method ( Focusing on Stage 1A )
Active Immersion
Passive Listening
SRS with Anki
Refold Spanish Guidebook
Daily Study Routine ( Taken directly from Refold Spanish )
Vocabulary: 15 min/day; Anki Deck Review ( 5 minute chunks throughout the day, i.e. after breakfast, during lunch, after work )
Grammar Study: 15 min/day; ‘Complete Spanish Grammar’ study, or Butterfly Spanish’s Grammar playlist, Language Transfer ( before work, 7AM )
Immersion: 30 min/day; ‘Dreaming Spanish’ comprehensible input and Destinos/Extra on youtube ( after work )
Additional: Spanish podcasts while cleaning, working out, etc.
Check-Ins
I’m committing to one weekly check-in post, every Sunday before 8PM, to log the previous weeks wins and study tasks, as well as updating the hours I’ve put in for the week. On July 10th I’ll revisit this post, see what works and what didn’t and hopefully start to implement a bit more tools or switch up my language learning materials, but for now, this is where we’ll start!
In which I make another poor awesome attempt at being organized...
¡Hola a todos! Qué tal tu día? Bueno? Muy bien! A parte de hoy, he estado aprendiendo español durante un mes! And I’m also kind of shocked at just how much progress I’ve made!
I’ve definitely learned a lot about myself and my learning style this past month and although I think I still have room to grow, I think I’ve found a schedule that I don’t feel too overwhelmed by, which is...
Daily: DuoLingo (don’t judge me, I’m addicted to keeping the streak going), Anki Flashcards (10-20 new terms a day), Pimsleur/Language Transfer lesson (which I usually do while exercising so I don’t feel too pressed about these), Hiragana study (30mins before work - see below for more info!)
Bi-Weekly: Speaking/Reading practice with iTalki (I’ve found it’s a lot less stressful to space out my tutoring sessions - for now! Just to give myself the time to learn and integrate new vocabulary before trying to put it to use) I’ve been missing a couple beepboop sessions (I’ve just been too tired...), but I’m thinking about re-adding them for the weeks that I don’t attend iTalki tutoring sessions.
Monday: Movie day! On Mondays the plan has been to watch a YouTube video, Netflix series, or movie! I’m thinking about using the site Lingopie since I’ve heard it’s the best for picking up vocab and studying actively while watching!
Tuesday: Reading day! I’ve bought a box-set ebook of these very simple A1 level reading passages that I just go through on my kindle while noting the vocabulary. I usually take any new words I pick up and add them to a quizlet set. I think this was a much easier way to start than say... reading a whole novel (R.I.P. Eleanor Y Park...I just wasn’t ready)
Wednesday: Writing day! I’ve been using the prompts I posted a while back, but also planning to pick a weekly theme and try to struggle through at least one page in Spanish journal!
Thursday: Rest day! (Sort of!) I don’t have plans to do any intensive/supplemental studying on these days. I usually catch up with things for my classes work, so I think it’s important to have a day where I prioritize those things and don’t stress myself out if I miss something. (except DuoLingo because that owl will hunt you down...)
Friday: Review day! Going over vocabulary, notes, etc. I’m also considering using this day to record a video of myself speaking so that I can track progress with that as well.
In addition, I’ve joined a study group that’s focused on Japanese! Although I was a bit apprehensive (no, very apprehensive) to start another language before my Spanish challenge is over... I’ve been slowly learning Japanese for the past week and I feel comfortable adding it to my daily schedule! The goal is to master hiragana (and maybe some katakana/kanji) and once I finish my Spanish challenge, to devote my complete energy to learning Japanese (second six month language challenge anyone???).
I’m starting off very slow, though. So far I’ve just been focusing on thirty minutes of hiragana study in the mornings before work and I’ve found it kind of...nice? In a way I look at it as a method to prevent me from getting burnt out on Spanish by putting my mind on something else, but still keeping me in language learning mode!
So, that’s all for this month’s check in! If you made it to the end of this long post make sure you drink water, take a deep breath, and treat yourself to a good snack! #selfcare=betterstudies (Below the cut is just some reflection notes for myself, so I can kind of check in and track my progress, so please feel free to ignore!)
-- And as a side note (if you were curious enough to actually click this after reading all of that), I know I’ve got a lot of stuff packed into my week, but this is just the study plan that works for me and it’s going to look different for everyone. What I don’t list is the amount of time I put in per day which ranges from 30 minutes to an hour and a half one day, then could drastically drop to 10 minutes the next day depending on my schedule. The biggest thing is to stay consistent if you want to see rapid improvement!!!
[ Month One Reflection ]
Listening: I’ve noticed that my Spanish comprehension skills have improved tenfold over the course of the month. I’ve been using a lot of YouTube series (which I will probably post about soon!) to study, and every day I noticed that I’m able to follow along more and more based off the dialogue and not just context clues! It’ll be interesting to go back to these shows at the end of the six months and see how much I’ve improved!
Speaking: Eh... Está bien... más o menos. I’ve got a long way to go, but I’m always excited when a native speaker understands what I’m saying LOL. However, I think compiling a list of phrases that come up in natural conversation would serve me well going forward.
Reading: I just honestly need to do this more. I’ve started using some chat/language partner apps (which are def hit or miss for me since a lot of people feel more comfortable practicing English...), but I think just putting into the time to do this...even if it’s just reading subtitles in Spanish I might have a better time.
Writing: See the above! The only time I wrote in the past two weeks was actually for one of my iTalki sessions and even with that I wrote something up the day of... I think forcing myself to actually sit down and do it... even if it's just on Wednesdays, will kick start my motivation for writing in Spanish.
I’ve been spending a lot of time on iTalki, and I just discovered the Language Hacking tab curated by Benny Lewis (he’s got a language learning book called ‘Fluent in 3 Months’ available from my library app that I might check out and review, so stay tuned for that). Although I’m not participating on the site, I do plan to use these questions for my daily journaling/recordings once I get some more vocabulary under my belt. I thought I would share the challenges on my tumblr as well for anyone looking for some easy-ish writing/speaking prompts to try out in your target language! ¡Buena suerte!
Talking About Me: Say your name, where you’re from, where you live, why you’re learning the language, etc.
Asking About You: Say which languages you speak or want to learn, how long you’ve been studying. You can also talk about other things you’re interested in, what you like to do, etc.
Solving Communication Problems: Use survival phrases in conversation; tell where you’re from or where. Or describe a person, place, or thing in just your target language without using the word itself.
Describing Your Future Plans: Say where you plan to go, how you’ll get there, what you’ll see and do.
Talking About Family and Friends: Say how you know someone, where they live and work, what they like to do.
Having Some Food, Drink, and Conversation: Give your opinions and recommendations, say which foods and drinks you like.
Talking About Yesterday, Last Week, A Long Time Ago: Tell a story about your past, say what you thought, where you went, etc.
It’s Been A While: Say how you spend your time (freetime, hobbies, etc.), how you spend your day, or make plans for the day.
Describe It: Say what’s nearby, what something looks like, describe personalities.
*Having Your First Conversation: The end of the challenge is having a one-on-one conversation with a native Spanish Speaker. (Easy on iTalki with the tutors and whatnot, but there’s plenty of free options to do this, such as apps like HelloTalk, Lingbe, Tandem etc.) And of course, although I’m not native speaker, if you’re studying Spanish and looking for a virtual penpal feel free to shoot me a message/IM!
