There’s not much getting around the time investment required to learn a foreign language. Just look at how long you spent learning your native language, and you were (probably) immersed in it, and surrounded by sympathetic speakers. As with any long-term project in which the gains are measured in inches and the distance remaining is measured in miles, staying motivated is vital. One of the ways to do this is by setting tiny goals for yourself and pushing forward through them, knocking them down one by one and enjoying the little burst of pride that each little victory brings.
How to pick little goals
Stephen Krashen and his Comprehensible Input theory popularized the idea of n+1 as the key to language learning. That is, that we need input that is just slightly more difficult than we are able to currently comprehend in order to move forward. If the input is too easy we won’t learn anything new, and if the input is too difficult we’ll be demotivated and, again, learn nothing.
Choosing little goals should be exactly the same. Each goal should be a little baby step toward the finish line, just a bit beyond your current grasp. You don’t need to write out every single goal in advance all the way from “Hello” in a foreign language to using it to deliver a discourse on combinatorial number theory (it’s often quite difficult to visualize the entire path when the path is so long). A few simple goals will do.
Here’s what I do:
- Create an Excel spreadsheet with four columns: reading, writing, speaking, and listening.
- List my little goals out in the cells below the column headings, with one goal per cell.
- When I complete a goal, I change the cell’s text color to light gray, and insert new cells above it (so that my newest goals for each of the four columns is always on top).
- Repeat.
Every time I open that spreadsheet I get a little pang of joy — look at all those gray cells! Sometimes it’s the little things that keep you going.
How to reach those little goals
Khatzumoto put it best:
((((DO SOMETHING!) SMALL) USEFUL) NOW!)
Just like your little goals are small increments on your existing level rather than quantum leaps in ability, so too should be your efforts to reach those goals. It’s a marathon, not a sprint, and though it’s OK to sprint sometimes, you’re much better off just leaning into the wind and making little steps forward. You’ll make progress — the little steps add up, and pretty quickly — and you’ll be a lot less likely to give up.
Stuck for goal ideas?
A couple of weeks ago Tae Kim wrote a great post called Memorable Moments in Language Acquisition, which John Pasden riffed on afterwards. Both the posts as well as the comments following them are full of ideas to get you started.
You could also just aim for sucking less 
.
Related posts:
- Jack Kerouac on managing your study time
- Feeling overwhelmed? Stop trying so damn hard!
- Success → Confidence → More Success
- AJATT for Chinese
- Getting started with a new language
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks, i might try your spreadsheet idea. I’ve just been recording my stuff in a plain text file. I made up some numbers for the month, then split that into per-week, and then figured out what i should do each day. I work towards trying to exceed the weekly goal if possible, and keep track of how i’m doing week-by-week towards the monthly goal. I kinda like your idea of checking off the boxes as i go though.
I have goals for TV hours, reading, anki cards created, and listening (other than tv, which i can do at work or on the bus). i don’t always hit them all, but it doesn’t really matter. it gives me something to try for.
“I don’t always hit them all, but it doesn’t really matter.” Exactly! If not hitting all of my goals really mattered, I’d be so screwed
I don’t know that the format of the list matters, but I would strongly recommending having some sort of record of your accomplishments (ticked off boxes, grayed out spreadsheet cells, etc.). It’s really, really motivating to see the progress you’ve already made laid out in front of you like that.