The pressure when learning a new language
Learning a new language is a big commitment and something that takes times, but sometimes we can get carried away with putting certain goals to ourselves like: “I'll reach intermediate level in a year” “I'll be fluent in two years” and when you have such big goals in such a short amount of time you will constantly feel like you are not making enough progress.
Short term and long term goals
There are two types of goals, short-term and long term goals; first let's talk about short term goals in my case I consider that short term goals should happen between 1 and 4 months; for this type of goal I think it's better to be something small, like completing a book or analyzing the vocabulary of a movie or even studying for a certification. As for long term goals, I like to be more flexible with the deadlines, because it's difficult to guess when you will reach it; long term goals can range from reaching fluency in a language, being able to understand a show, being able to speak comfortably, etc.
In my case as any learner, I want to reach fluency in my target language (Chinese), but even thought one day I'll get comfortable with the language I know that I will always keep learning new things; for example: right now I'm fluent in English, but I still make mistakes, and I'm always learning new words. That's why I believe you should never try to put a deadline on when you'll reach native speaker level or to when you will no longer need to study, because there will always be something new to learn.
How to create your own goals and some tips to achieve them
The first thing you need to do is to be real with yourself, think about how much time you actually have in a week to study, and from that you can choose whether you want to finish a book in one month or in a year. Also avoid trying to put a time limit to your goals, instead of aiming to study every day for two hours, is better to aim to study every day for as long as you'd like, this way you will feel less pressure, and you will be able to adapt your goal to your day.
As for your long term goals, I think it is better to call them intentions, because one day you'll achieve them, and as I mention previously for long term goals avoid putting a specific deadline.
My biggest tip is to have a tracker. I know it sounds like something unspecial but having a tracker is what makes you notice your own patterns (what hour do you concentrate most when studying, which days you are more constant, etc.) and it holds you accountable to whether you are being constant or not. I like to create trackers in my journal, but if you want something easier you can use an App like: Daily Planner, Habit Rabbit or you can even keep track of it in your notes App.
If you are a visual person like me, I recommend you to create a vision board, because if you constantly see the results you can reach by working hard, you will feel inspired and a lot more motivated. I like to create my vision boards in The Landing App.
Finally, always remember that it is better to study for five minutes, that to not study at all, small changes in your life can lead to big results, the most import thing is discipline. In my case, every time I don't want to study I review vocabulary in Anki, or sometimes I even use 小红书, because whenever I'm reading a post and I really can't understand it I start to look up the words and I start studying without even noticing, if you want to learn more about 小红书 click here.
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