Meaningful Language Learning Goals

Hi Steve Kaufmann here.

Today I want to talk about goal setting in language learning. It's important and I think the way we set goals depends on our level in the language. I will give you an example from my own language learning. Recently I decided to work on my Portuguese and particularly to expose myself to more Brazilian Portuguese, so I found some interesting lessons in our library on LingQ, one wonderful series of 20 lessons by one of our members about her travels in Italy with her friend. I graduated from that to reading some novels for which I also had the audio book in Portuguese and it was again in a Brazilian accent. Then I found some wonderful podcasts from Brazil, which I've been listening to and enjoying, so the whole thing is very enjoyable it's easy, I do what I want when I want and I know I'm improving. No need for sort of very specific short term task type goals, but if I look at languages where I am not as far ahead for example Korean, then I have to take a much more deliberate approach.

Now if we look at language learning, there is this common European framework of reference and I'll leave a link in the description. And it divides the level of proficiency into six levels; A 1 and 2, B 1 and 2 and C 1 and 2. So six levels. My view is increasingly that to get to the half way point, which may or may not be exactly the half way point – but to do the first three of those levels.

Once you have done that you basically get to a point where the learning can become a more natural, enjoyable, flow type experience. But to get there, particularly the first step of the beginner's stage A1, A2 you are really fighting, looking up every word, forgetting it. The structure of the language is strange. It is very difficult. Even when you are a low intermediate or B1 and you are now accessing authentic material, but you are still having to look up words and there are still things that are fussy and you can't yet express yourself the way you would like, so it's still that struggle stage.

Once you get passed that, once you're a high intermediate and going forward. Now you can improve your language through this massive exposure to interesting content that you can find on the internet. Audiobooks, books, newspapers, podcasts, meet with friends, meet-ups, talks all this sort of things that you do when you feel like it and just enjoy the language. So you learn through enjoyment. But for the first three steps it's actually heavy lifting and with heavy lifting it's very important to have specific measurable tasks. And so with my Korean starting in September, I am going to do another 90-Day Challenge and I am going to set myself very specific goals for those 90 days.

I am going to make sure that I read 450.000 words of Korean, which is divided by 90 days about 5000 words a day, and I am going to listen to the same content. We have content in our library at LingQ, the podcasts that I've had transcribed that I have been meaning to get at, and I am going to do them systematically, even though they are difficult for me and I am going to save, in my mind it's about, 20.000 words and phrases that I am going to save and I expect that this is going to increase my at least passive vocabulary by another 30.000 words and by 90 whatever it is, I am not going to do it in my head right now. So I am going to set myself those very specific targets because it's like if I am exercising I have general goal; I want to be more fit or I want to maintain my fitness level, but if I say: ‘OK, you're going to do these exercises, you are going to do 20 push-ups, 3 sets of 20 push-ups.

You are going to lift this weight, that weight, you are going to do core exercises. You have a very specific regime'. Then I don't have to think about what I do, I just have these specific tasks that I have to achieve and I think the same is true for language learning and after all – of course that's why at LingQ we introduce you to these activity index, these measurements and it is mostly a measurement of your level of activity. You can force yourself to be active, to put the time in, just as with exercising, you will achieve results.

Some people may achieve more results, some fewer and in some areas and not others and so on and so forth, but you are forcing yourself to do it because you have identifiable tasks that are measurable. So that's what I recommend you do when you are in that heavy lifting stage and that's what I am going to be doing with Korean and my hope is that all this heavy-lifting is going to take me to or passed that break-through point in the language so that I can start just enjoying my Korean in the same way that I enjoy my Portuguese right now. So thank you for listening.

Bye for now.