Welcome to #clearthelist, my monthly update on my language learning goals and progress. This month it’s going to be a pretty speedy update because January was pretty full of good stuff!
Fluent Language Updates
The biggest project I worked on in January was Your Solid Vocab Memory, my new online course about learning and remembering vocabulary. We’re running a live round right now with group calls and a pop-up forum - great way to light a 🔥under everyone's 🍑.
On the Fluent Show, there were so many awesome episodes. My favourite is “How to Find Fantastic Language Tutors in Your Network Right Now” - catch up here if you haven’t heard it yet!
In my personal life, I was lucky to have the opportunity to swim in the sea several times! 🌊 Winter swimming without a wetsuit is fairly new to me and I still struggle to make myself dive in, but every year it’s a little bit easier. Have you ever tried it?
My Language Goals and Progress
After it felt like January was about 60 days long, this month is promising to be almost the opposite: short and bursting with activity! I’m typing this on my way to London for an exciting new project. It’s also a big birthday for my mum this month, meaning I’ll be spending a week travelling to Germany.
I struggled with high stress levels towards the end of last year, so in terms of language goals I’m going to keep it loose in February and just study when I feel like it. Luckily, something has started to feel like….fun!
Chinese: Loose Ends Come Together
If you look back at my goal from last month, you’ll see that I had some difficulty staying committed to Mandarin Chinese. It’s no surprise that this language isn’t full of instant success moments, and I had to revisit my reason for studying it.
My decision at the time was to stay persistent with this language for another 3 months, and it’s been pretty good since!
I added the Teach Yourself Chinese course to my list of resources, and its structured guidance is the glue that’s bringing all my learning together. After about a month, I’m in chapter 6 and making good progress. I’m also beginning to feel all the benefits of 10 months of study, as I finally put together all that loose knowledge.
It can’t be said enough….learning another language means consistent progress over time, rather than a blast of knowledge forced into the brain all at once.
What I’m Using for Chinese Right Now
I’m enjoying Memrise Lingodeer and the Teach Yourself Beginner’s Chinese book I mentioned. I’m also using LingQ and it’s excellent, but I prefer printed materials most of the time. Just this week, I tested out of 13 Duolingo skills. I’m not learning with the Duolingo course at all, but using it to check in on my progress through an external marker.
What’s Next in Chinese?
I know I’m supposed to get more speaking practice already and I really want to do it, so that’s one for March probably. I’m enjoying the language content of the Teach Yourself book so I’ll try and push past chapter 8!
Welsh Practice
Although I still LOVE and practice Welsh all the time, I will no longer focus as hard on it during #clearthelist. My level is roughly B1-B2, so I’m absolutely functional and it’s a joy to speak Welsh.
In January, I watched and LOVED the S4C drama “Craith”, which you can also get in English. It’s probably WAY better in Welsh though, and good enough for me and my husband to binge several episodes. The show is set in Blaenau Ffestiniog and it’s so pretty!
What About You?
How was your January 2020? Leave a comment below!
This post is part of the Clear The List series, the monthly language learning round-up about language learning goals and progress. You can join us! Find out more about#clearthelist, which is hosted by Shannon Kennedy and Lindsay Williams.