I think specific, realistic goals can provide clarity about what you want out of a language that then provides a focus for your studies. It's a clarity I think we don't talk enough about. **Why do you want to learn that language?** To talk to your japanese cousins? Focus on listening/speaking, and using the informal register. For business? Make sure your native-language material includes logic and debate and learn to use the more formal tone. These are things that will change whether you focus on reading or writing or listening or speaking, what formality level you focus on, what vocabulary will be most relevant to you, and grammar, too. Match your methods to your goals.
I have never really set any goals in language learning. I just practice as much as possible and have the mindset that no matter how long it takes, I will eventually get fluent.
These tips are SO IMPORTANT. Also, I genuinely think TH-cam itself can be both helpful and harmful to language learning. We get awesome tips and tools from creators like you, but then we get these 'fluent in 20 languages in 1 month' clickbait videos that convince us somehow that there IS a set way to magically become fluent that we ourselves are somehow just unable to do. I genuinely think avoiding those is a hugely important step as well lol
Now that you have said “Don’t compare yourself to people who’ve been studying languages for 10-15 years.” I feel so stupid, I was doing that and I’m 17 like whut
I think more about language-learning habits than goals. My weekly and monthly goals nowadays tend to be of the "continue doing what I'm doing" sort. This approach is paying off for me. There's less stress, there are gradual but noticeable results, and occasionally I change up to more challenging activities. Your explanations, Lindie, are very clear. Hopefully, a lot of people will take your advice. These are the same lessons that I've learned along the way.
Same here. Unless there's an upcoming language exam, it's more of a "Dedicate every waking hour to language X (the harder one), dedicate lunchtime to Language Y, do stuff throughout the day for Language Z"). Works like a charm. The rest just organizes itself.
Thankfully I didn't set crazy goals that I would be fluent (in Korean) in 8 months. I just practiced and practiced, and now I'm able to understand a good amount of Korean content (TH-cam videos about daily lives, insights in Kpop Idol life, random topics, Hello Counselor, etc). The only time I started setting goals was late last year, but it was only to learn grammar that I didn't know and learning 20-60 Korean words every week or two. Thanks to those goals, I can now read Webtoons and understand 85%-90% of it. Note, I didn't purposely say "I'm going to read Webtoons with ease in 5 months!!" I just simply practiced, and got to that point. 😊
Lindie, you got me straight away. I did the evil compare. I remember a few weeks back on an IG livestream when you were studying Vietnamese and I said to myself "wow, I started this the same year and Lindie is already so far more advanced than me. I need to get better!" - without actually realising that I'd actually really made a lot of progress in Thai, which is obviously useful given that I work/live in Bangkok. So when I looked back on that just now, I did the wrong thing by the whole race/comparing mentality that brutally is in the language community, but I did the right thing by putting focus on learning Thai syntax and really practising my reading skill that I've gone from slowly reading Thai like a baby to now reading the first book of the Harry Potter series.
I think it's super important to be realistic with yourself. Everyone has different ways of learning and reaching their own goals and that is perfectly fine! ✨
Something that I find really important as well is that not always tips from polyglots will be applicable to beginners! As you said in your video, learning languages will teach you how to do new connections to new languages, you learn about techniques that work for you and so on. People who studies several languages have more practice in doing so; beginners don't have as much baggage. So some times, beginners/first time language learners won't really benefit from some tips polyglots may share because their brain still isn't "trained" to learn languages! I'm not saying that we should ignore everything polyglots say, but I find important to filter it. For example, polyglots that say that focusing on grammar is a waste of time, that they did it with their first couple of languages but now don't do it anymore. Of course after studying 5/6 languages you'll be able to pick up on grammar more easily, you have a larger database! But if this is your first time learning a language, you will probably need to study it to try and understand how the language works. Also, you need to take into account how different the language is from your mother tongue (I'm native in Portuguese and learning Korean; there is no way to simply assimilate Korean because it is totally different from Portuguese!)
I agree. I myself am learning Korean and I find it's a VERY grammar heavy language built on particle after particle . So how am I not suppose to learn grammar?? I don't get why they say tings like that ..
As an 'older' person the only goals I set now are time. If I learn language x for 6 months - an hour in the morning and again in the evening - and lets see where we are at the end of that. This has got me to about B1 in French/Italian/German, but I had some previous knowledge. I just switch from one to another. No pressure, no finishing line, just keep going for the sheer fun of it.
I no longer click on "Look how I learned x language in a day/week" videos, because that's just, you know... bs! That depends on a lot of things, like languages that you already know, your native language etc. As you "quoting Steve" said: the goal is to look back at your journey and see how much you learned!
I’ve been learning Bulgarian for three years and I’m at the point where I’ve improved a lot and can converse with Bulgarians but I’m still struggling to speak fluidly and without mistakes. This video reminded me of the progress I’ve made and given me inspiration to set goals to get me over the intermediate hump :)
I'm learning Mandarin Chinese from about 7 months now and I'm really enjoying the process of adapting to a new language. And I also learning Japanese from 2 months now, Omg! The journey from 你好 to basic conversation is just amazing. Btw Love watching your video 🙃
I know exactly what you mean. I have been learning Mandarin for the past 2 years and now I take meeting and discuss with my friend in mandarin for one hour nonstop and I don't even feel tired.
The more I zoom in and get specific with the goals I set the less anxious I am, when my goal is vague, man the anxiety is off the charts and suddenly it's no longer a hobby, but in reality that's what it it #InItForTheHobby💞
I got the same reaction when I told people I was gonna try to learn Chinese, German and Spanish this year.. but they didn’t know I had been learning Spanish since elementary school, German since middle school, and Mandarin since high school lol not at the rate and dedication I’ve given this year but enough to have a good idea of how the language basics work and a decent probably 200 word vocab for each, maybe 400 for Spanish
You've motivated me, especially when you were talking about 'looking back at what you could only say before'. It's very true, always check how far we've gone rather than all the time how far we have to go
The best goals to me are the kind I can tick off of a calendar everyday - go through one grammar point and record a video diary using the grammar I learned that day, etc. Goal setting via establishing a routine is far more trackable and the progress is guaranteed to come as a result!
Great video as always. My struggle with goals is that it's sometimes hard to make them specific and measurable, especially once you're in the advanced stage. One of my main goals for Korean right now is just to be able to express myself more easily in more advanced topics. It's almost impossible to set measurable goals for that haha. I've literally gone on overnight trips with friends where I've basically only spoken Korean for two days straight, and I can communicate fine in most areas, but it can be hard to find space to jump in when in fast-paced group conversations, and I still struggle to get my point across in an elegant way in many topics, which is obviously frustrating. More practice will obviously help me improve, but I don't like setting time-based goals because those always feel like I'm putting quantity over quality. So for now I'm just keeping my vague goal and hoping I get better over time.
Loved this Lindie!! I often get people going “no way can you do x languages” and as you say, often I’m just doing maintenance on the majority of them! And I’m glad you mentioned “Get Language to A2” - it’s a real temptation to do that, especially early on when all other progress is harder to define, but good to avoid too. Great video as ever 😊
Chosing which already known language to approach a new language with is so interesting! I've noticed I do it unintentionally to a degree. I'm a native English speaker and I know a decent amount of Spanish. Because of this, while I do prefer English translations of French vocabulary, it's much easier for me to consider Spanish grammar when learning French grammar. That totally makes sense, since they're both romance languages, but I was still suprised at how much I found myself reaching for my Spanish knowledge.
I took the TOPIK II exam today and it was absolutely chaotic ! I already know that I’m not gonna have it but hey, at least I know that TOPIK exam is not a good way FOR ME to progress in a language. I noticed that I’m really not a “textbook” person but more of a “conversation person”. I can only memorize words if I say them out loud or use them in a conversation. So I will continue to take classes on Italki and learn Korean through podcasts, dramas and conversations, and I will improve slowly but surely 😊 Thank you Lindie !
Thank you for posting this. I have some unrealistic goals that I didn’t know I had. I know now that I need to set some more realistic goals and slow down. I’m adding to much pressure to myself.
I'm Polish and my native language is Polish. Recently, I started to learn Korean on online classes. A lecturer speaks in Polish but she used to learn Japanese. I've been learning Japanese for about 10 years and I think it's great that she knows Japanese. Thanks to that I can ask her about similar topics that exist in Japanese, and that way Korean is much easier to understand😀
Such great advice, just what I needed to hear right now. I have started to take a french course at our college and it's advanced, I am loving it and feeling a little overwhelmed. Mostly with the exams that is where I am slow and struggle.
I've been studying Korean since February 2017 so 2 years and some months .. I've reached the intermediate plateau long ago.. maybe even a year and a half ago.. I have for sure improved since than but not in the way i'd want to. I still cant understand well what people say to me, i still cant understand webtoons to read them fast(pictures help but like.. difficult.. ) so i've lost most of my motivation to study. Using this goal setting and just viewing it differently will hopefully help me, so thank you for the video. Hopefully i can reach better understanding of the language with your help. Instead of saying " i wanna be fluent by the end of the year" and losing motivation my March due to lack of visible progress i will set goals like " I want to understand that 10 minute video, like really understand every single thing in it, or i want to have a meaningful conversation about this and that topic with a Korean person. I think setting and than reaching proper goals is a great boost to motivation and i am sad i haven't even thought about this before watching your video. Once again, thank you for the awesomeness and knowledge.
After watching your video, I can finally understand that learning a language is about the whole process and it takes a lot of years 'till you master it (considering that we're still learning things in our mother tongue even in adulthood, now I quite doubt one can learn ALL of a language). I've been in a run to learn Finnish, upgrade my English to C2 and learn French as well. I was even planning to spend even more time on this project! But, at this point I conclude that a stable, strong habit is more powerful than peaks of productivity.
The mindset thing is so true. When you want to say something and you start directly translating the idea you have in your head to any language, it often ends up being a mess. Someone smart once said, ''If you want to say something, but don't know how... you don't know how to say it correctly yet.''
In my case I was trying to make it up for the lost time, I first started learning Japanese and Russian in 2004, but never managed to learn those languages so far, so I have decided to set very aggressive goals for language learning, and just got frustrated, now I'm taking a more easy and light approach to it, having much more fun and learning in a steady pace ...
i like how positive the way you approach in learning a language , it is as difficult to get into learning just as much as having someone whom shares the same path and compliments each other , rather than fierce competition goals are directions to me , not the complete ends , it's still trial and error , i'm failing and learning and i don't hate that , feels like i've depended on you in a way to confirm myself , thanks
Thank you for your well thought advices !! I really appreciate your sincerity, and watching your videos always feels relaxing ☺️ most of language learning channels are like « how to learn X language in 3months » but I totally agree that it doesn’t work like that, for me at least. Learning a language takes a loooot of time and involvement and there’s no need to feel stressed or pressured in the process ! Wish you the best 💕
I have been watching your channel for a long time and see how you develop your vision for language studying. Evidently some moments can be understood only when staying in longtime process, as you. Now I comprehend this tips too
I've never seen TH-camrs saying like "you shouldn't make mistakes" We don't need to think about negative thing like having mistakes. Making mistakes might be help your process. But this is just hobby. We need to take it easy. We don't need to think about mistakes even though that's helpful advice. As many polyglots including her say, it's good just having fun leaning process.
One way of learning language I found by myself is translating. It doesn't have to be something complicated. For example, my native language is Croatian and I applied to be a subber on viki.com (subbing from English to Croatian/Serbocroatian). Viki is kind of like Asian Netflix. Subbers are volunteers, but you get a premium version of Viki after only 3 thousand subtitles. My English level was intermediate when I started subbing. After one year and 40 thousand subtitles, I translated few kdramas for people in my country. My English level increased without me paying attention. Of course, not most dramas have complicated vocabulary, but my vocabulary expanded. Besides, I am learning Korean and listening to Korean while translating English words to Croatian helps me a lot. Another advice of mine - change your subtitle language when watching foreign TV shows. For example, I am just starting a college with a major in Spanish. My favorite kdrama is Strong Woman Do Bong Soon. Now I started rewatching it, but with Spanish subtitles. It really helps a lot because I already know what's happening in the drama, but my Korean level is not high enough to understand all the words - this is a great way for me to expand my Spanish vocabulary.
It is definitely true that the way you learn one language is not the same way you learn another. I personally learnt German three years ago, and was focusing on writing a lot, because I wanted to master the complicated grammatical structure but today, learning Mandarin, I focus more on reading and speaking, so that I can get the pronunciation right, and recognise the characters.
I think I've figured out the confusion over fluency. DO not confuse fluency with the mastery of a language. You can be fluent in a language without having mastered it. This is a master of not knowing what fluency is. To be fluent means to be able to use the language in a quick and fluid manner. It means your capacity is such that you can actually use the language in an organic and natural way without disruption. Having that ability does not mean you have mastered the language...it just means you can use it. I like to contrast fluency with accuracy. The two concepts form a dialectic relationship between the two. And the mastery of a language means knowing how to balance that relationship so that you cna always engage in and use that language whenever the motivation and emotion to do so hits you. And in this way, it joins your native tongue in being a part of you. Rather than accessory to your language skills that you haven't incorporated yet, and do not truly understand or cherish. At leats this is my understanding as a bilingual. At some point I will begin the process with French, and am very excited. But not yet!!!
It occurs to me that I used to be so worried about learning Chinese because I'm also learning Korean and didn't want to mix them up. I finally decided to just start it anyway and have been having so much fun! I never set a goal besides just wanting to be able to follow a basic conversation, but I definitely have a different approach than with Korean. And now my enthusiasm is restored for both!
I have a long term goal of going to uni to learn Japanese but to do that I have to first get a GCSE and an a level in Japanese. So my short term goals are to finish all of the courses I have for Japanese on memrise then fill in gaps as appropriate for the GCSE’s I just think that these courses on my phone are a good starting point and a way to keep motivated because I can track my progress easily through them. I’ll also be consuming a lot of Japanese content in the mean time😁 I’m having so much fun with this.
Great vedio, you are absolutly right. When i decided to learn turkich after learning german and spanish, i thought that it will be easier because i am an arabic native, and everbody say that arabic and turkish are very close, so i used the same method of learning. In fact i was wrong, so i changed my method and it is getting easer now. Ya, languages are different, and need diffrent approch
I know that these “how I learned a language in x months” videos can give a wrong impression on language learning because it is simply not possible to completely learn a language in such a short time (if it’s even possible to “completely” learn a language because I think it’s not). And yet for me they can also definitely be a motivation booster for me, when I see what others can achieve in that time. But of course it is still always important to not pressure oneself and not compare oneself to such unrealistic “achievements”. I think I’m doing a good job in keeping a balance between drawing motivation from such language learning posts or videos but also not pressuring myself by them and maybe even ending up procrastinating
The worst is when you stop learning for a while then decide one day to study and get overwhelmed by how much you 1 haven't progressed because you stopped and 2 how much you've regressed and forgotten 😥 who else does this to themself 😅
I started translating Korean song lyrics while reading about grammar. At first I had to look up every word and grammar but nowadays I already recognise some grammar structures an vocabulary and I even could figure out some lyrics from just listening to a song without looking it up. "우리 집으로 가자" let's go to our/my house. ^^
I have been studying japanese for a couple of months now but something I did do from the beginning was being realistic to myself. I knew that it would take me months and Even years to learn the language well so I decided to do Monthly goals which is basically My study schedule for that month, which of course I AM human so I don't necessarily follow it perfectly. However, I did decide to go easy on myself since this is the first time that I am learning a new language.
My goals are low because I'm not trying to have an aneurysm every day. One language is all I'm doing (Korean). 10 new words each day. And now I know 10 more than I knew yesterday, perhaps a few new phrases using those words or using grammar in context of those sentences with those words. And that's enough. If I do it for a year that'll be thousands of words. And just rinse, repeat, review all the words until they stick. It just takes time and I'm in no rush.
I have not gotten to particles in the Korean language yet, so when you said those examples, I was like "Oh My". Hahaha I must say, I wish I had started learning another language when I was much younger.
Here is my question for your video with Luca L. Are the best methods for language learning for experienced language learners the same for beginners, especially monolingual people.
mostanában olyan szép nézel ki! a videóid mindig szuper hasznos 🌞 hogy van a magyarod? i found one of your videos on hungarian at the beginning of the summer and it inspired me to get back to studying after years off! if you ever want more hungarian resources, i have lots i can share!
I'd love to hear what the progress of getting to that half hour of Vietnamese conversation looked like. In the month I was there my pronunciation got nowhere and Steve Kaufman said the same thing.
Justo las palabras que necesitaba escuchar esta semana. pd. me regrese para comprobar que te estan enseñando los apodos de cada nombre jajaja super padre.
For accent reduction though I hear the most important thing is to not be complacent with your pronunciation. How do you push forward towards more native like pronunciation without having harsh almost unrealistic goals forself? Accent reduction is the place where I could see this type of "unhealthy" approach being necessary.
I'm terrible at setting goals. It doesn't get vaguer than... my first goal is to study Chinese. My second goal is to study a bit of Korean. And then lastly, maintain my Japanese. I don't think my goals are helping me very much but at least I can say I achieved my goals 😆
I was wondering if you have some tips on how to study efficiently several languages at the same time. I try studying Chinese (intermediate), Japanese (basic) & Korean (basic), but I have a feeling that I don’t do much progress
I could learn Portuguese in two weeks - but I already knew French and Spanish. Learning Latin is taking longer (there are several features which are lost in modern Italo-Western languages), and learning Turkish or Chinese would take a lot longer.
A "bad" goal I set up for myself was to take the HSK 4 exam in December (I started learning in March). But I felt like it's making me feel stressed and uneasy. So I decided to take it sometime in the future after I went to China (and then maybe a higher level). I don't know if anyone else knows that feeling, but I think it's not a good goal for the first year of studying.
I've stopped setting goals recently as I've started to realise that as long as I practice daily, I will progress regardless, at my own pace
I think specific, realistic goals can provide clarity about what you want out of a language that then provides a focus for your studies. It's a clarity I think we don't talk enough about. **Why do you want to learn that language?** To talk to your japanese cousins? Focus on listening/speaking, and using the informal register. For business? Make sure your native-language material includes logic and debate and learn to use the more formal tone. These are things that will change whether you focus on reading or writing or listening or speaking, what formality level you focus on, what vocabulary will be most relevant to you, and grammar, too. Match your methods to your goals.
So true...
Nice! Me, too. Now, I measure my progress with consistency and in hours. Be sure to forgive yourself if you miss 1-2 days of practice, though. 💖
I have never really set any goals in language learning. I just practice as much as possible and have the mindset that no matter how long it takes, I will eventually get fluent.
Yeah I don't set goals for my future ability level at a certain date, my goals are for how much and what kind of practice I do.
These tips are SO IMPORTANT. Also, I genuinely think TH-cam itself can be both helpful and harmful to language learning. We get awesome tips and tools from creators like you, but then we get these 'fluent in 20 languages in 1 month' clickbait videos that convince us somehow that there IS a set way to magically become fluent that we ourselves are somehow just unable to do. I genuinely think avoiding those is a hugely important step as well lol
Now that you have said “Don’t compare yourself to people who’ve been studying languages for 10-15 years.” I feel so stupid, I was doing that and I’m 17 like whut
They literally have a whole lifetime on you in this case 😹
Please don't feel stupid, I'm 19 and I still compare myself to others like that sometimes... it's a work on yourself, it takes time too
Ayy same I’m 17 too feeling same way
Same
Literally same, I’m 17 and I beat myself up over hitting a brick a wall because I’ve been looking at the masters of learning languages
- Whose example do you follow?
- Well, we are all here, aren't we?
I think more about language-learning habits than goals. My weekly and monthly goals nowadays tend to be of the "continue doing what I'm doing" sort. This approach is paying off for me. There's less stress, there are gradual but noticeable results, and occasionally I change up to more challenging activities.
Your explanations, Lindie, are very clear. Hopefully, a lot of people will take your advice. These are the same lessons that I've learned along the way.
Yes! Habits are a great way to look at it. Goals can be tricky, and I'm learning a lot this year about goals vs habits.
Same here. Unless there's an upcoming language exam, it's more of a "Dedicate every waking hour to language X (the harder one), dedicate lunchtime to Language Y, do stuff throughout the day for Language Z"). Works like a charm. The rest just organizes itself.
I also just do what I do and it helps me get fluent. I don't really focus on having language learning goals
Thankfully I didn't set crazy goals that I would be fluent (in Korean) in 8 months. I just practiced and practiced, and now I'm able to understand a good amount of Korean content (TH-cam videos about daily lives, insights in Kpop Idol life, random topics, Hello Counselor, etc). The only time I started setting goals was late last year, but it was only to learn grammar that I didn't know and learning 20-60 Korean words every week or two. Thanks to those goals, I can now read Webtoons and understand 85%-90% of it. Note, I didn't purposely say "I'm going to read Webtoons with ease in 5 months!!" I just simply practiced, and got to that point. 😊
Lindie, you got me straight away. I did the evil compare. I remember a few weeks back on an IG livestream when you were studying Vietnamese and I said to myself "wow, I started this the same year and Lindie is already so far more advanced than me. I need to get better!" - without actually realising that I'd actually really made a lot of progress in Thai, which is obviously useful given that I work/live in Bangkok. So when I looked back on that just now, I did the wrong thing by the whole race/comparing mentality that brutally is in the language community, but I did the right thing by putting focus on learning Thai syntax and really practising my reading skill that I've gone from slowly reading Thai like a baby to now reading the first book of the Harry Potter series.
I think it's super important to be realistic with yourself. Everyone has different ways of learning and reaching their own goals and that is perfectly fine! ✨
Whenever I hear Lindie speaking Korean I get 100 times more motivated. I hope I can be like you in some years
Something that I find really important as well is that not always tips from polyglots will be applicable to beginners! As you said in your video, learning languages will teach you how to do new connections to new languages, you learn about techniques that work for you and so on. People who studies several languages have more practice in doing so; beginners don't have as much baggage.
So some times, beginners/first time language learners won't really benefit from some tips polyglots may share because their brain still isn't "trained" to learn languages! I'm not saying that we should ignore everything polyglots say, but I find important to filter it.
For example, polyglots that say that focusing on grammar is a waste of time, that they did it with their first couple of languages but now don't do it anymore. Of course after studying 5/6 languages you'll be able to pick up on grammar more easily, you have a larger database! But if this is your first time learning a language, you will probably need to study it to try and understand how the language works. Also, you need to take into account how different the language is from your mother tongue (I'm native in Portuguese and learning Korean; there is no way to simply assimilate Korean because it is totally different from Portuguese!)
Agree
I agree. I myself am learning Korean and I find it's a VERY grammar heavy language built on particle after particle . So how am I not suppose to learn grammar?? I don't get why they say tings like that ..
As an 'older' person the only goals I set now are time. If I learn language x for 6 months - an hour in the morning and again in the evening - and lets see where we are at the end of that. This has got me to about B1 in French/Italian/German, but I had some previous knowledge. I just switch from one to another. No pressure, no finishing line, just keep going for the sheer fun of it.
I no longer click on "Look how I learned x language in a day/week" videos, because that's just, you know... bs! That depends on a lot of things, like languages that you already know, your native language etc. As you "quoting Steve" said: the goal is to look back at your journey and see how much you learned!
I’ve been learning Bulgarian for three years and I’m at the point where I’ve improved a lot and can converse with Bulgarians but I’m still struggling to speak fluidly and without mistakes. This video reminded me of the progress I’ve made and given me inspiration to set goals to get me over the intermediate hump :)
I'm learning Mandarin Chinese from about 7 months now and I'm really enjoying the process of adapting to a new language.
And I also learning Japanese from 2 months now, Omg! The journey from 你好 to basic conversation is just amazing.
Btw Love watching your video 🙃
你太好了!
I know exactly what you mean. I have been learning Mandarin for the past 2 years and now I take meeting and discuss with my friend in mandarin for one hour nonstop and I don't even feel tired.
@@AfroLinguo I just can't stop learning Mandarin it's really addictive 😂
@@bhagyalaxmisalaskar2054 For real. I love it as well.
The more I zoom in and get specific with the goals I set the less anxious I am, when my goal is vague, man the anxiety is off the charts and suddenly it's no longer a hobby, but in reality that's what it it #InItForTheHobby💞
I got the same reaction when I told people I was gonna try to learn Chinese, German and Spanish this year.. but they didn’t know I had been learning Spanish since elementary school, German since middle school, and Mandarin since high school lol not at the rate and dedication I’ve given this year but enough to have a good idea of how the language basics work and a decent probably 200 word vocab for each, maybe 400 for Spanish
I loved how she said, "relax and enjoy the process". Beautiful video. 👌
You've motivated me, especially when you were talking about 'looking back at what you could only say before'. It's very true, always check how far we've gone rather than all the time how far we have to go
The best goals to me are the kind I can tick off of a calendar everyday - go through one grammar point and record a video diary using the grammar I learned that day, etc. Goal setting via establishing a routine is far more trackable and the progress is guaranteed to come as a result!
Great video as always. My struggle with goals is that it's sometimes hard to make them specific and measurable, especially once you're in the advanced stage. One of my main goals for Korean right now is just to be able to express myself more easily in more advanced topics. It's almost impossible to set measurable goals for that haha.
I've literally gone on overnight trips with friends where I've basically only spoken Korean for two days straight, and I can communicate fine in most areas, but it can be hard to find space to jump in when in fast-paced group conversations, and I still struggle to get my point across in an elegant way in many topics, which is obviously frustrating. More practice will obviously help me improve, but I don't like setting time-based goals because those always feel like I'm putting quantity over quality. So for now I'm just keeping my vague goal and hoping I get better over time.
Omg ur book collection are goals
Loved this Lindie!! I often get people going “no way can you do x languages” and as you say, often I’m just doing maintenance on the majority of them! And I’m glad you mentioned “Get Language to A2” - it’s a real temptation to do that, especially early on when all other progress is harder to define, but good to avoid too. Great video as ever 😊
Thanks for the tips.
Happy to help!
Chosing which already known language to approach a new language with is so interesting! I've noticed I do it unintentionally to a degree. I'm a native English speaker and I know a decent amount of Spanish. Because of this, while I do prefer English translations of French vocabulary, it's much easier for me to consider Spanish grammar when learning French grammar. That totally makes sense, since they're both romance languages, but I was still suprised at how much I found myself reaching for my Spanish knowledge.
I took the TOPIK II exam today and it was absolutely chaotic ! I already know that I’m not gonna have it but hey, at least I know that TOPIK exam is not a good way FOR ME to progress in a language. I noticed that I’m really not a “textbook” person but more of a “conversation person”. I can only memorize words if I say them out loud or use them in a conversation. So I will continue to take classes on Italki and learn Korean through podcasts, dramas and conversations, and I will improve slowly but surely 😊 Thank you Lindie !
Thank you for be my motivation to learning languages. I'm learning korean and I'm intermediate-advanced in English.
What’s your native language?
@@M_SC It's Spanish
고생하십니다. 노동도 하시고 영상도 만드시고, 언어도 배우시고. 저는 독일어 배워요. : )
Thank you for posting this. I have some unrealistic goals that I didn’t know I had.
I know now that I need to set some more realistic goals and slow down. I’m adding to much pressure to myself.
I'm Polish and my native language is Polish. Recently, I started to learn Korean on online classes. A lecturer speaks in Polish but she used to learn Japanese. I've been learning Japanese for about 10 years and I think it's great that she knows Japanese. Thanks to that I can ask her about similar topics that exist in Japanese, and that way Korean is much easier to understand😀
Such great advice, just what I needed to hear right now. I have started to take a french course at our college and it's advanced, I am loving it and feeling a little overwhelmed. Mostly with the exams that is where I am slow and struggle.
Loved this video! You are seriously one of my major sources of inspiration and motivation in my language learning journey, Ms Botes!
I've been studying Korean since February 2017 so 2 years and some months .. I've reached the intermediate plateau long ago.. maybe even a year and a half ago.. I have for sure improved since than but not in the way i'd want to. I still cant understand well what people say to me, i still cant understand webtoons to read them fast(pictures help but like.. difficult.. ) so i've lost most of my motivation to study. Using this goal setting and just viewing it differently will hopefully help me, so thank you for the video. Hopefully i can reach better understanding of the language with your help. Instead of saying " i wanna be fluent by the end of the year" and losing motivation my March due to lack of visible progress i will set goals like " I want to understand that 10 minute video, like really understand every single thing in it, or i want to have a meaningful conversation about this and that topic with a Korean person. I think setting and than reaching proper goals is a great boost to motivation and i am sad i haven't even thought about this before watching your video. Once again, thank you for the awesomeness and knowledge.
After watching your video, I can finally understand that learning a language is about the whole process and it takes a lot of years 'till you master it (considering that we're still learning things in our mother tongue even in adulthood, now I quite doubt one can learn ALL of a language). I've been in a run to learn Finnish, upgrade my English to C2 and learn French as well. I was even planning to spend even more time on this project! But, at this point I conclude that a stable, strong habit is more powerful than peaks of productivity.
Thank you for your transparency. This is profoundly encouraging.
LOVE YOURSELF AND ENJOY THE PROCESS
Setting a specific goal is really a good way to improve language skills and become fluent at the end.
I always love your video and support you!
She could be a good teacher. Thank you for this Miss. Lindie it was very eye opening and motivational.
Thank you for another helpful video, they help me a lot with the languages I know 🇨🇴🇺🇸🇧🇷🇫🇷
The mindset thing is so true. When you want to say something and you start directly translating the idea you have in your head to any language, it often ends up being a mess. Someone smart once said, ''If you want to say something, but don't know how... you don't know how to say it correctly yet.''
In my case I was trying to make it up for the lost time, I first started learning Japanese and Russian in 2004, but never managed to learn those languages so far, so I have decided to set very aggressive goals for language learning, and just got frustrated, now I'm taking a more easy and light approach to it, having much more fun and learning in a steady pace ...
i like how positive the way you approach in learning a language , it is as difficult to get into learning just as much as having someone whom shares the same path and compliments each other , rather than fierce competition
goals are directions to me , not the complete ends , it's still trial and error , i'm failing and learning and i don't hate that , feels like i've depended on you in a way to confirm myself , thanks
Thank you for your well thought advices !! I really appreciate your sincerity, and watching your videos always feels relaxing ☺️ most of language learning channels are like « how to learn X language in 3months » but I totally agree that it doesn’t work like that, for me at least. Learning a language takes a loooot of time and involvement and there’s no need to feel stressed or pressured in the process ! Wish you the best 💕
I have been watching your channel for a long time and see how you develop your vision for language studying. Evidently some moments can be understood only when staying in longtime process, as you. Now I comprehend this tips too
The reflexion of this video is you can have mistakes but you have to fix them and try to get better
Im your fan lindie
I've never seen TH-camrs saying like "you shouldn't make mistakes"
We don't need to think about negative thing like having mistakes. Making mistakes might be help your process. But this is just hobby. We need to take it easy. We don't need to think about mistakes even though that's helpful advice. As many polyglots including her say, it's good just having fun leaning process.
One way of learning language I found by myself is translating. It doesn't have to be something complicated. For example, my native language is Croatian and I applied to be a subber on viki.com (subbing from English to Croatian/Serbocroatian). Viki is kind of like Asian Netflix. Subbers are volunteers, but you get a premium version of Viki after only 3 thousand subtitles. My English level was intermediate when I started subbing. After one year and 40 thousand subtitles, I translated few kdramas for people in my country. My English level increased without me paying attention. Of course, not most dramas have complicated vocabulary, but my vocabulary expanded. Besides, I am learning Korean and listening to Korean while translating English words to Croatian helps me a lot.
Another advice of mine - change your subtitle language when watching foreign TV shows. For example, I am just starting a college with a major in Spanish. My favorite kdrama is Strong Woman Do Bong Soon. Now I started rewatching it, but with Spanish subtitles. It really helps a lot because I already know what's happening in the drama, but my Korean level is not high enough to understand all the words - this is a great way for me to expand my Spanish vocabulary.
Thank you. Very nice video and I love the tip to make measurable goals. Have a great week.
It is definitely true that the way you learn one language is not the same way you learn another. I personally learnt German three years ago, and was focusing on writing a lot, because I wanted to master the complicated grammatical structure but today, learning Mandarin, I focus more on reading and speaking, so that I can get the pronunciation right, and recognise the characters.
I think I've figured out the confusion over fluency. DO not confuse fluency with the mastery of a language. You can be fluent in a language without having mastered it. This is a master of not knowing what fluency is. To be fluent means to be able to use the language in a quick and fluid manner. It means your capacity is such that you can actually use the language in an organic and natural way without disruption.
Having that ability does not mean you have mastered the language...it just means you can use it. I like to contrast fluency with accuracy. The two concepts form a dialectic relationship between the two. And the mastery of a language means knowing how to balance that relationship so that you cna always engage in and use that language whenever the motivation and emotion to do so hits you. And in this way, it joins your native tongue in being a part of you. Rather than accessory to your language skills that you haven't incorporated yet, and do not truly understand or cherish.
At leats this is my understanding as a bilingual. At some point I will begin the process with French, and am very excited. But not yet!!!
It occurs to me that I used to be so worried about learning Chinese because I'm also learning Korean and didn't want to mix them up. I finally decided to just start it anyway and have been having so much fun! I never set a goal besides just wanting to be able to follow a basic conversation, but I definitely have a different approach than with Korean. And now my enthusiasm is restored for both!
I have a long term goal of going to uni to learn Japanese but to do that I have to first get a GCSE and an a level in Japanese. So my short term goals are to finish all of the courses I have for Japanese on memrise then fill in gaps as appropriate for the GCSE’s I just think that these courses on my phone are a good starting point and a way to keep motivated because I can track my progress easily through them. I’ll also be consuming a lot of Japanese content in the mean time😁 I’m having so much fun with this.
Your videos are so helpful. Thank you so much🙂
Great vedio, you are absolutly right. When i decided to learn turkich after learning german and spanish, i thought that it will be easier because i am an arabic native, and everbody say that arabic and turkish are very close, so i used the same method of learning. In fact i was wrong, so i changed my method and it is getting easer now. Ya, languages are different, and need diffrent approch
I know that these “how I learned a language in x months” videos can give a wrong impression on language learning because it is simply not possible to completely learn a language in such a short time (if it’s even possible to “completely” learn a language because I think it’s not). And yet for me they can also definitely be a motivation booster for me, when I see what others can achieve in that time. But of course it is still always important to not pressure oneself and not compare oneself to such unrealistic “achievements”. I think I’m doing a good job in keeping a balance between drawing motivation from such language learning posts or videos but also not pressuring myself by them and maybe even ending up procrastinating
Very useful tips! I totally agree with you.
Another video so soon, you’re spoiling us!
Great video! I’m curious how you choose which languages to learn. Do you have a list? Just by feel and what you love? Great channel. 😊👍🏼
Thank you Lindie, for more words of wisdom. :)
The worst is when you stop learning for a while then decide one day to study and get overwhelmed by how much you 1 haven't progressed because you stopped and 2 how much you've regressed and forgotten 😥 who else does this to themself 😅
Don't call me out like that 😩
As I remember Ms. Lindie's speaking Korean, I started to look at your lips' change when you speak English.
awwww thank you for this video
I don't think I've ever been so early. This is just the video I needed too!
Thank you Lindie, this is excellent advice and very good insights. Baie dankie
I started translating Korean song lyrics while reading about grammar. At first I had to look up every word and grammar but nowadays I already recognise some grammar structures an vocabulary and I even could figure out some lyrics from just listening to a song without looking it up. "우리 집으로 가자" let's go to our/my house. ^^
Hello ,you r alway my inspiration . I always go down and always come up to my goal when I watch your videos❤️
I have been studying japanese for a couple of months now but something I did do from the beginning was being realistic to myself. I knew that it would take me months and Even years to learn the language well so I decided to do Monthly goals which is basically My study schedule for that month, which of course I AM human so I don't necessarily follow it perfectly. However, I did decide to go easy on myself since this is the first time that I am learning a new language.
Love your aspect great to keep in mind
Thank you Lindie for this special video I needed this so hard !✨
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD LINDIE :)
Thank u so much for this Lindie!!💖
Merci beaucoup !
I like a lot this reflection vids you have. Today really reminded me and reassured me about my journey with languages
My goals are low because I'm not trying to have an aneurysm every day. One language is all I'm doing (Korean). 10 new words each day. And now I know 10 more than I knew yesterday, perhaps a few new phrases using those words or using grammar in context of those sentences with those words. And that's enough. If I do it for a year that'll be thousands of words. And just rinse, repeat, review all the words until they stick. It just takes time and I'm in no rush.
Your first sentence made me laugh.😂
yey i'm early! and i also revised my language learning schedule today so i feel like this video is so perfect for today's mood hahahha
I love your lipstick shade❤️
Which is that?
I get aha's every time now that I read or watch TV in Finnish. Feels great.
I have not gotten to particles in the Korean language yet, so when you said those examples, I was like "Oh My". Hahaha I must say, I wish I had started learning another language when I was much younger.
SMART goals for life!
Great tips:)!
Lindie is sooooo helpful 🤗
this video is great, thank you.
can you talk about how can you make a balance between your language goals and the other duty you have to do?
Here is my question for your video with Luca L. Are the best methods for language learning for experienced language learners the same for beginners, especially monolingual people.
mostanában olyan szép nézel ki! a videóid mindig szuper hasznos 🌞 hogy van a magyarod? i found one of your videos on hungarian at the beginning of the summer and it inspired me to get back to studying after years off! if you ever want more hungarian resources, i have lots i can share!
I'd love to hear what the progress of getting to that half hour of Vietnamese conversation looked like. In the month I was there my pronunciation got nowhere and Steve Kaufman said the same thing.
Thank you very much for this video!.. I really needed to hear that
i wish i could write my essays like how you talk oml :)
"Setting a measurable goal" this part really reminds me of the concept of OKR 😝
Justo las palabras que necesitaba escuchar esta semana.
pd. me regrese para comprobar que te estan enseñando los apodos de cada nombre jajaja super padre.
Always so sensible, keep it up
Lindie, if you don't mind could you please share how old were you when you started learning languages and how old are you now?
Hi Lindie! Do you have any tips for balancing language learning with bible study, work, socializing, etc.?
For accent reduction though I hear the most important thing is to not be complacent with your pronunciation. How do you push forward towards more native like pronunciation without having harsh almost unrealistic goals forself? Accent reduction is the place where I could see this type of "unhealthy" approach being necessary.
Hello, You allready know speak espanish verry well, can You do a video for English learners?
Awesome, yes need a goal
I'm terrible at setting goals. It doesn't get vaguer than... my first goal is to study Chinese. My second goal is to study a bit of Korean. And then lastly, maintain my Japanese. I don't think my goals are helping me very much but at least I can say I achieved my goals 😆
I was wondering if you have some tips on how to study efficiently several languages at the same time. I try studying Chinese (intermediate), Japanese (basic) & Korean (basic), but I have a feeling that I don’t do much progress
I could learn Portuguese in two weeks - but I already knew French and Spanish. Learning Latin is taking longer (there are several features which are lost in modern Italo-Western languages), and learning Turkish or Chinese would take a lot longer.
I started Korean 2 months ago from 0 and with Duolingo to learn the basics and my goal is to apply for TOPIK and obtain level 2 (?)
So inspirational❤️❤️
A "bad" goal I set up for myself was to take the HSK 4 exam in December (I started learning in March). But I felt like it's making me feel stressed and uneasy. So I decided to take it sometime in the future after I went to China (and then maybe a higher level).
I don't know if anyone else knows that feeling, but I think it's not a good goal for the first year of studying.
I also notice that when I try to help someone, it seems as though they don't really care