How is it 2021 already? Well, here goes- these are my goals for the year!

In general: watch more language youtube videos- I’ve gotten behind already. There’s so much that’s free & readily available, don’t forget about it!

French: I’m missing out on my speaking practice…I should really try fitting italki into my schedule! I want to do more writing prompts, for some of those sweet language output points. I also have a backlog of French podcasts to try out.

Spanish: Again, I wanted to try italki for Spanish this year, and did I do that? Nooo I’d like to finish reading the Short Stories in Spanish book by Olly Richardson that I own, and move on to an actual book. I’ve read parts of Spanish books before, and I struggled through Harry Potter y la piedra filosofal when I was in college, but I’d like to get back into reading books in Spanish again. I also have a bunch of Spanish movies in my netflix queue and a list of Spanish podcasts to try. Always something to check out- but this is a good problem to have!

Italian: Continue reading the Intermediate Short Stories in Italian book by Olly. I want to continue working on/finish the grammar textbook from my class in Rome (back in October 2019). I also need to start reading actual books & watching more movies. My Italian movie knowledge is woefully lacking!

Chinese: Prep & study, then take the HSK1 exam at home. I’d like to test myself to see where my skills lie, and get a better idea of what I need to work on. How much have I actually learned?? I’ve already started this, but I’m moving on from Drops- maybe I’ll get more into Memrise, TCB? I also want to start reading manga & kids books to continue my reading skills. It might be a struggle, but if I can make myself read something regularly, soon enough I know it’ll become less of a workout for my brain!

Polish: Continue learning from textbook, watch youtube vids, find online exercise worksheets

Icelandic: Continue learning from textbook, watch youtube vids, find online exercise worksheets

^Same goals for these two languages. I’m still considering them low-priority. I’m just having fun with them for now, and learning when I can!

ASL: I fell out of my ASL learning this past year, after being really excited about it in Fall 2019… It really is difficult to keep up all of these languages haha! I think I need to get back to my ASL University online videos, as well as implement Tik Tok into my practice. That’s right, you read that correctly! There are pretty good videos by ASL signers on Tik Tok and they often include subtitles. So that would be a good place to have fun low-intensity practice.

All that said…I’m actually adding 2 more languages to my learning list this year! I have a big birthday coming up, and life waits for no one. I can learn these languages starting now if I want, and with no pressure, I can make progress the way I want! So I’m finally going to start learning German and Japanese.

German: pick 1 textbook & find youtube lessons, borrow audio cds from library (do some language laddering with French/Spanish?)

Japanese: pick 1 grammar textbook, 1 book on characters, & find youtube lessons, borrow audio cds from library (do some language laddering with French/Spanish?)

^I have a similar set up for how I want to start these languages, as you can see. At this point, I’m very familiar with how I learn best, and what will be the most fun & effective for me.

So there you go! Those are my somewhat practical/somewhat idealistic goals for the new year! I wish you the best with your goals, and a happy, healthy, fortunate 2021!

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