I shared my language goals for 2021 in a previous post. As I was writing it, I thought about what I achieved in 2020!

French: I actually read 9 books in French this year! 5 manga books, 2 short novels, and 1 classic book. I didn’t watch as many French movies as I wanted to, but I watched a few early in the year. This is the kind of thing that teenage-me would have been thrilled about. Hard to see this perspective at the end of a year where I didn’t get as much speaking practice (no travel to a French-speaking country, no in-person conversation at a local meetup group, no scheduling italki lessons, etc). But reading often lends itself to the other categories of learning, so it’s never a bad thing to read more!

Spanish: I got more cultural practice this year, but I’m still proud of it! I regularly listened to El Washington Post‘s Spanish news podcast (15-20min of news about 2-3 times a week). I also listened to the Radio Menea podcast- which is in Spanglish, but has really cool cultural tidbits and music recommendations (new music & classic songs).

Italian: I finished the beginner book of Short Stories in Italian by Olly Richards, so that was cool earlier in the year. I’ve also managed to keep up with these 3 podcasts: Con Parole Nostre, Pensieri e Parole, and Learn Italian with Lucrezia.

Chinese: I’ve reached the Conversationalist level (890/1000 words) in the Drops Language App! That only means so much in real life, but it does mean that I’ve really gotten my use out the app. My character reading/recognition has also gotten much better. When I see little bits of Chinese on the copier at work, on packaging labels, and in Japanese packaging/posts online, I’m able to pick out words/phrases I know. Often, there are enough context clues for me, and I can read what the general meaning is. That always makes me feel good!

I started to write about my other languages, but realized I don’t have as many tangible wins for Polish, Icelandic, ASL. All I can say for now, is that I’m still having fun with them and enjoying slowly learning. That’s what counts, right?

I’ve made some good progress this past year, and I’m looking forward to continuing that momentum into this next year.

Plein de bisous pour tous xx