Hey, guys! I’ve been away from tumblr for a couple of weeks due to some family issues. During this time I haven’t had time to dedicate to languages but I’ve had time to think about what I was doing and what I want to do. I’ve realized a couple of things I want to share with you in case you are in the same situation.
1. Perfectionism-procrastination combo. I love the idea of being a polyglot, and I’d love to be able to speak multiple languages at a C1 level but I’m afraid of making mistakes. I’ve started and stopped studying Korean a hundred times for this exact reason. “Oh, I made this little mistake/my handwritting is not neat enough- I guess I’d have to stop studying now” It’s not that I’m giving up, it’s that in my mind I’m supposed to do things perfectly the first time around.
2. Comparison. Some of you are AMAZING and a huge font of inspiration for me. Sometimes I don’t stop and think that those are not your first notes. That you didn’t wake up one day speaking a foreing language. I need to remind myself of all the hard work you all had to put on your language journey to be where you are.
3.Different language journeys. On top of that last point, I need to be aware that each one of us has unique habilities and overall circunstances. It might take me longer that “user-x” to learn French, but at the same time, I could learn Italian in less time that the exact same person.
We don’t have the same goals when it comes to this. Some of you need or want to learn faster for school or a job, someone only wants to learn a couple of words once in a while. And that whole spectrum of learning paces are ok.
4. You have to put time into it. There’s no magic formula. I can’t study one day and then forget about it for the next 12 and expect to reach fluency at the end of the month. Yes, I might have some things going against me, but even if it’s half an hour a day, I should do more work.
5. Have fun. Like I said, I have super high goals, and I usually forget that this is fun. I’ve said this in a different post before and as you can see I’m still strugling with it, but I should just enjoy the time between where I am and where I want to be, have fun with it instead of getting so frustrated and ending up hating it just because it’s taking more time than I think it should.
From now on, my I’ll try to be more realistic and kind to myself and at the same time, being more constant with my studies. I hope I can get back to the point where I just loved sitting down learning about languages and not avoid it because of fear of not being good enough.
Thank you to all my followers to stay with me during this times even when I haven’t posted original study content. And to all of my beautiful langblrs, because you are the reason and inspiration for me to still love languages and want to get better with it.
