Well, here I am doing Clear The List three days late. Well actually a month and three days late. I skipped Clear The List last month as I had just got so demoralised and demotivated with language learning. I felt I hadn't been getting anywhere and hadn't learned anything in my target language and was basically ready to give up completely. So I decided to take (yet another) month off.
Now I'm back and I'm here to break all the rules (learning two languages at the same time is verboten in some quarters). I've decided to pick up a dabble language. It's actually a language from my mental list of six or so languages I'd like to learn one day but I'm trying to keep it playful (to steal a phrase from Ryron Gracie). The idea is to try to re-capture some of that feeling of excitement when you learn your first basic phrases in a new language. There's that initial endorphin dump of accomplishment when you first manage to introduce yourself or ask someone's name (or ask where the toilet is) without reading off a bit of paper. The hope was that the return of the enthusiasm will re-ignite my passion for my other target language and it's working but I'll get to that in a bit.
So the language I've chosen to pick up: Arabic!!
I started yesterday and I'm so excited. It took me a while to decide if I was going to go with MSA or start with a dialect straight away. It seems that everyone on the internet has a different opinion on the best approach. MSA seems like the way forward for the time being, then I'll add in Egyptian Arabic once I decide I want to stop sounding like an Al-Jazeera anchor. One brilliant piece of luck has been discovering that my Brisbane City Council library card means that I get free access to the paid Mango Languages courses, which include MSA and Egyptian Arabic.
Goals for July
Arabic
Week 1: Learn the Arabic alphabet using the Read And Write Anything In Arabic In Only 6 Videos series
Weeks 2 to 4: One Mango lesson per day.
Gàidhlig
Daily contact with the language.
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All my previous attempts at Clear The List have been grandiose goals that I was unlikely to fulfill. Setting myself up to fail basically. This time I'm setting smaller goals with the hope of developing a habit, while having fun and still learning.
Good luck with reconnecting to your motivation!
ReplyDeleteDon't be disheartened if you hit a language slump - we all have them. I think having a second language to dabble in when you need a break from your main language is far more productive than focusing solely on one (well that's my opinion anyway - I'd give up completely if I had to master just one at a time). I have one primary focus and one secondary focus languages, and others I dabble in, knowing I'm not likely to make serious progress in them at all, but I'm ok with that.
ReplyDeleteArabic is a pretty big language - I'm impressed that you're picking it up! It's one that I have on my future wish list. I wish you all the best this month!
Don't feel too bad...I was ten days late! Good luck with Arabic!
ReplyDelete