Tadoku finished five days ago, so today is just my little summary post about how I did, what I read and how I think I can do even better next time!
My original goal was 250 pages, which is a pretty modest goal considering that I can read quite well in German now, but I was thinking too about the assignments and work I had to do in January. I’d passed that goal before the two week mark and then set myself a goal of 475 pages, just shy of double the original goal.
I didn’t hit that target, but I did finish this first round of 2014 with an (I think, anyway) impressive 404 pages under my belt! Of this, 385 pages were in German, thirteen were in Mandarin and six were in Spanish.
Obviously, I do want to up those numbers in other languages – but the fact that I read so much in German shows me at least that I’m enjoying reading in German now. There are still a lot of words that I don’t understand, but getting the gist of things isn’t so hard anymore; and that’s not just because I’m reading Harry Potter all the time. I need to make more of an effort with Mandarin in the next Tadoku, simply because I am finding it a little easier to read now (though it’s still difficult), and if I don’t practice that skill, I’m never going to improve it.
Choosing to do Spanish for this round was fun, but not particularly beneficial. I read six pages total of Los juegos del hambre, but they didn’t really improve my understanding of anything. I’m going to see how the 6 Week Challenge goes with Spanish before I decide whether to choose it as a language again for the next Tadoku (the next two week challenge in March; the next month long challenge is June).
In terms of consistency, too, I am sorely lacking. I did read 404 pages, but I only read anything on twelve of the thirty-one days in January, so that’s not as good as I’d like. It meant that my round average was 11.54 pages a day – which isn’t bad, but if I take those 404 pages and divide them by the twelve days I actually read anything on, that’s an average of 33.66 pages a day; which would have meant over 1,040 pages for the entire month! So consistency is another thing I’m hoping for in March, and I’m trying to start implementing that now. I’m attempting to get into a routine of reading something before I go to bed, but I am finding that difficult. Hopefully as I get more into it, it’ll happen on its own. (I also still have to finish Harry Potter und der Feuerkelch, but I’m on the third task – nearly there!)
Still, I finished with 404 pages that I wouldn’t have read otherwise and in 49th place for the round – so I broke the top 50, too! I do enjoy doing the Tadoku Challenge every time it rolls around, and I’m already looking forward to the next one. I hope to see some of you doing it too! 🙂