Whelp, my October ‘resolutions’ didn’t last long, so I’ve decided to go back to a tried-and-true method of keeping myself on track: Clear the List! November’s been a busy month, so I’m hoping to slow down in December, but I’m already thinking ahead to what 2020 might bring…
How’s everyone else’s month been? Or your year, even, since I’ve barely been around since the start of it.
It might seem a little early to look back and judge, but really most of the things I’ve had change this year have happened in the last three months or so, so it’s been a very busy time. November especially—I went to the Language Show and Expolingua Berlin for work (say what?!), both of which left me feeling really excited and keen to get back to language learning again.
Hence, this post.
Now, I’m actually not going to set myself any ambitious goals for December—there’s far too much to be done already—but I do want to create some good habits in preparation for January, as well as plan out the ideas I already have for how I’d like my first year in the new decade to turn out!
So, this is my list:
- Study/use each of my languages (German, Mandarin, Spanish, and Korean) for at least fifteen minutes per day (excluding Christmas Day).
You’ll notice French is missing from that list—once again, I’ve failed miserably at the Free and Legal Language Challenge; not because I think there’s anything wrong with the challenge itself (I’m absolutely on board with people using as many free materials as possible because language materials can be real expensive) but because I like French, but I’m not in love with it as a language. I’d like to get my Korean up to a decent beginner’s level by the end of December just because that’ll make it easier to add a new main language in 2020, but if I don’t achieve that, I don’t.
- Complete my Mandarin watching for the Super Challenge.
I’m so close on this that it would be a shame to not manage it! I’m not under any illusions I’ll finish the rest of the challenge, for any language, but I tried harder this time around than any of the times before, so I’m still impressed with what I’ve done.
- Prepare the blog for 2020.
This means planning some posts, revamping the blog a little (which I’ve already started) and thinking about what direction I want to take moving forward. I’ve been running this blog, off and on, for about seven years, and I think I’ve never really settled on what I want it to be. I don’t necessarily want to teach languages but I do want to give something back, both to the language learning community and to all the people out there who think they can’t learn languages, whatever their reasons are. Hopefully, this will become clearer over the next month but if it takes more time, that’s fine, too.
I have already decided on the other ‘main’ language I’m going to add to my repertoire next year (don’t tell, but I might have already started on it!) and I have another kind of project I want to do, as well. I’m very excited about it but it is going to require continuous, concerted effort throughout the year (we all know that consistency is perhaps not my forte) so I’m trying to get as many of my ducks in a row as I can now so that I don’t have to do a lot of extra work later.
I’m hoping to announce it here mid-December but here’s a clue for the blog title: 20 XX XX in 2020.
(Shouldn’t be ~super~ hard to guess!)
What’s everyone else planning for December? What do you have in mind for 2020? What do you think I’ll be doing? Let me know!
And don’t forget, you too can:
JOIN CLEAR THE LIST + SHARE YOUR GOALS!
1. Share your goal post whether it includes your aspirations for the month or year. Submissions unrelated to the theme or links to your homepage will be deleted.
2. Link back to this post.
3. Follow the hosts: Lindsay from Lindsay Does Languages and Shannon from Eurolinguiste.
4. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE: Please visit the site of the person who linked up immediately before you and leave them an encouraging comment! By hosting this linkup, we’re hoping to create a positive community where we can all share our goals. If you do not do this, you will be removed from the linkup.
5. Share on social media using #ClearTheList.