7 Bullet Points About Languages - Week 43
Hi everybody,
I hope your week was marvelous!
As I told you last week, I took a break from languages to recharge a bit. I don't think I'm fully charged yet but I'm starting to itch to learn more so I'll start getting back into an active learning routine from now on! This week gave me time to reevaluate my love for languages and the pressure I've put on myself to improve quickly. I'm pretty sure this was what got me to burn out. If you made the same mistake, give yourself permission to take a break or slow down. It helps a lot!
Alrighty then. Let's dive in!
Each week, I share 7 things that could be useful to your learning odyssey. I hope they can help you improve your journey, tickle your curiosity, and inspire you to keep exploring.
One video: Autumnal Language Learning Activities ― Polyglot Progress
Wow, if that wasn't a great video, I don't know what is. I misread the title when I clicked on it and thought it'd be a review of Abigail's activities. It's not. It's a list of tasks to learn a language during the autumnal season. Some are quite original but I loved each! I'll probably try some of them in the upcoming months.
One article I read: How to learn a language? Start guessing ― Magdalena Sawicka
An incredibly short article but a great reminder that getting better at a language comes down to learning to guess often and distinguish patterns. Right on point.
One article I wrote: 3 Uncommon Ways to Regain Motivation to Learn a Language
I wrote this piece a few weeks back so it was quite interesting to reread it as I polished it. My own article also helped me regain some motivation to learn languages so I hope it can do the same to you if you're feeling low!
One podcast episode: JJsays (雪莲说) on How to Learn Chinese, Conquer Insecurities & Figure Out What Methods Work For You ― I Will Teach You A Language podcast
I had never heard of JJsays so it was great to hear about a new person's journey to a high level of fluency! Even if you're not learning Chinese, this interview could be useful for you to survive your insecurities and keep improving by combating perfectionism.
One tool to try: Coupling
I haven't tried this tool in detail since I'm not in a relationship right now, but if you are, this could be the perfect tool for you! The concept is simple. Do some small challenges with your partner and improve together. There's even a space-repetition system included in the app and it's got cute colors. I couldn't find the "app" the creator talked about but the website seems to work just as well on phone as on the computer. You can also check the creator's substack page for (irregular) updates and screenshots.
One quote to ponder: "Identity and values drive behavior." ― Tom Bilyeu
New biweekly challenge: Get feedback on 15 sentences (minimum)
For the next two weeks, let's practice a bit our output. The goal is to get feedback on any sentence you create daily, on HiNative. If you're at an intermediate level or already write a lot in your language, turn this into a daily short text on Journaly (made for longer texts). I plan on doing short sentences in Chinese on HiNative and maybe 1 or 2 longer posts on Journaly.
Sum-up of the 2nd week of the last challenge: Learn 3 words a day
As I mentioned last week, I took a real break from languages so nothing much from me here! I hope you crushed it though!
Let me know how it went for you by sending me a mail at barra.mathias@gmail.com!
As always, thanks for reading!
Mathias Barra
For more of my articles, you can find them here.