It’s Okay to Take a Step Back, Isn’t It?

Reflections on displaced energy & motivation.

Image created with DALL-E 3

For the past few weeks, I’ve been highly motivated to learn… anything but my target languages. Sorry, let me rephrase that. I meant “anything but languages.”

And I really do mean learn, as in “study.”

I don’t mind getting some exposure but, apart from my Korean Interpretation & Translation class, I haven’t really made time to study languages. When I first noticed it, I felt bad. That’s not “who I am,” I thought. Or is it? After all, I am an all-or-nothing guy who’ll focus on one thing over all else for a short burst before turning to something else.

It just happens that, most times, that thing is a language.

And, right now, it’s not.

You see, I’ve also been reflecting on my professional life and realized I hadn’t pushed myself to learn new skills for a while. This motivated me to start taking online classes I have access to through work. And that’s on top of (finally) getting my driver’s license.

Now, wanna know the funny part of this? I’ve been listening to Japanese much—much—more as a result. Whenever I feel my brain is tired, I turn to a Netflix animation movie or drama I had kept for a while for “someday.”

I always pushed them back, thinking I should sit and study those because otherwise, “How else would I improve my Japanese now that I’m at an advanced level?”

Instead, I should have phrased this differently to myself:

“Do I need to improve my Japanese now? Or can I enjoy it for a bit?”

So I’m enjoying it. Just like I’m also enjoying Korean as I’m slowly but surely coming to terms with calling myself an “advanced learner” of Korean.

So, yeah, I’m not far from my languages, but I’m not fully studying them.

I am still looking forward to that day when I’ll have the guts to go to a Parisian Mandarin meetup I found a few months back. After all, I’m also slowly realizing that, while I can’t speak it well, I can make out most words when I watch a show. My brain just doesn’t follow fast enough and conversations should help with all this.

But no rush. First, I want to spend more time on getting new and different skills, and improving a few (non-languages-related) others I already have.

And I’m also making more Origami 🦢 than ever while watching shows.

It feels strange to me not to feel bad for putting languages on the back burner. It also feels crucial to do it so I don’t burn out.

I’ve experienced burnout enough times to know when it’s getting close so I gotta be careful.

For now, I’m looking forward to finally getting my driver’s license sometime soon and taking whatever exam I choose to take in the near future.

Languages will always be there for me. Language learning is where I feel cozy.

It’s not going anywhere. It’ll wait for me to start yet another burst when the next itch comes around.

A simple reminder

So, yeah, another reminder for all learners. Just like

Lou

said it in April or

Victoria

earlier in March:

Don’t feel bad for taking a break.

Health—whether physical or mental—matters much more than the next 10 words you had planned on learning.

What do you want? A checkbox checked and a mind checked out? Or a lost streak and a mind that found its way back?

You can’t do everything. No matter how much you try. It’s impossible.

Remember this, Mathias, remember this.

Oh, and you too, dear reader 😉

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Cheers for reading these rather messy ramblings!
Mathias