I freaking love new starts. Maybe even too much.
I’m always looking forward to the next beginning and preparing for the future rather than experiencing the present. Something I’ve been working on and succeeding in my daily life but not when I’m left alone with my thoughts.
If there’s one new start above them all, however, it’s January 1st. There’s something about it that gets me psyched. And I reckon that’s the period before it.
The Christmas period and overall less intense month of December.
Each year, I spend some time looking back and forward, weighing what went well and not, as well as what I should do for the next year.
In short, I check my goals and set new ones.
What’s interesting, however, is that I don’t care about achieving them.
Looking back at a messy year
My language goals last year were simple and not numerous:
Read at least 5 books in Korean
Get comfortable with reading Korean out loud.
Have basic conversations in German (min 5x)
This is exactly how I wrote them in my notebook. I achieved none.
Well, you could say I achieved the second one but what the hell does “get comfortable” mean anyway? I could already read and speak Korean last year so I wonder where that came from. I can still do it so I guess this is a success?
I’ve also read, what, 3 books? I’m midway through my 4th one now (불편의 편의점) so I guess this is a failure but I also read more Korean than I ever did in a year by living in Korea, studying for the TOPIK (and getting the second highest level!), and playing with ChatGPT. I’ve also recently read the three volumes of the manga version of Your Name in Korean.
One of the books I read was even about ChatGPT so it got me used to reading about technology and AI in Korean—something I’d have heard as a joke if anybody last year had told me I’d do that.
This raised my confidence in my Korean skills enough to get a new Korean book that digs even more into AI as a whole: AI지식.
As for German, well, I barely touched it the first half of the year and played a bit with it in September and October but I’m now about to focus on Mandarin so… that’s a proper failure?
Or is it? I’m feeling less lost whenever I see a new text in German now. Maybe it’s slowly starting to sink as I keep turning back to it throughout the years?
But now we’re getting into the truly interesting part.
You see, the goals I had set weren’t all that tough. Had I actively tried to reach them, I definitely could have.
But along the way, I found new tasks, new goals, new experiences.
As mentioned above, I took the TOPIK and got the second-highest level, by far. I was aiming for barely getting it—I needed 190 points out of 300—and got 219 points instead, which means I was actually only 11 points away from the highest possible (level 6).
I’ve also spoken tons of Korean throughout the year and gotten used to switching in and out of the language like I’ve been able to do in Japanese for a few years.
That’s a skill you can’t aim for but, my god, this feels good! 😁
I’ve also played with tons of other languages, finally dug into Yonaguni—in a lesser-known language deep-dive coming this month—, and practiced my Japanese regularly at the Rest Pub (레스트펍) in Sinchon, a place where only Japanese is allowed.
But above all this, I’ve lived almost the entire year in Korea and seen its mesmerizing four seasons. Well, we’re only slowly starting to get some snow but it’ll come. It’ll come.
I also visited Japan twice—a place I’ll always call my second home—and had loads of fun each time, seeing friends and experiencing the country with a new eye.
So yeah, goal-wise, I failed. Life-wise, I succeeded.
And the latter matters most.
So what’s up with 2024?
Last year, I purposely set few and “easy” goals because I had no idea what my life in Korea would be like. 2024 will bring more changes but I feel I can give myself more direction now.
In any case, as you’ve probably already understood, I set goals more for the exercise of picturing how languages will fit my life for the incoming year.
And 2024 will start with two months in two different countries: January in Korea and February—most likely—in Taiwan.
So I’ll likely dedicate the first two months to Mandarin.
I want 2024 to rid me of my fear of speaking that language out loud. As a shy introvert, I know I’ll keep some uneasiness but I also know I can reach a level where I’m at least able to say more than one sentence before switching back to other languages.1
Now,
As for the rest, I’ve bought close to 10 books in Korean this year and most are still left unopen. I hate this because these are books I truly want to read. So I want to read at least 6 Korean books. That’s not all of them but that’s 1 every 2 months which could get me into a good rhythm overall.
I plan on keeping my Japanese fresh with some regular exposure and practice with friends. If I feel like it, I may even start digging again into Haiku, 4-character expressions, or the Japanese pitch accent. All of those are just as likely if I’m honest.
As for German, I know it’ll come back to the front someday. 😅 In the meantime, I’ll keep progressing slowly while playing Doraemon: Story of Seasons on and off in German.
Anyway.
Here’s a TL;DR of those goals:
Get somewhat comfortable speaking Mandarin
Read 6 Korean books
Hey! That’s almost the same as last year!
Now, in all honesty, I don’t feel like working hard on new languages anymore. I’ve been enjoying getting better in Korean and the recent experiments I’ve made with Mandarin and ChatGPT have made me all the more curious.
I don’t want to spend hours studying daily. I want to enjoy my languages.
What will be…
will be.
This is more rambling than usual I feel. And yet that’s what my goals are: like me. Messy.
But here’s the kicker. My goals aren’t what matters most to me. I told you I live preparing for the future, but that’s both a lie and a truth.
I live for systems. The goals I set give me ideas for systems I’d like to set and then I work towards them. Those systems then evolve as the months pass and my life changes.
2023 was probably the year I spent most alone—physically—so I got tons of time to experiment and well, read more for pleasure.
I want 2024 to focus on the written word. Not just the words I write but also others.
I want to read more of incredible newsletters.
I want to read more mind-blowing novels.
I want to read more educational content about topics I’m curious about.
I want to read.
And that’s what my systems will revolve around: cutting down on YouTube, Netflix, and podcasts to turn to the calm and attention-needing written word.
We’ll see how this goes.
Phew, congrats on reading ‘til here if you didn’t skip anything!
What’s your goal evaluating and goal setting like? Do you even set goals or stay away from them? Let me know by responding to this email or commenting!
Cheers as usual,
Mathias, an average—and rambling—polyglot
Even if I know how to say other sentences in Mandarin!