January Language Learning Goals // New Year’s Goals

Hey there, happy new year! Bonne année! 新年快乐! Sretna nova godina!

Can you believe it’s already 2015? I feel like each year passes more and more quickly than the last.

2014 in Review // Most Popular Posts

This year was my first year blogging at eurolinguiste.com; I had moved the site over from a free WordPress blog. By doing so I was able to get to know so many incredible people. I want to extend a huge thanks to Hsaio-Ting from Shouting Chow, Esther from Esther and Jacob, and Rachel from the Random Writings who have frequented my blog and have left several encouraging comments!

This year’s most popular posts included:

• A Review of Fluent U
• An Introduction to Sociolinguistics
• How to Choose Language Learning Resources
• Television Learning: Do Foreign Films Really Help You Learn Another Language?
• The 13th Warrior, Mythology, and Language

Last Year’s Goals [2014]

In 2014 I challenged myself to read 20 music business or language learning books as well as write 50 songs (just shy of one per week). I managed to read 20 books either about music or language.

As far as the songwriting goes, I managed to write 48 songs. I know that is two songs short of my goal but it’s still the most I’ve ever written in a single year so I’m still going to count that as a win. There are probably several others that I started but didn’t get far enough into to count it towards my goal that would bring the number up to 50 but I feel as though that’s cheating a bit because they aren’t in anyway (for now) usable ideas.

This Year’s Goals [2015]

There are 12 months in the year, so I decided to set 12 goals for 2015. I can focus on one each month but also work towards them over the next year.

1. Sit the HSK Exam (at least Level 4) // Passer l’examen HSK (au moins niveau 4). This means I need to achieve each level somewhere between every 2-3 months. For more information on the HSK Exam, visit here.
2. Go to 1  country I haven’t yet been to // Visiter 1 pays que je n’ai pas encore visiter. We have plans to do this in September. I’d also love to go to a new state and more countries/states if possible, but we’ll see.
3. Take mock European Framework Exams for each of my European languages by the end of the year // Passer un examen blanc (European Framework Exam) pour chacunes des langues européennes que je parle. I’d like to aim for one level higher than the level I am already at with each. I’d also like to take the real exam for at least one of the languages but we’ll see how that goes. The HSK test is currently my priority.
   
4. Read 50 Books – at least 10 in French // Lire 50 Livres – au moins 10 en français. I’ve been reading too much in English and have not been reading in French as much as I used to. I’d like to change this.
5. Attain at least one new belt in Martial Arts // Atteindre au moins la prochaine ceinture dans les arts martiaux. More than one if it’s in the cards. Either way I plan on starting the New Year right by attending a two hour boot camp at my karate school Jan 1 at 8 am in the morning!
6. Continue to minimize // Continuer d’eliminer les choses dont je n’ai plus besoin. To make room in my life more important things and moments.
7. Finish at least 10 of the songs I wrote in 2014 // Finir au moins 10 chansons que j’ai écrites en 2014. I’ve already picked out the 10 I’d like to finish.
8. Continue to work on my “secret project” // Continuer de travailler sur mon “projet secret”. I’ll share more about this later.
9. Finish the next Teen Jazz book // Finir le prochain livre pour Teen Jazz. I’ve already had several pre-orders for the book. I just need to get it done. I’m aiming for the beginning of February.
10. Improve how I spend my free time // Améliorer comment je passe mon temps libre. Less Facebook and Instagram, more Memrise and “nose in book” time.
11. Double my music/online output // Doubler mes sorties musicales/en ligne.
12. Make more videos (language updates, music, travel) // Faire plus des videos (mises à jour de langue, la musique, les voyages). I have somewhat neglected my Youtube channels this year and I do not want to do the same for the next year. Also, Instagram is great for shorter videos and I’d like to make better use of it’s video feature.

How I’ll Keep Track of My Goals

Language Goals // In addition to using the exams as a way to keep track of my progress, I’ll be using Memrise and AskMeEvery to keep track of my language learning. AskMeEvery is an app that sends you emails each day at a set time to ask you if you’ve done a certain task or how long you’ve spent on it (depending on how you set it up). I used it for my Project 365 in 2013 to keep track of how long I practiced each day and I have been using it for language.

Other Tasks/To Do Items // I use Teux Deux to keep track of my daily tasks like writing posts for Eurolinguiste and Teen Jazz, exercise (because yes I need to remind myself to do it), writing articles on Lang-8, etc. It allows you to set repeatable tasks (daily, monthly, weekly) and it keeps stats on how much you’re actually getting done from your list.

Reading // I love Goodreads. I keep track of everything I read and everything I want to read through Goodreads.

2014 Reading Challenge

Shannon has completed her goal of reading 50 books in 2014! hide 64 of 50 (100%)view books

So what about you? What are your goals for 2015? Feel free to leave them in the comments or include a link back to the goal page on your blog.