Clear the List | Monthly Language Learning Strategies Update | June 2021
Summer is upon us and I’m excited for what it brings. Like last month, I’m continuing to focus on Russian, but I’m also still working on Japanese, Hungarian, and Croatian.
And, as it has for the first several months of 2021, a new month not only means a new analysis at my language goals as a part of Clear the List, but also a new Quest as a part of Language Conqueror!
And this month… it’s all about learning moving your body! We discuss ways exercise helps your language learning, how to habit stack exercise and language, and what fitness hacks you can steal to apply to your language studies.
What is Language Conqueror? It’s a course I work on with a monthly Quest focused on passion-driven learning. You can learn more, get a feel for my teaching style, and download our free PDF here: Get the Free PDF
And if that’s not enough, you can also get a feel for my teaching style with Snack-Sized Language!
Snack-Sized Language is a free podcast where we teach you snack-sized language lessons. So far we have episodes teaching general language learning tips, Japanese, French, Mandarin and Korean.
You can subscribe to the podcast on your preferred podcast platform.
And if you enjoy Snack-Sized language, we would absolutely love it if you left us a review!
And now, on to #clearthelist …
Wondering what #clearthelist is? Let me clear it up for you (see what I did there?). #CleartheList is a linkup where we share our monthly goals, and by we, I mean myself, and Lindsay of Lindsay Does Languages.
We’d absolutely love for you to a part of our community. You can join us by adding a link to your own goal post in the comments below.
So let’s get started, sharing our goals and motivating one another to #clearthelist!
Please feel free to tag your posts or photos with either #clearthelist on your favorite social media channels!
Last Month’s Highlights on Instagram
Last Month’s Goals
Continue filling the gaps in my Mandarin vocabulary I’ve noticed since Little Linguist’s arrival. // We’ve been working on body parts which has been a lot of fun. Mostly it involves me chasing him around the house saying I’ll tickle his dùzi (tummy), gēbó (arm) or jiǎo (feet).
Maintain my vocabulary learning streak. // This was a bit frustrating for me this month. I was only a few days away from a one year streak and then the app updated, erasing my streak. I’ve been working with the support team at Memrise to try to get it restored, but it still hasn’t happened. My Drops streak, however, is well over 200 days.
Keep working through my YouTube Queue. // I’ve been working on this but I feel like I’ve been adding more than I’ve been getting through. Last month I ended with 1,709 and today, I am back up to 1,774.
Keep reading Game of Thrones in Russian. // I have been keeping this up. The pace isn’t as fast as I’d like, but it is what it is. Consistency wins.
Keep reading Eye of the World in Hungarian. // Yes! I did this 50% of the time this month, but I still feel like it’s a win.
Maintain my weekly lessons in each language. // I took some time off from lessons this past month because I went on my honeymoon, but I jumped right back into them when I got back.
This Month’s Goals
Continue filling the gaps in my Mandarin vocabulary I’ve noticed since Little Linguist’s arrival. // As usual, I’d like to continue to incorporate this more and more until we’re an OPOL household. It’s a work in progress!
Maintain my vocabulary learning streak. // This has been a great way to rebuild my language routine, so it’s staying on the list indefinitely! I share my stats over on Instagram in my stories nearly every day, so if you’re ever curious where I’m at, you can check out my stories.
Keep working through my YouTube Queue. // There’s even more I need to get through this month than there was the last. I plan to continue to work through this until it gets to a more manageable number.
Keep reading Game of Thrones in Russian. // My tutor and I are working on this weekly.
Keep reading Eye of the World in Hungarian. // My tutor and I are working on this weekly.
Maintain my weekly lessons in each language. // It makes sure I’m using all my languages each week and helps me a ton with accountability.
Resources I Used This Month
A quick recap of the materials I am using.
What I Am Using to Learn Chinese:
- LingQ – my favorite tool
- iTalki Lessons – I have weekly Chinese lessons
- Memrise
- Drops
What I’m Using to Brush Up/Improve My French:
- LingQ
- Listening to French radio/podcasts/music
What I am Using to Learn Russian:
What I am Using to Learn Persian:
What I am Using to Learn Spanish:
What I am Using to Learn Italian:
What I’m Using to Learn Japanese:
- Genki I
- Drops – they just added hundreds of new culture-specific words for Japanese!
- iTalki Lessons
- Pimsleur
What I’m Using to Learn Croatian:
- Colloquial Croatian
- iTalki Lessons
- LingQ – they added Croatian, woot woot!
- Drops
What I’m Using to Learn Hungarian:
- Colloquial Hungarian
- iTalki Lessons
- Drops
- LingQ – they added Hungarian, too!
Not Currently doing any study for: German, Hindi, Norwegian, Hebrew, Korean
What I’m Using for Little Linguist
- Lots of books
- Day-to-day interaction
- italki Lessons
- Duolingo ABC
- Droplets
- Movies in Chinese
- Gus on the Go Chinese
Resources That Aren’t Language Specific
- Fluent in 3 Months Challenge
- Todoist (to keep all my language lessons and to-do’s organized)
- Notion – my new favorite app for taking notes (I just set up a template for the way I use Notion to take notes if you’re interested in duplicating it for yourself)
The Biggest Lesson I Am Taking Away from This Month
This month, as I mentioned, I took a bit of a break. I usually don’t like to pause my studies — consistency is key — but I found that it didn’t take me as far off track as I worried it would.
I can’t say the same for my exercise routine, though!
I definitely needed the break. It gave me the chance to recharge and when that happens, it’s a good thing!
Don’t forget that I would love to hear all about your goals for this month! Please join us by adding your post to the linkup below!
Clear The List Linkup Rules:
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. You can use our button if you wish.
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
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