Let’s talk about reaching “fluency” and setting clear goals.
SO many people start their language journey and think that they need to burn their eyes studying for 6 months or so to be "fluent" in another language...
As you can guess, this isn't the best idea.
The questions today are:
Is it possible to be "fluent" in 6 months?
If so, how do I do it?
The short answer is this:
It's possible to reach fluency in another language in a short period of time... but it depends on your meaning of “fluent.” You’ll also need a solid study plan and strong sense of accountability.
If this is secretly your goal, then keep reading so we can help you work on “mastering” your language!
Step 1: What is "fluency"?
As we’ve said, to reach “fluency,” you need to figure out what fluency means to you. To do this, you have to be detailed about what you want to do with the language and stick to your plans. From now on, we're going to define fluency as "language goals."
Language goals: The power of details
Let’s talk a bit about the power of details. Look at the following two examples of “fluency goals”:
I want to have fluent conversations in Spanish within 6 months. I’m going to study for 2 hours every day until I reach my goal.
I want to be able to have intermediate-level conversations about daily life, culture, and social issues with people in Spanish by June 30th, 2022. I’m going to do listening exercises 3 times a week, language exchanges 2 times a week, and test my progress 2 times a month. If I have a bad day, I’ll choose from the following activities to keep up with my study habits: ___, ____, ___. I’ll also use the following methods for holding myself accountable and rewarding my work: ___, ___, ___.
The first one is not bad, but the second one sounds like a detailed, healthy, and vivid map of the steps to take to reach “fluency.”
*** Wanna find what works best for you? Take our free study plan quiz here to find activities for your study plan. ***
Ready to make your own “fluency” plan?
Here’s a list of questions to ask yourself to find your definition of fluency and a study plan for reaching your goals:
What do you want to do with the language?
For example, do you want to have conversations, read books, watch movies without subtitles, work in another country, do volunteer work, travel, etc.? You want to strengthen your definition of fluency by focusing on your reasons for learning the language.
How many days do you want to spend studying per week?
Also, how much time per session do you want to spend on studying? Here, think about when you can fit in study sessions and what habits work best for your personality. Do you want to spend time studying a little bit every day or do you prefer studying in bigger chunks less often a week?
What are the skills and activities you will focus on during your study sessions?
If you are working on having conversations with new people, you might wanna focus on speaking skills more often than your reading skills. If you’re studying for a job, then the words you learn should be related to your potential job. Like this, find exercises that focus on what you want to do with the language.
What are some short activities you’re willing to do for those days when you can’t really sit and study?
These should be your backup activities, or short and fun activities you can do to keep up your study habits. Remember, life happens, interests change, and sometimes burnout is too real to push through a longer activity. They should be closely related to things you would do during your free time so that you don’t associate language learning with stressful tasks.
How are you going to keep yourself accountable for your study plan?
Usually, people try to incorporate accountability partners, paid programs/tutoring sessions, and/or prize systems to help with sticking to their goals. Which one(s) are the most effective for you?
How are you going to check your progress?
How often are you going to check your progress? For some, checking weekly helps keep track of what they learned and what they need to work on. For others, checking monthly puts less pressure on immediate progress but gives a bigger sense of accomplishment when looking at what they can do. Are you going to watch a movie, read a blog post, write a social media post, and/or find a language partner?
How are you going to check for fluency at the end of your time period?
In the end, how will you be able to tell if you reached your level of fluency?
Summary:
Once you’ve answered these questions, the rest is on you! Here are some things you can do after you've figured out what your "fluency" language goals are:
Create your study plan using a planner or calendar
Set your start and end dates
Create an accountability plan
Get started!
Game over!
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Psssssst!!!
Need more? Check out our resources for PDFs, resource instructions, and a sneak peak of the content in our Spade Language Playing Cards!
Ok, now it's really done! Happy learning!
Study like a diamond ♢ Practice like a club ♣ Vibe like a heart ♡ Speak like a spade ♠
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