Episode 22: Am I Even Making Progress?

Love, Joy, and Languages

In this episode, I talk about those times when we wonder if we're even making progress in our languages, even as early as the beginner level. We all know we're learning new things, acquiring new vocabulary, and figuriung out grammar structures. Yet, so often it can feel like all of our hard work isn't paying off. Maybe we feel like what we've learned is just basic stuff and not very valuable or useful. Perhaps we only see how much we don't know and what all there is left to learn, so what we have learned just doesn't seem like much. No matter the case, these thoughts can lead to discouragement, demotivation, and a skewed perspective of how our language journeys are really going.

Today I share an experience that happened to me recently that allowed me to truly see, without a doubt, that I have made tremendous progress in Italian over the last 5 years. It hasn't always felt like that, though. When I'm in the thick of it -- when I'm focused on studying and acquiring and trying and making mistakes -- it doesn't feel like I'm making any progress at all. We aren't always provided with spontaneous opporunities to prove all the advancements we've made, however, so what can we do?

There are so many great ideas out there in the language community for measuring our language growth, but I would add that being mindful of what we're doing and how we're doing is the key to getting the most out of every curated progress point. What does it mean to be mindful of what and how we're doing in our language journeys? Listen in to find out!

Links - Other resources for getting ideas on how to realize and measure your language progress and growth:

Blogs & Articles:

• How to Record Your Language Learning Progress by Lindsay Williams of Lindsay Does Languages
• Language Learning Progress: 9 Ways to See How Far You've Come by Meredith Kreisa on FluentU
• Keeping Track of Your Learning by Lindie Botes
• The Ultimate Language Learning Guide Part III: Commitment -- Drops by Shannon Kennedy, published in Languagedrops

Podcasts & Videos:

• Signs That You're Making Progress with Language Learning by Grace of Guresu
• Don't Let the Intermediate Plateau Scare You by Emily Richardson of The Language Confidence Project
• 5 Steps for Creating Your Language Habit by Kerstin Cable of The Fluent Show
• Tracking Your Language Learning Progress by Lindie Botes