2023 Language Learning Review
Still a long way to go, yet already a long way from where I started. 🛣️✨
This year, the pie chart showing my study hours is an absolute mess. I changed my projects halfway through the year and found out I couldn’t combine them in the app I’ve been using. Still, I’ve put in a bit over 569 hours into studying (at the time this article is published, at least). I’m happy with the work I’ve done, but I can’t seem to shake off my first two thoughts upon seeing it: 1) gosh, I still don’t feel like I know enough 😟; and 2) I need to study more intensively next year! 😤
Comparing this year to my old data, which is also all over the place, I realized I didn’t do as badly as I initially thought. In 2022, I studied for 1,263 hours. Out of that, 708.5 hours went to grad school work, and the other 554.5 hours were mostly for flashcards and reading. I also found that I only started keeping track of my study time in November 2021, and most of my 190 hours of Japanese study were also spent on flashcards and reading. Reflecting on this, it makes prefect sense I feel like I haven’t learned enough when all I really used to do is read native content and make flashcards for unfamiliar words and phrases. 😅
🔄 The results of changing up my routine
This year, I resolved to take weekends off from apps and textbooks to practice the language in real life, or just learn it in a more laid-back way (which I didn’t count as study time). I’ve noticed three things come out of this:
I’ve shifted my focus. I used to fuss over how much information I could retain with my seemingly short-lived working memory. Now, I feel like I’ve accepted how my brain easily filters out information and actively focus on how well I can apply the language instead. Besides, I can always keep re-learning things until they finally stick.
My anxiety with the language has improved. I don’t mind talking to strangers in person or over the phone anymore. By no means does that say I am confident with my Japanese level, I’m finally giving myself grace in knowing that I still suck but I am learning and improving each time I try. I have to wait till next year to see if I won’t be a bunch of nerves with public speaking to high-ranking people, though.
I’ve forged my best school relationships so far this year. I’ve noticed that more students regularly talk to me (lesson-related or not), even the ones who struggle in English! It feels like I finally am their teacher and an adult they like to be around and trust. As for my colleagues, I habitually talk to a bunch, including those I don’t even share classes with. It’s nice to be able to chat about work and life. I believe these positive interactions are due to focusing on communication.
All in all, it’s been a beautiful year. I can’t wait to do better in 2024 and also finally make the switch to a better study tracker.
🎉More Small Wins
26 Japanese books read, making a grand total of 100. I use Bookmeter to track the native content I read which so far is a total of 76 books and 24 manga. Currently, I am also reading another manga and novel which I hope to complete by the end of the year and add to the growing list.
I traveled across the country with minimal language hitches. I’ve had the good fortune of going to Osaka, Kyoto, Toyama and Nagano this year. Asking for directions, listening to announcements, eavesdropping, and chatting with inquisitive old ladies has been a blast!
Creating the free digital language journal. At the risk of tooting my own horn, integrating this prompt-based language journal to my study routine has forced me to sit still and be mindful and thorough about the output I create. As I’m lucky enough to get access to immediate feedback, I’m learning so much through meaningful context!
This newsletter. As someone who doesn’t maintain personal social media accounts, I sometimes feel a bit disconnected from the world living out my adulthood in a foreign country. I’m really happy that
planted this Substack seed in my head. Now, I get to connect with even more language learners like YOU. Thank YOU so much for being here. 💛
💭Your Turn
How has 2023 been for you? I’ve written a few reflection prompts in my post last week that you can use to sum up your year. You may also want to look at how
used it in her 2023 recap! Wishing you a fantastic rest of the year!
My year was fairly typical. I still mostly focused on Vietnamese. I tried out a bunch of new tools, especially later in the year. Like every year I majorly burned myself out in the summer. I did dabble a bit in a few new languages that I have neighbors who speak (Korean, Nepali, and Thai) without too much success. I probably spent less time on Cantonese than I have in a while in the second half of the year. I rage quit Duolingo and mostly quit Spanish after that and went back to mostly exclusively focusing on Vietnamese. I also quit Drops after using it for 2 years working on Vietnamese because I concluded it wasn’t very effective for remembering words and realizing the course had some mistakes in it. SRS itself has its own issues, but Drops really needs to improve the types of exercises they offer or you probably won’t remember anything, at least for a relatively difficult language. I also got fed up with Clozemaster’s Vietnamese course after a few months. I had a bunch of italki credits left over from when they offered discounts a few years ago for some anniversary so I used those up working with Vietnamese minimal pairs, but had relatively little success. I also worked a few times with Amazing Talker teachers and two other teachers, one I found on Instagram and one elsewhere. I spent late spring and early summer doing a lot of extensive listening focused on Cantonese and Mandarin. This year I did a lot of learning on Instagram. I’m using Glossika now for Vietnamese and I also used it a few months at the beginning of this year. I tried a monthlong subscription to Ling for Thai and Nepali, but I don’t have enough time to use it regularly. I tried Jumpspeak for Vietnamese AI chat, but I’ve set it aside. I’m using Langi for Vietnamese listening now.
Looks amazing! What was the category you called “self-management” (自己管理) supposed to be?