NEW YEAR NEW LANGUAGE

Okay! HELLO 2014.

What a year! Leaving Holland, returning home, hating it, moving to Malaysia, being relocated with work to the Maldives, a bunch of return trips here & there around asia, ticking off a number of cities on my list back in Europe. It's been a pretty fun filled year to say the least! Let’s not dwell though. Out with the old and in with the new, right? 

I’ve taken that advice on literally and decided to semi-retire on my French learning & instead take up Spanish. Starting fresh. No, I’m not a quitter. You could possibly call it jaded frustration for not picking it up as quickly as I’d hoped (or in actuality lack of commitment) but I’m going to go with ‘pursuing new passions and prioritising’ instead. J Since many of my planned upcoming adventures sit within Spanish speaking regions I have decided to learn Spanish instead / first. Bien! hagámoslo.

Teaching yourself a language is far from easy. It takes copious amounts of commitment, patience, perseverance, persistence and a deep determination paired with a love for the language. It’s just that little bit harder when you’re not actually surrounded by the language nor finding yourself regularly in a situation where you are forced to use it. This is no reason to shy away though! We’re very lucky to be living in probably what could be deemed the golden age for language learning since mans first speech. More specifically- to teach yourself a language. There is less and less need to splurge on lessons now with so many free resources, videos, programs, apps, books and blogs to assist in your learning! The misconception that immersion is the only way can also now be blown out of the water. Utilizing things such as Skype, Facebook and the internet it's never been easier to immerse your(CYBER)self within a culture & language right from your lounge room. Bring the language to you! Put yourself into cyber situations that allow you to utilize what you've learnt and keep learning! Finding a language class, conversation buddy, beginners group or new native speaking friend is easier than ever with so many incredible websites designed for just that. Chances are somewhere, someone out there in the big bad world is willing to help assist you (free of charge) on your journey in exchange for practicing, using and perfecting their English. 

On and off for the last year I’ve been teaching myself French. Unfortunately though it’s been far more off than on. This year I’ve decided to start fresh with a new language and turn it into somewhat of a challenge rather than a chore (which sadly is what my previous attempts have fizzled into). I’m going to set weekly goals, monthly checkpoints and go in with a plan this time- all the while I’ll be blogging about my progress (in the hope that’ll push me to reach my goals) as well as inspire others to maybe do the same.

THE CHALLENGE? Teach myself Spanish while in the Maldives

THE GOAL? Conversational fluency by JULY, 2014. High hopes I know but we’ll see, I have a plan!

THE TOOLS? Teach Yourself Spanish Book & 2 Audio CDs, an ipod, self made flash cards, notebook, youtube and a few Spanish speaking friends on facebook. 

Here’s three fantastic language blogs I’ve been reading and hope to use for reference, research and inspiration! Check them out!

http://www.everydaylanguagelearner.com/ -This is my go to hub for all things language learning, full of great resources tips and tricks. A must-use for any language learner, thanks Aaron for your wonrderul page!

http://www.fluentin3months.com –Benny the Irish polygot. I really love this blog! It just goes to show how anyone can learn a language if there’s a strong desire. You can watch his progress and videos as he travels the world attempting to obtain fluency in.. yes, you guessed it- three months, one country at a time.

http://www.thepolyglotdream.com Similar to the previous blog, these are the tales of Luca, another inspiring polygot travelling the world and learning languages. I especially love his language learning technique posts!

Don’t forget to check back in for my weekly progress updates so you can follow my journey, see what I achieved that week (or didn’t, haha) how I did it and what tools I used! I plan to post weekly updates cross checking my goals with my accomplishments, marking my progress and linking any resources I used that week.

If there’s any Spanish speakers out there, anyone currently learning Spanish or willing to join my journey I’d love to hear from you! I’m hoping to grow a small network of language partners to practise, chat and type with! If you think you’d be up for the challenge shoot me an email on thislittlenomad@gmail.com OR leave a comment below. J Hasta Luego, amigos!

Follow via email to be notified of new posts. :)