Goals 2017 - March Through June

I’m a little late getting my 2017 goals in here…surprise. surprise.

The first two and a half months of the new year were a whirlwind. But its mid march and I am ready and excited to rock and roll. There is even a new language on my list that I didn’t plan to study. But lets start with a quick review of the languages you already know I’m working on.

I will write 1-3 month goals and hopefully I will create an update of some kind within that time (here or on paper).

Travel Collage
10x10
$75

Old Studies

Hindi/Urdu

Update - I’m pretty rusty, as you may guess. I was able to practice with people who don’t speak any English at all while in Italy (which I will post on soon. If not here, on my art blog for sure over at feliciafollum.com).

Goal - practice conversation and talking about topics. Topics include, religion (what I believe), family, friends, and why I’m studying Hindi.

Urdu Goal - Learn alphabet. Though I’m not sure how serious I am about this one. I may focus on Hindi/Urdu/Hindustani speaking. Though I know reading will help improve my vocabulary and overall Hindustani skills. But I could also, simply continue to read in Hindi.

I suppose if I find a Pakistani friend to chat with in Urdu, maybe I will decide to learn the alphabet.

Portuguese

Update - RUSTY RUSTY RUSTY and I get really shy and freeze when trying to listen.

Goal - Listen to more Portuguese videos and music while working. Improve listening and reading skills, as I know speaking will come back as I regain confidence, as this was once my strongest language I suppose.

New to me Languages

French

Update - This is new!!! This is new!!! I am a complete beginner with this one, so I am excited to document the process and I think it should be realistic to advance, much slower than with Hindi or Portuguese but still at a steady pace.

Goal - Be able to hold a basic conversation by the next international dinner. Have some questions to ask and be ready to answer.

Tasks to Reach goal - Create flash cards and study them daily. Work on Duolingo to get some vocabulary and grammatical usage into my brain Keep chatting with my new French speaking friends using translator and trying phrases I am learning. Listen to the sounds using google translate

Listen to pronunciation videos and practice reading with online friends Find some folks who can correct me and some who will be more relaxed Maybe find someone looking to learn English and exchange with them.

Dabbling

Spanish

Update - no update.

Goal - One day to return to Spanish but for now focus on Portuguese and French (though I’ve recently heard it’s ok to work on 3 or 4 romance languages at once.

Latin

Update - none

Goal - One day finish the book of John (start over)

Somali

Update - I did get to practice my phrases in Italy

Goal - None

Arabic

Update - none

Goal - When visiting my Sudanese friends I will practice what I know with their parents who don’t speak much English.

Language Learning 2016 Goals Update

Well as you can probably guess, I had another year where I slacked pretty hardcore but I have had some good language experiences too.

Português - I don't want to get worse and hope to maintain my Portuguese skills by listening to "Você Sabia?" on YouTube and commenting weekly. 

FAIL! It is safe to say that I FAILED this goal. I did not listen to a Portuguese speaker on a regular basis or comment. My skills have gone downhill and I cannot simply switch to speaking in Portuguese with confidence. I know that these skills will come back and I will likely have this as a goal after February (you will see why in a future post)

Traveling in my city on Instagram

Hindi - Weekly listening. Practice writing sentences. More complex sentences and find someone to correct them.

FAIL! This was a fail as well. I have only just recently began writing again. I failed probably 11 out of 12 months, maybe only 9 or 10. I also have been able to have some organic conversations in Hindi with people and there are people who I naturally speak Hindi with. I also have been watching a Bollywood movie and practicing writing again.

Urdu - Relearn the alphabet.

FAIL! I did study that alphabet through the year, I did not learn it but I have given it some practice and was able to use Arabic in one of the English classes that I teach.

Spanish - It will be important to learn Spanish in the future. I want to finish the Portuguese tree in DuoLingo and then start on the Spanish tree in Portuguese.

PASS! Well, kinda. I am about 2/3 of the way through the Portuguese tree. I am sure I will finish it in 2017. I may begin the French tree and work on it a bit in preparation for Italy too. I do still plan to one day use Duolingo in Portuguese to relearn Spanish. But I am not in a hurry for this.
Latin - I would love to finish reading John but that may need to wait.

Yep, still waiting. 

Somali - Listen when given the opportunity. Practice the few phrases I know.

My Somali and Sudanese friends have all moved to Seatle but I do practice my Somali basic phrases from time to time.

Arabic - Listen to speakers when they are around. Pick up common words and Urdu words. I don't plan to put any effort into finding Arabic speakers. Learn the alphabet and the difference between Urdu and Arabic.

See Somali.

As you can see I did not put a lot of effort into language learning over the past year. 

I know that I need to make quarterly or even monthly goals and track them on paper. That will be on my 2017 goals list. 

Some things that I did well that were not goals listed above but were added later on include practicing languages with native or native-like speakers and I was able to do this with Hindi and Portuguese. At international dinners I have also been able to work on code switching which is another goal. I would like to be able to switch between languages. I tend to be able to do this with Portuguese and English better than with Hindi but there have been dinners where I will switch in an appropriate way.

What are your top language learning goals? What is holding you back?

2016 Langauge Learning Goals

While I was home over the holidays, I was able to take a few moments and wish you all a Merry Christmas in a couple different languages. You can see me do the language challenge in the first few moments of this video. I took 15 seconds to send my holiday wishes in as many languages as possible.

And a Happy New Year!!!!

So now let's get to it! I have been a bit of a slacker the last few months as far as language learning goes. As you probably know my language learning is a hobby and not a job. So it really only gets a focus when I have extra time...But here are some goals for the next year or at least January and February ish ;)

Português - I don't want to get worse and hope to maintain my Portuguese skills by listening to "Você Sabia?" on YouTube and commenting weekly.

Hindi - Weekly listening. Practice writing sentences. More complex sentences and find someone to correct them.

Urdu - Relearn the alphabet.

Spanish - It will be important to learn Spanish in the future. I want to finish the Portuguese tree in DuoLingo and then start on the Spanish tree in Portuguese.

Latin - I would love to finish reading John but that may need to wait.

Somali - Listen when given the opportunity. Practice the few phrases I know.

Arabic - Listen to speakers when they are around. Pick up common words and Urdu words. I don't plan to put any effort into finding Arabic speakers. Learn the alphabet and the difference between Urdu and Arabic.

Picture credit - You can learn more about me and my art on my website.
See Www.feliciafollum.com
Or www.etsy.com/shop/feliciafollum

2015 Language Goals - Not a Total FAIL

Did I reach my 2015 goals?

General - When people ask if I speak a language, say "Yes, I speak it." And then speak it. Sometimes...But I think I need to continue to work on saying "yes" with confidence.

Right Hand Panel of Unknown God Tryptic - Agyaat Bhagvaan Ke Liye
Felicia Follum
Watercolor

Português - I don't want to get worse and hope to maintain my skills by listening to "Você Sabia?" on YouTube and commenting weekly. I don't think I got worse but I have not been commenting weekly

Hindi - Create speaking videos monthly and practice writing monthly. Nope. But this was a bit of a lofty goal. A extra monthly video is a lot.

Arabic - Listen to speakers. Pick up common words and Urdu words. Yep! I listen whenever I get the chance and I do tend to pick up words.

Somali - Listen when given the opportunity. Practice the few phrases I know. Yes! I even have been able to practice with people in an airport. I will share this story soon :)

Latin - I would love to finish reading John but that may need to wait. Yep, it is waiting. But I hope to come back to this. Not giving up on it yet.

Spanish - I don't want to mix Português and Spanish intentionally. If a Spanish speaker speaks English I will speak English. If they understand Português, I will speak Português. Well I don't mix the two but I am forgetting Spanish. Which I'm hoping will help keep them separated in the long run.  I am also forgetting my Portuguese but I think that according to my understanding of the theory behind the idea of Spaced Repition Memorization, forgetting isn't the end of the world and may help in long term storage. Though I'm not sure how this relates to longer-than-ideal intervals. Either way, I'm sure Spanish will come back and be stronger than ever when it is needed.

Picture credit
See Www.feliciafollum.com
Or www.etsy.com/shop/feliciafollum 

Updated Goals - Final Stretch of 2015

Only a few months left of the year.

Let's get to it, here are my language learning goals.

General - When people ask if I speak a language, say "Yes, I speak it." And then speak it.

Português - I don't want to get worse and hope to maintain my skills by listening to "Você Sabia?" on YouTube anf commenting weekly.

Hindi - Create speaking videos monthly and practice writing monthly.

Arabic - Listen to speakers. Pick up common words and Urdu words.

Somali - Listen when given the opportunity. Practice the few phrases I know.

Latin - I would love to finish reading John but that may need to wait.

Spanish - I don't want to mix Português and Spanish intentionally. If a Spanish speaker speaks English I will speak English. If they understand Português, I will speak Português.

Picture credit
See Www.feliciafollum.com
Or www.etsy.com/shop/feliciafollum

1 Year 4 Months: November Hindi Goals

Ok my goals for November (and possibly December if I don't change them) are

1. To practice speaking when ever I get a chance,

2. And to think in Hindi as much as possible (when I'm not thinking in Portuguese),

To achieve the first part I will use Hindi when I am around Hindi speakers, which is not really planned too often as I don't know many.

And to achieve the second one I will continue to watch Hindi movies...i would ideally like to pause them and summarize what I just saw Hindi men.

When I work I will listen to Hindi music, and maybe Pimsleur if I can find them again.

Jan update: so these didn't happen :p

Henna drawing
SOLD

Hindi Bible for Christmas

Well I have officially received my Hindi Bible for Christmas!!!

I had my husband pick a verse to hear in Hindi.

He picked the common 2 Corinthians 5:17 (If you are unfamiliar with the Bible and want to read the Hindi in the photo, look for the number 17. It is the text following that which I'm talking bout.)

"Therefore if anyone is is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."

I am proud to say that I was able to read through the verse, unsure about several words. 

"ma - si - ha," I was stuck on this new word for a good amount of time. 

As I read, my husband pointed out that I should take some time and listen to what I was saying with a couple of the words as I sounded out.

"ma - si - ha" I repeated....oh, Messiah! That's cool.

It was neat that he was able to understand some of the words even though I was oblivious to the sounds I was making.

Conquering the New Testament is a beast I am ready and (well not so much ready as I am) excited to take on this new task of learning Hindi while reading.

Small Group Goal

In a previous blog post I stated that, “Speaking for me is the hard part. It’s scary and intimidating. I don’t want to be laughed at in front of a large group”

If my goal is to speak and I’m scared to speak in front of a large group of people, maybe a solution is to try speaking in small groups or with just one other person and the save listening for large groups…or consume large amounts of wine...or maybe create a YouTube video with my YouTube friend Anil Mahato.

This month my goal is to use Hindi :) Even if it is just a few phrases here and there. Next month I hope to have a SMART goal...You know? Specific. Measurable. Attainable...

Hindi by Christmas

Pavitra Baibal

Alrighty so I'm putting it out there...If you know me well then you know that I have decided to learn Hindi. My goal is to be able to read by the end of December which is three months from now. I really want a Hindi/English Bi-lingual Bible for Christmas...so if anyone wants to get me one, let me know or let my husband know.

I decided to start learning on July 1. It's now October 1. I suppose I have until Jan 1 which is 3 months.

I don't expect to be perfect or anywhere near there. I really just want to be able to read a bit.