Goals are essential for language-learning

As the New Year approaches, I'm sure that aside from making preparations for New Year's Eve celebrations, some people are already getting to work on creating their New Year's resolutions. I myself am already starting mine (though I prefer to call them goals) and I have also decided to expand the one that I have for the languages that I am learning.

Goals are incredibly important for any language-learner as having good goals will keep us going especially in times when we hit roadblocks. Roadblocks can come in many forms like: boredom, lack of time, difficult concepts, negativity, self-doubt, etc. If we make sure to write good short-term, intermediate, and long-term goals then the road to mastering a language will be easier and we can be assured that it will keep you going even when you're ready to give up.

How do you go about setting up your goals? First, you must ask yourself two questions:

• Why do I want to learn [insert language here]? - Some people want to learn a language because of an upcoming trip, others for work, and some want to learn because they want simply like the way the language sounds. Whatever your reason is, you must make sure that you know what it is, because there will come a time when things get tough and you will ask yourself "Why the hell am I learning this language?" and you must be able to retort with something other than "..." It is always easier to give up on something in which you don't have a reason to do.
  

• How far do I want to go? - Some might be content to simply be able to get directions to a monument or museum whereas others might want to be able to live out the rest of their lives using their chosen language and to be able to handle it like a native-speaker. The amount of work and time that you need to put into learning a language is closely related to how far you want to go. It also affects the materials that you will need to use.
  

After answering those two questions, you will be able to come up with a few goals. To further give you guys some ideas, let me share with you a few (as I have many) of my own language-learning goals:

Goals for Euskara

• read a short children's book [short term]
• write a journal entry about daily life [intermediate]
• obtain EGA certification (it's a proficiency test for Euskara) [long term]

Goals for Català

• read a novel (short term)
• converse with ease about Barça and fútbol in general (intermediate)
• obtain certification from the Institut Ramon Llull in Nivell superior (another proficiency test) [long term]

I also suggest that you not only write down your goals but post them somewhere where you can see them every day. I have my list of goals tacked up on my pushpin board (next to my calendar) so I wake up every morning and I can use it to give me the necessary push I need especially when I find myself wanting to just relax and watch telly or sleep instead of study.

Also, don't be afraid to revise your goals. Sometimes, you might find that the goal you initially put down isn't working (we all tend to set unattainable goals sometimes) so instead of getting disappointed, just make the necessary adjustments.

In order for goals to be considered "good", keep the following in mind:

• goals are better when they are concrete - This is not to say that abstract goals aren't good but they are easier to stick to and identify when they are concrete. Make sure that your goal can be measured. For example, instead of saying "Put in a little more studying time" is quite abstract in that it is hard to tell what a little more should be. So to make it concrete, we can say, "Put in 1 hour more of study time".
  

• goals need to be measurable - How will you know if you are on the right path if you can't measure your progress? In my short term goal for Català, I want to be able to read a novel (maybe Mercè Rodoreda's La plaça de diamant) and I am able to measure that goal by having the novel with me and seeing how much I can understand easily. If I struggle too much, then I know that I'm not quite there yet.

• goals must be challenging but attainable - If you make your goals too easy then there really isn't much joy when you attain it and if you make them unattainable then you will end up frustrated. Goals should challenge you to go further than what you thought you could reach. This is not to say that we can't celebrate little victories or that we can't dream big but make sure that the bulk of your goals are challenging and attainable.
  

• goals reached should be celebrated - Sometimes the completion of the goal is a reward in itself but I feel that some of the tougher goals should be rewarded, celebrated, and shared with friends. Whenever I complete some of my tougher goals, I usually celebrate by buying myself a little something that is also related to the particular language that I am learning (i.e. a CD, a book, even a meal at a Basque restaurant!). I also make sure to let my friends know about it, especially those who support me in my goals so they can share my victories with me.
  

If this has inspired any of you to write out your own goals, please feel free to share some with us in the comments below. Leer más...

So you want to learn Català...

A few weeks ago, I posted on the different methods you can use to learn Euskara and now I thought I would do the same for Català. I am currently not using any specific program as I find that since I speak Spanish, I can already understand around 35%-50% of Català. I do intend on using a program later on though as I fall under the category of people who actually like learning grammatical concepts.

• Català in Catalunya - Like with Euskara, this option is also the most expensive option, however, you will have the benefit of a total immersion into the language as well as the culture. Clicking on the link will send you to the webpage of Intercat and listed there are at least 10 universities in Catalunya that offer a course in Català.

• University courses - When I was first searching for more information on learning Català, I happened upon the website for CARLA (Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition) and through that site, I was able to find about 10 universities in North America that offer courses in Català. As far as I know, all courses are in-campus only.
  

• Intercat - It's a great online resource and although it is target more for students visiting universities in Catalunya, it also offers tools for independent study as well as tips on learning the language. [This site seems to be a goldmine of fantastic resources and I plan on going through them more this winter break and I'll be sure to go into more detail about it in a separate entry.]
  

• Self-study books - There are a few self-study books out there written for people who want to learn Català. I am currently using one of the most commonly (and highly) recommended books out there called, Teach Yourself Catalan: A Complete Course for Beginners by Alan Yates. Aside from that, I have also been pointed to course of books called Digui, digui [note: thanks to commenter, Jim, I've found out that Digui, digui is completely in Català]
  

• Articles/Shows - Although I'm the sort who enjoys learning about the grammatical concepts in a new language, I also enjoy just jumping into it and immersing myself through reading in it or listening to it being spoken. As I am unable to just hop on to a plane and land in Barcelona, I make do with a variety of resources online. I tend to check out articles on Avui, an online newspaper in Català as well as articles and interviews on FC Barcelona's website. I don't always fully understand what is going on but with the help of my diccionari, I get by. I also go to TV3 to watch videos of shows in Català (being a huge Barça and just all around footie fan, I love this program called Crackòvia) and although this is quite harder to understand because of different accents among other things, it's also a great way to pick up some words and phrases here and there.
  

I find that when it comes to learning languages, it's best to use more than just one method. In my case, I find that limiting myself to just one method would be to ensure boredom and eventual lack of interest. This is why I set myself a buffet table of different methods and I pick and choose which ones work best for me and which ones I feel like making use of, depending on my mood and the time I have to spend.

I plan on compiling a list of resources along with links on where to find access/find them. I'll definitely separate them into two entries: one for Euskara and one for Català.
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