Perfectionism.
That's something I struggle with. When learning something, I want it to be perfect. I want it to be exactly as it should be, with no deviation in any direction. And, of course, I want it to be perfect at it quickly as possible – the first try all the better.
Unfortunately, that is not how language learning works. Taking a cue from children, they are overly comfortable making language mistakes. Mistakes are part of the process.
As an adult language learner, my perfectionism can get me hung up on one thing for a long time. I have to be aware of this and find ways to mitigate it.
These are the things I keep in mind as I go about the active parts of my language learning:
Do something I know I can accomplish in a short period of time (usually 5 minutes or so). This might be reviewing a few flashcards, listening to a song, or watching a video clip. Then do these things throughout the day. Having a few minutes of Tagalog activities throughout the day adds up.
Don't get caught up in getting everything right the first time. If I'm doing flashcards, I don't worry if I don't get the definition within the first few tries. I keep trying over time. If I'm doing imitation, I don't fret if the sentence is too much of a tongue twister at the time. I break the sentence into just a few words and work on only those words until I get them. If I'm listening to a song, I don't worry if I don't catch everything immediately; I just find a really small section I want to really figure out what is said and then I work only on that section. Later I'll add more to those sections to create the whole. But I don't drive myself crazy trying to get everything down immediately and at once. I accept the mistakes in my memory, in my tongue, and in my ears.
Use perfect material. I just use perfect native material used in everyday conversation that I don't need to check whether it is correct or not, too literary or too colloquial, or whatever. I just use it. Imitate, memorize, analyze – whatever. One less thing to fret about.
Be grateful and inspired when I do get it. If I find myself remembering the idea/meaning of a word/phrase/sentence more quickly, being able to imitate something with less difficulty, or even just pick out more words, I celebrate those moments. Then I use them to inspire me to keep going. Moments like those will probably become few and far between as I progress but I hope that is the result of having built the language up in my memory, tongue, and ears than it is just me not getting it. We shall see...and I'm excited to find out.
That's something I struggle with. When learning something, I want it to be perfect. I want it to be exactly as it should be, with no deviation in any direction. And, of course, I want it to be perfect at it quickly as possible – the first try all the better.
Unfortunately, that is not how language learning works. Taking a cue from children, they are overly comfortable making language mistakes. Mistakes are part of the process.
As an adult language learner, my perfectionism can get me hung up on one thing for a long time. I have to be aware of this and find ways to mitigate it.
These are the things I keep in mind as I go about the active parts of my language learning:
- Small, winnable events compound over time.
- The time spent on an activity is less important than the quantity of that activity.
- Mistakes are part of the process.
- Using perfect material helps keep mistakes to a minimum.
- Celebrate every win.
Do something I know I can accomplish in a short period of time (usually 5 minutes or so). This might be reviewing a few flashcards, listening to a song, or watching a video clip. Then do these things throughout the day. Having a few minutes of Tagalog activities throughout the day adds up.
Don't get caught up in getting everything right the first time. If I'm doing flashcards, I don't worry if I don't get the definition within the first few tries. I keep trying over time. If I'm doing imitation, I don't fret if the sentence is too much of a tongue twister at the time. I break the sentence into just a few words and work on only those words until I get them. If I'm listening to a song, I don't worry if I don't catch everything immediately; I just find a really small section I want to really figure out what is said and then I work only on that section. Later I'll add more to those sections to create the whole. But I don't drive myself crazy trying to get everything down immediately and at once. I accept the mistakes in my memory, in my tongue, and in my ears.
Use perfect material. I just use perfect native material used in everyday conversation that I don't need to check whether it is correct or not, too literary or too colloquial, or whatever. I just use it. Imitate, memorize, analyze – whatever. One less thing to fret about.
Be grateful and inspired when I do get it. If I find myself remembering the idea/meaning of a word/phrase/sentence more quickly, being able to imitate something with less difficulty, or even just pick out more words, I celebrate those moments. Then I use them to inspire me to keep going. Moments like those will probably become few and far between as I progress but I hope that is the result of having built the language up in my memory, tongue, and ears than it is just me not getting it. We shall see...and I'm excited to find out.
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