*If the idea I outline below would interest you, let me know. If not, that’s ok - it was a spur-of-the-moment thought I had. It is quite possibly a bad idea. Lol.
“I was using some apps to learn French and I was progressing…but then I got busy and I lost my momentum”
“I was learning Spanish and doing really well for a while, but then my schedule changed at work and I lost my momentum.”
“I was studying Mandarin with a teacher and it was going so well until the teacher quit. I lost my momentum after that.”
I frequently hear stories about people losing momentum.
That’s in part why I stopped going to Brazilian jiu-jitsu classes myself. I went regularly for about a month, but then I:
Sprained a ligament
Had to let it recover for 2 months
Went to Taipei for 6 weeks
By the time I came back to Canada, I never returned to my BJJ classes.
One of the ways I personally create and maintain momentum is by having external accountability.
Here’s an example. I have an assistant. Part of her job is to hop on weekly Zoom calls with me just to supervise me while I organize files on my computer. I have been thinking about organizing the files on my computer for years, but have only been consistent ever since my assistant has been holding me accountable.
I do the same when it comes to language learning.
Fun fact: I used to teach free beginner drop-in Mandarin and Gujarati classes for accountability purposes. If I knew beginners were going to come learn from me, I would make sure I studied and am prepared for the class in advance.
I’m wondering if I should put together something like “accountability calls” for language learners.
It’d look something like this. You would:
Meet with an instructor twice a month
Check in on what steps you took to learn a language in the 2 weeks prior to the call
Make a plan for the next 2 weeks for how you’ll learn your target language
Brainstorm potential obstacles that might get in the way and how you’d overcome them if they did get in the way (e.g., work goes late and you are too tired to study by the time you get home.)
No clue if I’ll actually launch something like this.
I’m just “thinking in public” by writing my thoughts down. If there are lots of people who reply saying they’d appreciate such a service, I am more likely to put it together.
Let me know if it would interest you. If not, no worries. As I said, I’m just thinking in public. It might be an unappealing idea lol.
I like this idea!