Monthly Status Report - June 2015
It's been a busy couple of months. I can't believe I haven't blogged since April.
Even though I haven't been writing about language learning, doesn't mean I haven't been learning languages.
Here's what I've been up to since I last wrote.
Announcing the Lao T-Shirt Experiment
I don't think I've ever been so excited about a new t-shirt.
It's awesome.
So I have a sister named Cami. She is one of my three favorite sisters. She's one of those creative types that does vinyl lettering on walls and silk screening on t-shirts. A few weeks ago I asked her to make me a shirt with some Lao writing on it.
How To Avoid Language Learning Burnout
For many people, one of the hardest things about learning a new language is keeping with it. You get excited about learning a new language. You buy yourself The Complete Idiots Guide to Learning Spanish. You read for a couple days, and then you quit.
Here's some of the best advice I've ever heard about being a consistent language learner: You should do something every day that will make sure you engage in learning a language tomorrow.
I wish I could take credit for that one piece of advice. (I also wish I remembered who said it in the first place, so I could give them credit.)
So naturally, there are some good things you can do today that will make it more likely that you study tomorrow, and there are some bad things you want to avoid that will keep you from learning a language tomorrow.
In today's post, I'm going to focus on one of those bad things: language learning burnout.
5 Tips on Overcoming Language Learning Plateaus
Ah, the plateau. It's that spot in your language learning adventure where you feel you've made some progress, and then you stop progressing. You feel stuck. This is the point where lots of people feel like they want to give up.
Learning that new language was fun for a while, but now you feel like your at the same level you were a few weeks ago, despite the fact you've put in lots of effort.
Been there. Done that. (I think most of us have.) Here's a few things I've learned about how to overcome those learning plateaus and how to reach new heights.
Four Awesome French Songs with French Subtitles
The other day my wife laughed at me. I had my phone in my pocket as I was getting ready for work in the morning. Blasting from my phone was a song from Genii, a pop music group from Laos. My wife that it was the funniest thing.
"Why are you laughing?" I asked her.