- Hi, I'm Mark from Coffee Break Languages.
And I'm delighted to be back
with another episode in our series all about
helping you maximise your learning time
with the help of our handy blueprint for language learning.
Now, in the last episode we talked about routine
and how important routine is
when it comes to language learning.
We talked about is like sticking to the same time
each time you do some language learning,
so the same time each day.
We also talked about building up a pattern of learning
over the course of the week and fitting it around your life.
Making sure it fits with your life,
because otherwise, you won't be able to keep it up.
We talked about experimenting with times
and getting to know what works for you.
And with the help of Pierre-Benoît,
our Coffee Break French colleague,
we talked about breaking up your learning
and doing learning in multiple short sessions
rather than in one long session over the course of the week.
So that is all for routine,
but today we're going to be talking about a different topic
and that is the topic of setting goals.
I think setting goals is so important
because it helps you achieve what you want to achieve.
If you know what you want to learn
and when you want to learn it by,
then you are going to make better progress
with your language learning.
So let's take a look at the first piece of advice
I have for you all about setting goals.
And that is setting goals for your session of learning.
Now, last time we talked about this idea
of having multiple sessions during the week.
So a session could be 15 minutes, a coffee break. Why not?
So in your session you know what you're going to be doing.
Perhaps you're going to be listening to a podcast,
or you're going to be working through
a chapter in your textbook,
or reading a chapter of a book,
watching something on TV in the language you're learning.
But if you can set a session goal,
then you'll know what you're wanting to achieve
in that specific session.
And I would make it very practical, very achievable.
So perhaps it is, if you're listening to a podcast,
maybe it is writing down four of the phrases
that you've heard in the podcast or learned in the podcast.
If you are watching a TV show,
perhaps you're going to write down 10 new words
that you've not heard before and check them out
and look them up in a dictionary,
or word reference, or whatever.
But these goals need to be achievable.
They need to be doable for that particular session
within your session because otherwise
it becomes more difficult to achieve the goals
if it's not something that is doable within that session.
So whatever session you've got planned, try to establish,
not just what you're going to do in the session,
but what you're going to achieve
and how you're going to achieve it.
So again, thinking back to planning ahead,
making sure that you've got your notebook beside you
so that you can write down those words,
or the app on your phone that you're going to use
to take a note of these words that you're learning.
So definitely focus on session goals.
The next type of goal I would like you to think about
is your weekly goals.
What are you going to achieve this week
in your language learning?
I like to think of this on a Sunday evening.
For me, Sunday evening is a time
for getting ready for the week ahead,
thinking about what's coming up in work,
but also thinking about what's coming up
in language learning for my week.
So if I've planned my sessions over the course of the week,
then I'd like to think about, okay,
am I going to have achieved this by the end of the week?
For example, if I'm focusing on verbs,
am I going to be learning perhaps 10 verbs
by the end of the week?
And, of course, that can be made up
with perhaps two verbs in each session.
But the idea is if I've got a goal for the complete week,
then again, if it's achievable,
then the chances are I will be more likely to achieve it.
So as I'm thinking through the week,
through the week that's coming up of language learning,
then I can identify all the things
that I'd like to achieve during this week.
And again, they can be cumulative goals.
Perhaps if we've set a single number for each session,
we can add them together for our weekly goal,
or perhaps it's more about reaching the end of something.
For example, if I'm working on doing some reading,
then I may think that by the end of the week
I'd like to have finished the chapter
in the book the that I'm reading in the language,
or perhaps watched two episodes of a show
and taken the notes on the language that I'm hearing,
the vocabulary that is used in the episode of the show.
But it's all about setting these goals
in a way that you can achieve them.
So thinking about firstly, session goals,
secondly, weekly goals.
The third type of goal that I'd like you to think about
is the longer term goal.
Now, what do I mean by that?
Well, the longer term goal could be thinking about
perhaps a monthly goal,
so what are you going to achieve
in the course of the next month?
Or, it's perhaps longer term?
So you could be thinking,
"Okay, what am I going to be able to do
in six months time or a year's time?"
And when it comes to this, I'd really like you to think,
not just about the task that you'll be able to achieve,
but I'd like you to imagine yourself
having achieved that task.
So let's imagine a situation where you're, for example,
planning to be able to have a conversation
with your colleague at work who perhaps
speaks the language that you're learning at home,
and you'd like to be able
to have that conversation with them,
ask them what they did at the weekend,
understand all their answers,
ask them how their family is, and so on.
So that's what your target is.
But what I'd like you to do is think about
how you'll feel when you've achieved that target.
Imagine self walking away from that conversation
back to your desk, or back to your room,
or whatever your work situation is,
and having achieved that conversation,
and how pleased you'll feel, how relieved you'll feel,
that the conversation has gone well.
Or perhaps, your target would be in two months time.
I'd like to be able to order a whole meal
in the language I'm learning in a restaurant.
So don't just imagine thinking up
all the words for the vocabulary,
the food that you're going to be ordering
or the drinks that you're going to be ordering,
but think about when it's brought to you and it's correct,
that the order is right,
because when that is brought to you
and you can enjoy that food
you'll know that you've ordered the food
in the language that you're learning.
And imagine yourself eating that food,
and enjoying that food,
and being so proud of yourself for being able to order
the whole thing in the language that you're learning.
So these are our longer term goals.
And as I say, they're goals that you can associate
with perhaps one month, two months, four months,
eight months, a year, even longer than that.
And always try to put yourself in that situation.
Imagine what it will feel like
when you've achieved that longer term goal.
Okay, finally, what I'd like you to remember
is that goals help routine.
So we've talked, already, about planning
and then sticking to that routine,
but if you've set these goals,
they will help you achieve your routine.
They will help you stick to that routine
because you know that you're ticking the goals off
as you complete them.
And just when I say ticking them off, I do mean that,
because I think it's important not just
to have a goal in your head and think up,
"Ah, yeah, I'd like to achieve that by that date."
Write it down, because if you write it down
in your notebook or in an app,
there's apps that you can use for storing goals and so on,
if you write it down and then the act of ticking off
or drawing a line through it,
or tapping the tick button on your app,
this will in itself help you to be more pleased
about the way in which you've achieved that goal.
It is the act of ticking it off
is all the more rewarding.
So a quick summary of what we've talked about today.
We have talked about session goals.
We've talked about weekly goals.
We've talked about longer term goals
and we've also talked about how the goals
that you're setting will help you stick to that routine.
And of course, we've also mentioned the idea
of writing these goals down so that you're able
to tick them off and also look back at them,
because if you get to the end of your six months,
or whatever, and perhaps you've ordered that meal,
or you've had that conversation,
or you've finished that book, or whatever it is,
then you can look back through your goals
and see that progress that you've made
over the course of time and that's extremely rewarding.
I hope that this has been a useful video for you.
I hope you've enjoyed this next stage
in our language learning blueprint.
If you have, please give it a like,
and let me know how you set goals in the comments.
And of course, so that you don't miss our next video,
make sure that you're subscribed to our channel
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you'll be notified whenever we post new content.
For now, thank you for watching, of course,
and as ever, happy coffee breaking.