My language goals for 2024 [and reflecting on 2023]
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Table of Contents
Did I achieve my language goals in 2023?
Am I learning a new language in 2024?
My language goals for 2024
My long-term Cantonese goal - how long will it take?
Going way beyond the language learning goal (avoiding the polyglot trap)
Summary
As someone who writes a lot about language learning, it’s very important for me that I do “the stuff” myself.
My first love has always been learning languages.
Writing about it comes second.
What I write about on this blog comes out of my personal experiences learning languages.
As well as what I’ve learned through helping others learn languages, research, and learning from some of the top experts in the field.
When I started learning languages I felt many experts, while helpful and all, were sharing a bit too general about what they were doing in their language learning.
I found myself wanting to know more.
About exactly what these language experts were doing.
The specifics and daily activities.
So in this post, I’ll be sharing with you just that.
The specifics (with stats and all!) and very openly about how this past year went for me in learning 3 languages.
As well as my language goals for the upcoming year and how I think about them.
It serves as part 2 of my last post about setting goals that you can and actually will achieve. Where I shared some tips for how to make goals for the coming year (and why it’s smart not to do it for the whole year) to see the progress you want.
Setting goals is not an end in and of itself.
It’s there to help you get where you want to be.
In becoming the person you want to become.
To have something to refer back to during the days when you don’t feel like it.
To keep you on track.
While I do set goals for myself in language learning, they do change throughout the year to move along with my current season.
This is something I think is very key to avoiding burnout, keeping motivation high, and succeeding in the long run to reach the level you aspire to reach in your target language.
Did I achieve my language goals in 2023?
So what were my goals for 2023?
To be honest, I didn’t have any super specific ones.
I didn’t have any numbers at the start of the year that I wanted to hit in any of the languages (although it came a bit later into the year, which I shared in my last post).
For me, it’s very important to set goals according to the season I’m in (as we also talked about in my previous post).
In some seasons I might have more time on my hands.
I’m then able to set higher goals.
At other times of the year, things are busier and I have other priorities and commitments that take up more time.
Or I just have more or less energy and focus.
I then adjust my goals accordingly.
Nobody can go at full speed all the time.
There are seasons of “going full speed ahead” and seasons of rest.
The one thing I do is keep my language learning consistent.
There’s never a day where I do nothing in the languages I’m learning.
2023 LingQ Year in Review
As many of you know, I’m a huge fan of LingQ (← get 37% off and an extended free trial).
And when it comes to tracking goals, it’s an amazing tool.
One of the features I really like is “Year in Review”.
It tells you how much you have done in each language throughout the year using the app.
What milestones you have hit.
With this “Year in Review” report that you receive, it tells you your reading statistics and things like:
How many words you’ve learned (“known words”)
How many new words you’ve encountered (“LingQs”)
How many words you’ve read in total (which is one of the best indicators of your level)
I feel especially proud and satisfied with having reached almost half a million words read in Cantonese in 2023.
It came as quite a surprise, to be honest!
I was just focusing on hitting my daily reading goals and I wasn’t even thinking about it.
I wouldn’t have realized I had achieved this milestone if it wasn’t for LingQ keeping track of it for me.
It gives me a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction about this past year knowing I read that much in Cantonese (considerably more than almost 300,000 words read in 2022).
It encourages me to keep going in 2024.
Listening hours
“Year in Review” also tells you how many hours you’ve spent listening.
If you look below you can see that I have on average listened to Cantonese for about 1 hour a day this year.
(The other languages are zero. Because for Spanish I use Dreaming Spanish to keep track of listening. Finnish I don’t keep track of, since most of the listening I get is just from everyday life when interacting with family, friends and others.)
No, I’m not learning my own native language Swedish (although maybe I should lol). It’s there in the stats because my wife uses LingQ to learn Swedish. Yes - you can use the same account for two different people if you’re learning different languages.
How do I count listening hours using LingQ?
It’s very simple.
I just input the time I’ve spent listening every day into LingQ (you can easily click on the plus button on your LingQ stats page and add hours and minutes).
I input all of it into LingQ.
Just to have everything in the same place.
You can also use an Excel spreadsheet or similar if you prefer, which will also automatically calculate and sum up the time for you.
The important thing is just that it’s easy for you to do (otherwise you’re not going to do it every day).
A lot of materials that I listen to (such as podcasts, condensed audio, and the Bible) I have uploaded to LingQ.
That way LingQ automatically keeps track of the listening time for me when I listen to those.
I don’t have to do anything.
Other sources of listening input I add to LingQ listening time are:
TV shows & movies
If I watch a TV show that’s 22 minutes long, I’ll probably input about something like 15 minutes of listening time.
This is probably the time (depending on the genre) that will be actual conversations (when you take out silences, intro and outro music, etc.)
When you create condensed audio you quickly notice exactly how much time is spent actually talking in TV shows (movies tend to have less talking).
YouTube
YouTube makes keeping track of time very easy.
At the bottom of your “You page”, there’s a button that says “Time watched”.
Where you can see exactly how much you’ve watched today.
At the end of the day, I just take that time (I usually remove a bit to account for silences) and add it to my LingQ listening hours for that day.
Conversations
I also input conversations with people as “listening time”.
If I had a 10-minute conversation with someone in Cantonese I will typically add 5 minutes of listening time in LingQ.
Since 50% is probably the amount of listening input I got from the native speaker (depending on the conversation of course).
You don’t have to be super strict about it. Just ballpark it and it will serve its purpose.
LingQ "Achievements" in 2023
Whenever you hit an achievement (like 12K or 15K “know words”) you get a pop-up in LingQ telling you:
“Congratulations! You’ve learned 15K words!”
This gives you a sense of accomplishment on your journey and it’s a fun and motivating feature.
Not only that, but you also get a sense of accomplishment when you get the “Year in Review” at the end of the year
It’s important to take a moment to reflect and be thankful.
To see where you came from and how far you’ve come through the year that has passed.
We can’t just be constantly striving for the next achievement (although I have to confess that this is me the majority of the time). It’s important to stop and feel satisfied and thankful about where we’re at right now.
The numbers don’t lie.
It could be that you look at these and feel disappointed with this past year.
That’s okay.
It can be a good thing to have what could be called “a day of disgust”.
When you realize:
“Something needs to change if I’m going to get to where I want to”.
It’s important not to stay there though.
I had this “day of disgust” with Cantonese at the end of 2022. I just wasn’t happy with the amount of listening I had gotten in (81 hours or so).
I felt my progress was just way too slow.
So I made it a priority.
I’m so glad I did.
I noticed such a difference in my comprehension level and even speaking ability this year from having put in those 390 listening hours.
And quite a lot of those are actually from passive listening (when you’re not paying 100% attention all the time).
I would of course like to see even more hours spent in the language.
Because I know how much better my Cantonese would be.
Which would mean I would get even more enjoyment out of the language and culture (it gets more and more fun the better you get).
But under the circumstances of having lived in 3 different countries in 2023, being a husband and a dad, and having had a very busy summer, I’m happy with what I achieved.
I did as much as my current life situation allowed me to do, without becoming a burden to me or my family.
Screenshot of my “known words” in different languages
in LingQ on Jan 1st 2024
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Am I learning a new language in 2024
I already speak 6 languages.
Do I have other languages I want to learn?
I for sure do!
But I’m not gonna start a new language in 2024.
I feel I’m not done learning the languages I’m learning (you’re never done, but I mean actively focusing on them).
I very much have languages I’m interested in learning (one in particular that I’ve wanted to learn for a long time).
Sometimes I wish I could just jump on it and start some of these languages.
But I won’t do that (I’ll share why later in this post).
Everything has its time in place.
Some languages I’ve been wanting to learn for 10-20 years already so I don’t see those desires going anywhere.
My language goals for 2024
I understand that most of you are not learning 3 languages at the same time.
It’s a bit extreme.
But you can just apply the same principles and methods that I use and apply it to one language (or maybe even two).
The good thing for you is that you will be able to see faster progress in any given language if you spend all your focus on one (instead of three as I do).
Think about this:
Where do you want to be a year from now?
Take your ideal and then go:
“Where would I be happy to be given the time I have available each day?”
For example:
I would love to be native level in Cantonese a year from now.
Is it realistic?
Not very.
So I have to then set a goal that I can be happy with that will get me there within a reasonable time.
(What’s reasonable for you might be different than it is for me)
So what are my goals?
Let me break it down for you for each language I’m learning.
Finnish
With Finnish I don’t have a goal to be honest.
I use Finnish so much in daily life that I don’t have to put much effort into improving it right now.
Especially considering the level I’m at (which is at some level of fluency).
I still want to improve my understanding and ability to express myself accurately though.
To do that, I’m going to continue what I’ve been doing for months now:
Read until I hit 100 coins in LingQ.
This takes me about 10 mins.
It’s a very low goal and I might increase it at some point.
I wish I would have more time to read, but it would then take away from my other languages.
So for now I’m happy with it.
I would eventually like to get to 100,000 known words in LingQ.
Just as something concrete to strive for.
It’s just a number and a fun challenge to go after.
A milestone that’s measurable.
I should easily hit that this year (even if I just read as little as I do now every day).
Although I might do a sprint at some point to get there a bit faster.
(I’ll probably make a post and talk about my Finnish reading journey once I hit 100,00 words!)
Spanish
On New Year’s day, I hit 20,000 known words in Spanish.
Something I’m very happy with.
I’m more and more able to use the language in daily conversations and I understand it with more and more ease.
So I’m not going to change anything.
I’ll keep listening for at least 30 minutes every day and read at least 1,000 words in LingQ every day.
It keeps me progressing slowly, but steadily.
(I’ll share more in a 2-year Spanish update post. Which will be out soon!)
Cantonese
Cantonese is the language I’ve been learning the longest (if you don’t count English and Norwegian).
For 6 years now.
It’s by far the most challenging language I’ve learned.
Since I have spread my learning out between 2 languages (Cantonese and Finnish) for most of the time. And 3 languages (with the addition of Spanish) for the past 2 years, it has made my progress slower in Cantonese than it otherwise would have been.
Although I am happy with my level in the language…
…I’m hungry to go deeper.
I don’t have the level of comprehension I would like to have yet.
Understanding TV shows can still be a challenge at times (although definitely easier than a year ago).
I’ll continue reading at least 1,000 words a day in LingQ reading books.
This takes longer than Spanish because my reading speed in Chinese is slower (because of the Chinese characters, obviously)
I’ll also continue getting as much listening in as I can.
I don’t have a super specific goal, but I just have a goal to listen to something each day.
I find it much easier to get more listening in during work days than on weekends (when I want to spend time with family).
So during work days, my goal is to get 1.5 hours of listening in. I have just found that this is a number that is doable for me to reach during those days and it pushes me just a little bit.
However, if I’m able to listen more than that, I will.
Listening is an activity that becomes much more enjoyable when you get a lot of volume in.
It becomes more effortless.
Less daunting and scary.
So it’s a good idea to get as much listening input as you can (without it becoming overwhelming).
The feeling when you understand with ease (as I do from time to time in Cantonese) is just incredible!
Can’t wait to be back in Hong Kong and not only enjoy the fruits of my Cantonese learning but also some amazing food!
My long-term Cantonese goal - how long will it take?
My long-term goal in Cantonese is to get to a high level.
A very comfortable level.
To do that, I just need to get more input in.
Lots of listening and reading.
How many hours of listening I need to get there I honestly don’t know.
I have never learned a language like Cantonese before (and I also haven’t kept track of it since the beginning), so it’s a bit hard for me to answer that question.
But I’m on a journey to find out.
With reading, I have a very clear goal:
3 million words read.
Why that specific amount?
Because when you’ve read 3,000,000 words you can typically read more or less anything you want to in the language without any problems.
Which means you’ll have a large vocabulary.
Having a large vocabulary helps so much when talking to people as you can then talk about any topic you want to.
Which gives you a sense of confidence and freedom.
I’m currently at 1,356,682 words read in Cantonese.
I have a daily reading goal of 1,000 words in Cantonese.
With this tempo, I’ll get to 3 million words read in about 4.5 years.
Seems like a long time?
Might feel like it for some of you.
But for me, it’s not.
Cantonese is a very important part of my life and will continue to be so even way after 4.5 years have passed.
So it’s not necessarily that long for me in the grand scheme of things.
Besides.
The more you read the easier and faster it gets.
Reading in Cantonese used to be sooooo slow for me (now it’s a lot faster).
My reading speed at a certain point might be twice as fast compared to now. So I wouldn’t be surprised if at some point I increase the number of words I read each day.
I could then achieve the same goal of 2,000 words spending the same amount of time I do now.
Which means I would reach my goal quicker.
Even if I don’t, 4.5 years is totally fine for me.
It’s good to be aware of a time frame like this.
Because I have found that having a very long-term goal brings a lot of peace to your language learning.
Going way beyond the language learning goal (avoiding the polyglot trap)
Having a “language challenge” can be great.
It’s motivating and fun to really dive into a language for a limited time.
To achieve a certain goal and milestone.
But.
It can be quite shallow in my opinion.
If the challenge is not part of a bigger more meaningful goal.
I often see online polyglots and language learners do these challenges for 90 days or a year (or whatever the length is).
That’s fine.
I have done similar things too.
But what I see is that often these goals and challenges become an end in and of themselves.
After finishing the challenge, a lot of people will abandon the language to move on to something else (like another language).
This is just not my philosophy when it comes to learning languages.
My interest does not lie in learning a language just for the sake of it.
My interest is in the culture.
The people.
The food (dim sum, oh my)
What makes learning a foreign language special is not being able to show off how many different languages I speak (I actually couldn’t care less about that).
But being able to embrace an entirely new culture.
To make it part of my life.
Enrich my life.
Discover a different side of myself.
To be able to connect with people I otherwise wouldn’t be able to connect with.
That’s much more the goal for me than hitting a certain level of a language before a certain time.
The goals you set for yourselves should be little mini-challenges that help to bring you closer to the bigger goal:
Becoming part of a different culture.
Mandarin or Spanish are considered very useful languages to learn (because of how many people speak those languages).
But.
If there are other cultures that you find yourself more attracted to and make your heart skip a beat, those are guaranteed the ones that will be the most useful for you.
Don’t let anyone else tell you what language you should learn (i.e. what culture to connect with).
Learning a language is a very personal and heart-led decision.
While it’s wise to not set language learning goals that are based on the emotion of the moment (a sure way to not stay consistent).
The decision to learn a language should be based on emotion and what your heart desires.
The goals you set should be in line with the future you envision for yourself a year, or even 5 years from now.
Summary
As you can see my goals are focused more on the commitment to the languages I’m learning.
Because this is much more long-lasting than my feelings and motivation at this particular moment.
That being said, I do backtrack based on my current daily goals to have an idea of how long it’s going to take to reach a certain level.
To see if it’s a pace I’m happy with.
Or if I need to adjust my daily goals.
Setting goals is important.
But what’s even more important is your connection to the culture where the language is spoken.
That connection is what’s going to keep your fire going through all the ups and downs of learning a new language.
