Summary of hours
In Q2 2021 (the last 3 months), I started tracking the amount of hours I put into language learning. I wanted to see which languages get the most time, and where my time goes!
I only track active learning hours (e.g. italki lessons, grammar study, using a textbook, writing essays, engaging with articles) and not passive learning (listening to music, podcasts, and watching movies).
Total hours of languages this quarter: Approx 57 hours!
I spent more time this quarter working on side projects and app design than on some languages, but I’m glad to see the majority of my time went to my one true love, Hungarian. Hungarian far outweighed the other languages, as I spent 36 hours actively learning Hungarian (and probably more passively!) but only 10 hours on French, which came in second place.
Things don’t always go according to plan
In Q2, I wanted to read more Spanish and finish my Tagalog textbook, but I guess life had other plans! With the exciting surprises of being on Hungarian TV and radio, I found it more important to study Hungarian than to review Tagalog.
I also recently started a few side projects in the language app design space, so a lot of my time went to app design. I haven’t thought yet about what I want to achieve in Q3, but I think I’ll take it slow and do just what I feel like when I feel like it!
Growing in confidence and flexibility
The most important things I learnt in the last three months are…
1. It’s OK to change your mind and priorities. I feel like I say this all the time, but this is really my approach to language learning. It’s my hobby, not my job. If I want to change my language priorities, and if it makes me happy, I’ll do it! I’m not doing this to perform or to impress anyone – it’s just my fun language journey.
2. I can do the difficult things. I was absolutely petrified when I was on live Hungarian TV. After only having learnt (re-learnt) for about 8 months, my Hungarian is nowhere near fluent. I knew if I prepared enough and tried my best, I could do it. I would regret not taking the opportunity had I said no. So, I pulled up my socks, put in a lot of active studying hours, and did the thing. And I’m so grateful for it. I can feel my Hungarian improving slowly, day by day. I just had to take that first difficult step!
The best memories
It’s a good idea to remember what made you feel happy and excited in your language learning. For this reason, I keep a small list of the best moments each month.
Some notable happy memories from this quarter include…
– refreshing my French speaking
-being on Hungarian TV and radio (live!) and meeting my favorite band of all time
– starting to read about UX design in Hungarian
– restarting Lingoda lessons for Spanish
– going to Spanish language exchange
– speaking Japanese with a friend after months of not using the language
– going on Spongemind’s Korean podcast, again after a long time of not using Korean
– buying level B1 French textbooks and making peace with the fact that my level has indeed deteriorated lol
– Starting my language newsletter (sign up for free on the home page!)
Overall, it has been a fun Q2 even if I didn’t achieve all the goals I set out to do. I’m looking forward to seeing what Q3 will hold. I haven’t set any goals yet, and I’m taking it day by day!
My journal
P.S: If you want to see my language learning journal in detail, take a look at this video that I made a few months ago, showing how I planned for Q2.
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