Clear The List: December 2015


Hey! Welcome to Clear The List for December 2015! Hosted by myself, Shannon of Eurolinguiste, Esther of Local Adventurer, and Mariah of Food, Booze and Baggage, we share our monthly goals and encourage you to do the same. Check the bottom of this post for more info on how to join in.

Never mind the month, this last week has been INSANE.

My degree results arrived (2.1 and Distinction in the final Spanish course this year!), me and Ashley won Milton Keynes 48 Hour Film Challenge on Saturday night, and I found out mid-week that my film Looking For Work Abroad has been shortlisted for Europass Viral Video Competition 2015. Say what?!

It would mean el mundo if you could take 2 seconds to click here (it’ll open in a new tab) and vote for Looking For Work Abroad.

You’ll recognise it because it’s the one with the still of an alien. Yup. Ashley wore that suit all day. That alone deserves a vote I think!

Once you’ve voted, if you can share the link on Facebook, I’ll be fit to burst. Thank you.

Time to get to Clear The List.

Clear The List is a monthly goal setting blog link-up. Join our community as we share our goals for the coming month. Let's do this! Click through to read more.

On the Blog

It was a fun month on the blog. We’ve talked a lot about language exchange this month, shared 9 reasons to learn Dutch, and had a great guest post from Cher Hale of The Iceberg Project. Here are a few of my favourites:

Practising 8 Languages in 30 Minutes with Tandem
How to Guarantee Responses from Language Exchange
9 Reasons to Learn Dutch
Guest Post: 3 Commonly Used Italian Words Every Beginner Should Know
Add1Challenge Day 30 Update

Shall we get on with taking a look at the rest of last month?

November Review

At least 30 minutes of Japanese study each day. Aim for one hour!

This happened…pretty much every day!

Naturally, there were a couple of days when I didn’t get to study as much Japanese as I would have liked. For example, a 48 Hour Film Challenge doesn’t lend itself well to fitting in some time for Japanese.

However, I’m really happy with the month considering it was my first full month free of my degree. Everyone deserves a little break from time to time.

Get to work on the next TWO online courses

This half happened.

I opted instead to really focus on one course.

More details coming very soon. I think you’ll LOVE this. Look out for that!

Language Script Challenge – Back to Burmese

This happened! I didn’t get a look at Burmese every single day, and I was only really focused on 10-15 minutes on weekdays anyway, but I’m happy with my progress. I’ll be sharing more about this on Friday on the blog and YouTube.

A one hour italki lesson each week

This happened.

Yay! It feels ridiculously good to speak a language you’re learning to a native speaker and get instant feedback. Italki is still one of the best ways out there for this. Love it.

December Goals

30 Minutes Plus of Japanese Per Day

Now I know I can comfortably maintain my 30 minute habit, I’m going to casually up this. Not directly to 1 hour. BOOM! Let’s double it!

Nah. That’s a bit intense. If it was the only thing in my life, maybe. But not right now.

That said, my target is 30 minutes plus, meaning that I’m aiming for more than 30 minutes, which I think will result in a push each day to do more than the last day.

I’ll report back on how that goes!

Language Script Challenge – Solid Burmese Understanding

I’ve decided to stick with Burmese for this last month and gain a more solid understanding of one script rather than attempt to revisit another in the last month of the Language Script Challenge.

Again, more on this on Friday here on the blog.

2 italki Lessons Per Week

On Saturday, I found a new tutor on italki because I want more lessons! I’ve booked 30 minute sessions on Tuesday mornings as well as my 1 hour lessons on the weekend.

I think this will just help to keep things ticking over in the week, and it’s cheaper than 2 full one hour lessons, which are also sometimes harder to find time for.

The tricky thing this month will be Christmas. If you could see my wall above my computer right now, wow. My weekly planning sheets are in overdrive for December. I’m planning like crazy to get things done despite Christmas. Fingers crossed, right?!

A very special Christmas video.

Yes! This is exciting. So I’ve planned a very special Christmas video.

I want you!

Do you want to have a cameo in said very special Christmas video on my YouTube channel?

All you have to do is submit a 2-5 second video clip of yourself sharing your favourite thing about Christmas or holding up ‘Merry Christmas’ in the language you’re learning. One rule: no audio!

Share your clips to the Lindsay Does Languages Facebook page here by the 4th December for a chance to be in the video. Yay!

How have things gone for you in November? What do you have planned for your language learning in December? Share in the comments!

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