Tracking your language learning progress - how and why to do it

Should you track your language learning progress? Today we’ll talk about tracking the language learning activities you do and how this can help you stay motivated and disciplined in language learning. Goals are just goals unless you have small habits and systems and frameworks to reach the goals. I'll show you my language tracking notebook and some other ideas and apps you can try to measure your progress.

Start learning with Busuu here:

Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
0:50 Why is language tracking important?
1:48 Language activity journal
3:11 Weekly language activity trackers
5:00 Video, audio or diary logs to see progress
5:57 Twitter threads for accountability
7:20 Language study plan on Busuu app
9:11 A warning for language learners
10:00 Agile methodology for language learning
11:08 End

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[simplynin]

one thing i love about lindie’s videos is that she isn’t afraid to tell us she does some things late or when she has a bad week of studying! there’s so much pressure with language learning to do something EVERY day. I always try my best to actively study every day but we all have off days. i love her realistic, “life happens” approach :)

[dripdrip]

it was very comforting to see "did nothing" on your calendar... nice to know im not the only one haha

[tiramisunsun]

I hate plans and keeping track of anything in general it stresses me out. I just learn languages freely, depending of my moods and time. So far it helped me staying motivated as I don't feel trapped or stress about it. It's just pleasure.

[jul]

Lindie: "there are people who have excel spreadsheets where they log exactly how many minutes they spent on language learning..."
Me, currently updating my excel spreadsheet after reviewing Japanese for 33 minutes: 😇

[SomedayKorean]

I also generally don't keep track of time spent studying, especially down to the minute. I've found that focusing on quantity over quality is generally a bad idea, and this is no exception. Some people may find the numbers motivating, and those people can do what works for them, but for me, it's always just either stressed me out, made me feel like I'm not doing enough, or distracted me away from what's actually important, which is my progress in the language.

[dafstube]

I’m intermediate in Japanese and that’s currently the language I’m more focused on, I take lessons on it and all. But whenever I can, I study a little bit of mandarin and korean (beginner), without much effort, just to keep going. For now I’m focused on the JLPT and I’ve decided that, when I pass the exam, I will focus on learning mandarin and korean for real. Thanks for your amazing videos! ありがとうございまーす

[m.m]

Lindie... I’m actually really curious about your career as a designer, can you perhaps do a video on that soon??

[jssmedialangs]

My biggest struggles: over complicating things. Even at this very moment my mind is going into overdrive over making a journal log, "Should I do a calendar? What kind of paper should I use? Should I get one for all my TLs? Maybe I should do a digital log? How should I set that up? Would both be best?" 😱😱😱 I hate when I do this...

I am working to be more positive and remind myself that it's fine if I did passive activities because I'm still engaging the languages I'm studying.

I'm gonna try out some of these. 😊 Thanks for the tips Lindie!

[londonerlearnsjapanese]

I used to keep a diary and TRY to translate it into Japanese.
The only issue is that with lockdown, my life is SO boring that there's nothing new to write about.

[HangTran-fsvf]

BIG FAN AND LANGUAGE ENTHUSIAST FROM VIETNAM HERE! HOPE YOU'RE HAVING A GREAT DAY LINDIE!!!!

[nekie_neka]

👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
Thank you so much for this video. It took me winning a Korean Speaking Contest to realize that I've actually gone from beginner to intermediate.

This is going to help me measure my progress as I go, from now on.

Thank you always, Lindie!❤️❤️

[wrenbayley]

Learning language is fun for me. When it stops being fun, I back off for a break, but won’t let myself quit completely. That ensures I return and continue enjoying the process. I also keep the pressure on myself at a minimum by reminding myself I have an entire lifetime to learn this. A little grace for ourself is good.

[Ellary_Rosewood]

I have never tracked my progress with language learning, and it's definitely held me back, I think. I studied Japanese for years, got to a pretty advanced level, but then quit rather suddenly to focus on other languages. Now I can barely speak it or read it. I think that if I had kept track of my progress, it would have helped to be able to go back and look at all the work I did. I am currently trying to achieve fluency in Spanish, and have also started studying Swedish. I better start tracking my progress, especially if I plan on learning more and more languages my entire life! 😭

[susiemangilit]

Filipino subscriber here! Rooting for your TAGALOG study journey Lindie! 화이팅! ❤️✌️

[Urriisx]

Thanks for the video. I'm living in the UK for few months and having trouble with my English. This video helps me alot.

[dearivy]

Oh wow! You're learning Tagalog/Filipino language. I'm from the Philippines and currently studying Korean. So happy to know that there are still people like you who wanted to know/learn our language (Tagalog). 😊😊

[yastrinka]

Tracking my progress is the hardest thing for me. Thanks, Lindie!

[lifeafterleo]

Journaling and video logs are two things I’m focused on doing this year for my Spanish study. I’m looking forward to seeing how I progress over the year.

[englishdaily]

Thanks Miss. Your videos is really useful for us. I'm a non native English speaker. I live in Indonesia, I speak Indonesian. I'm a student of English education at college. And I've been learning English for almost 2 years. But start studying it seriously for a year. I've always wanted to get fluency in English. Even sometimes I get confused while understanding the English spoken or written in any sources.

I remembered when I was in the first time learning English, everything was really confusing and I couldn't able to speak at all. But you see now I can a little bit write a comment in English though, that'd mean my English is quite better now. However, mostly people will think their English or any target languages isn't improving at all but I disagree with that, cause every small things and small tracks will make something bigger unexpectedly. So we just don't realize that..

[phoenixhou]

Your videos always encourage me to study languages with more passion! You've really been a great inspiration to me. I also love languages 🇪🇸🇨🇳🇰🇷🇯🇵🇷🇺🇫🇷🇩🇪🇧🇷 and make videos about my language experience. I hope to make great content like yours!