Create your Routine
Time to apply your knowledge for Day 18 of Fresh Foundations
This post is part of the series Fresh Foundations which is about helping you create a sustainable and joyful language learning routine.
Today we’re reviewing what we’ve covered and taking our first steps towards building our own practices. Don’t forget to subscribe for access to a fantastic tool for planning and evaluating your practice!
Congratulations!
Look how much you’ve accomplished over the past three weeks. You’ve:
Collected graded and authentic material
Experimented with a language log, shadow reading, journal writing, vocabulary mining, and the Ben Franklin technique
Reflected on what’s effective and adjusted your practice
I sincerely hope you’ve noticed a difference, even if it’s small, in your fluency, accuracy, and range. By staying consistent, you’ll soon move beyond the intermediate phase and into the advanced stage of your progress.
Language learning is a never-ending journey. Activities that once worked for you might no longer be effective, and tasks that once felt too overwhelming may now seem easier. Every learner is different. Every language is different. Every stage in development is unique. Honor where you are at this moment and celebrate your progress so far. Recognizing how far you’ve come is a powerful motivator to keep moving forward. I hope you’re feeling proud of yourself. You deserve it.
Today's Task
Now you’re ready to design your own language learning practice, using the tools and strategies you’ve cultivated over the past three weeks.
Your task for today is to plan your activities for next week. Making decisions in advance will make it much easier to follow through in the moment.
If you’re a nerd like I am, I’m sharing a tool you might enjoy. It’s a spreadsheet that helps you plan your tasks and track which skills you’re practicing most. It’s a great way to stay accountable. I’m a big fan of Peter Drucker’s motto: “What gets measured, gets managed,” so I find it useful to keep track of my practice.
You can download it for free below.
How to Use the Love to Lingo Planner
Plan the activities you want to do next week. Write them in the "Name of Activity" column. You can layer several activities together. For example, you can listen to a podcast and mine the transcript for vocabulary or write a language log entry.
List of possible activities. You can personalize it by adding your favorite activities to the list. When you complete an activity, record how many minutes you spent and check off the day as completed.
Your pie chart will reflect the time spent on each skill. It’s normal to spend more time on passive skills than productive ones, but make sure you engage at least a little with productive skills.
I find tracking my activity very motivating. It’s also helpful to see how I spend most of my language learning time.
You can look at my example from this week. You’ll notice I didn’t check off 23 January because I didn’t do anything. That’s real life, but I got back to work the next day.
What’s Next
I won’t be posting from Monday to Wednesday next week, but I will check in via chat and respond to messages and comments. Please feel free to get in touch.
At the end of the week, I’ll wrap up the Fresh Foundations series and ask for your suggestions and feedback. Providing valuable insights for language learners and teachers is my number one priority, and I want to hear from you.
Good luck planning your personalized language practice, and don’t hesitate to reach out!
I love the planner you've created! It will help a lot with tracking my progress. I'm going to start using it next month
Great post!