In a previous article, I outlined two goals I wanted to accomplish by summer 2024. The first pertained to languages, and the other was about writing. Much has changed since then, and I’d like to update this blog to reflect that. In this article, I’ll update my language goals, while in a future article, I’ll update my writing goals (and add some new ones).
Language Goals
My language goals were to gain the following levels of proficiency in French, Mandarin, Cantonese, Hindi and Telugu. Note that proficiency levels are given in terms of the Common European Framework for the Reference of Languages, commonly known as the CEFR.
The CEFR scale has 6 levels – Beginner (A1/A2), Intermediate (B1/B2), and Advanced (C1/C2). B2 is generally the level required to study in the language, or to work in the language.
Here are the levels I outlined in my post:
- French (B2)
- Mandarin (A2)
- Cantonese (A2)
- Telugu (B1)
- Hindi (B1)
Changing the languages
Since setting those goals, I’ve realized that Mandarin and Cantonese isn’t a priority for me. Instead, I’ve become more interested in South Asia, and want to focus my time on learning Indian languages.
Thus, I’m striking Mandarin and Cantonese from this list.
Instead, I’ll add Punjabi and potentially Bengali. Since Punjabi, Bengali, and Hindi are all Indo-Aryan languages, it’s likely that the time required for the three will be similar to or less time than the time required for both Cantonese and Mandarin. They’re also all Indo-European languages (and thus related to English and French). I’ve had more exposure to Hindi and Punjabi through music and movies, so that should further reduce the learning time.
I would like to use Punjabi to speak to Punjabis that I encounter in New York and elsewhere, as well as understand Punjabi music and eventually Punjabi poetry. For Bengali, I want to have short conversations with Bengali speakers.
Changing the process
Initially, I wanted to use results based goals, whereby I would study until I hit a particular level. That approach has its challenges because the amount of time required to reach a level of ability is uncertain – and thus it’s difficult to measure your progress towards your goals.
Instead, I’m going to set efforts based goals, where I try to hit a particular number of hours of study. That way, I’ll keep moving towards my goals without needing to know how long it will take.
For French, Telugu, and Hindi, I want to spend 30 hours each on actively learning the language(s). That means I can’t just listen to music in Hindi in the background – I need to be looking up new words that I don’t know, be speaking it with someone, or trying to read text outside of my comfort zone.
For Punjabi and Bengali, I want to hit 15 hours of study each. My language goals total 120 hours of study, which is around 2 – 3 hours a week for 2023. I think that this goal is realistic. I’ll evaluate my progress towards these goals at the end of each month, and will allow myself to make changes to them at the end of each quarter.
Summary
With those changes, here’s what my new language goals look like:
- French: 30 hours of active study by Dec 31, 2023
- Telugu: 30 hours of active study by Dec 31, 2023
- Hindi: 30 hours of active study by Dec 31, 2023
- Punjabi: 15 hours of active study by Dec 31, 2023
- Bengali: 15 hours of active study by Dec 31, 2023
I’ll evaluate my progress by writing a blog post at the end of each month, and will allow changes to these goals at the end of each quarter.
Next, I need to sketch out what I’ll do to occupy those hours of study time. For the four Indian languages, a portion of that time will be spent learning how to read and pronounce the languages. For Hindi and Punjabi, I will likely analyze songs that I like for new vocabulary while doing a course like Colloquial Punjabi or Hindi. For Telugu and Bengali, I will likely follow a course and practice via iTalki.