Bring On The New Year: New Goals (Arabic Week 25)

Back when I started, I set a few goals of what I wanted to accomplish this year. Here is a look back on those goals and which I accomplished:

1. Have a 15 minute conversation using ONLY Chinese
2. Be able to speak a 5 minute monologue in Chinese
3. Have a 40 minute conversation using ONLY Chinese
4. Having a 15 minute conversation with somebody who DOESN'T speak any English
5. Watch an episode of a Chinese TV show and be able to understand what is happening
6. Be able to read and pronounce a full page of Arabic whether I know the words or not
7. Have a 30 minute conversation with somebody that is a mix of Arabic/English
8. Listen to an Arabic song and be able to explain it in Chinese

Yikes, 4/8 is not too high of a number to be proud of. As the year progressed I learned a lot about what was realistic to ask of myself for these languages. There were times I didn't study as much as I should have but there was also times I studied more than I planned. Had everything gone perfect I feel I could have gotten around 6 or 7 of those goals completed this year, but I'm not perfect nor do I strive to be.

I try not to look at the failures that have happened. Instead, I strive to look at the successes that came about. Here are a few things that I was able to do that was not intended:

1. Reconnect with old friends who have since started to learn languages as well.
2. Get in contact with language learners from Europe who are also learning the same languages as me.
3. Have my blog posted on an international language learning website.
4. Have a conversation about something that I've never prepared for in another language.
5. Meet some people from countries that I was learning their language.
6. Have foreigners trying to help me plan my trip to China.

Now's the time to look forward to 2017. With the new year I'm supposed to make new goals right? I'm not going to be adding any new languages but instead just trying to develop the languages I've started.

1. Be able to have a 15 minute conversation in three different foreign languages for 15 minutes each (Mandarin, Arabic, and Spanish) without any English
2. Write an entire blog post without using English (sorry)
3. Find somebody that I can set up a weekly chat with to have an Arabic/English exchange
4. Find somebody that wants to learn one of these languages that I can help teach

I'm sure I'll create some more specific goals along the way. Main one is number 4, if you or anybody you know is interested in learning Spanish, Mandarin, or Arabic I would be happy to join them on that journey (I can offer the most tips in Mandarin of the three). For now, here is a video of all three at once!

Until next time.