I’ve kind of fallen behind on Arabic. There. I said it.
In month one, I was extremely excited and motivated. My days were filled with Arabic music, Arabic podcasts, Arabic TV show
s, and oh-so-much time on Memrise and other language-learning apps.
But it felt like I went on an Arabic fast in month two. I was preparing for an interpreter’s exam, so my language-learning time was focused on court, criminal, and medical vocabulary in Spanish, and I wanted to ensure that Spanish flowed easily off my tongue. So, besides continuing language exchanges through HelloTalk for Arabic, I did absolutely zero intentional learning last month.
As I look at month three, in a way, it feels like I’m starting from ground zero once again. So, I decided that for this blog, I would go through a five-step process that Jack Askew has frequently shared. This will be my formal, more academic launch for Arabic learning, than my first month full of excitement and motivation, but very few plans.
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WHY
Now, why exactly do I want to learn Arabic? From the moment I began learning Arabic casually in high school, I fell in love with it. I loved the sounds, the words, the idioms, the sayings, and the culture. Throughout my time in university, I couldn’t get enough of the language, and then finally, living in Morocco showed me how much farther I had to go to be able to communicate proficiently. I love languages, and I’ve always been vocal about that, but I haven’t succeeded in learning a third one. I’m unimpressed with my bilingualism, and I want to reach a level of conversational proficiency in a new language. I want to watch more and more of the culture unlock before me, and I want that feeling of sweet success.
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GOAL AND DEADLINE
By the end of July 2016, I want to be able to watch news in Arabic and understand 90% of what is being said. I want to be able to confidently approach Arabic speakers and know that I will be able to comfortably carry on a conversation in a variety of contexts.
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WHAT I NEED TO DO TO REACH THIS GOAL
- Improve speaking through conversation partners
- Consistently expose myself to Arabic media and news sources to improve my listening
- Accumulate more vocabulary in order to improve comprehension
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HOW I WILL DO IT
Speaking
This aspect intimidates me quite a bit more than any other, so I’ll post it first… just get it out there. I will find a conversation partner either through iTalki or in person and meet with them for at least one hour biweekly (preferably every week, but let’s start with a biweekly goal!). Additionally, I will continue my exchanges using HelloTalk.
Listening
Obviously, having a conversation partner will help me improve my listening. On top of that, however, I will listen to one Arabicpod.net podcast each week; these range between 9 and 15 minutes, so I know it is manageable. I will listen to at least one hour of music in Arabic each week and watch 20 minutes of Arabic TV. (I really don’t like watching movies or TV all that much, so though 20 minutes isn’t much, I think it’s enough). And finally, since one of my goals is to understand the news in Arabic, I will watch one video on Aljezeera each week as well.
Vocabulary Accumulation
I will continue to use Memrise and work through the Advanced Media Arabic course. Additionally, I will create my own course with vocabulary I find throughout the week. Each week I will also label five things in my house to work on learning their names in Arabic.
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TAKE CONSISTENT ACTION
I plan on using two lunch times a week to watch TV or the news. I’ll listen to podcasts and music while doing household chores. I will spend five minutes 5x/week on Memrise and will have biweekly conversations.
So here goes. I have a game plan, and I’m ready to start it off. I’ll have a checklist where I’ll keep track of these goals each week. I’ll let you know how it goes, and we’ll see if there’s a need to re-evaluate at the end of the month.
Have you been feeling stuck in a rut in your language-learning goals? What kind of things get you motivated? How do you kick-start your learning? Give me some tips, fellow Base Campers.
And here’s the monthly video: