The Cunning Linguist

As we grind towards the end of January there will be some readers feeling disillusioned that they've not adhered to ambitious ‘New Year’s Resolutions’! Don’t be disheartened! January is a notoriously bad time to start new habits; the days are still short, money is tight and did you know 21^st January was the most depressing day of the year?. Its almost urban folklore that New Year’s Resolutions don’t stick, and being surrounded by people giving up on those bold declarations of personal change is exactly the wrong kind of peer pressure for you to succeed!!

There’s plenty you can do to ‘save’ 2008. Reformed kleptomaniac and widely regarded personal development guru Steve Pavlina recommends starting new habits with a “30-day trial”. The only thing that guarantees failure is giving up, so why not challenge yourself to make February a 30 (well, 29) day trial of at least one of the things you would like to change this year. In fact, concentrating on one thing at a time might just be the trick for success. Highstreet pharmacy Boots recommend exactly that, with their “Change one thing” lifestyle campaign.

Even if you feel your efforts so far have achieved little, January 2008 has already demonstrated some valuable lessons about your goals … you’ve successfully identified at least one approach that doesn’t work! There’s lots to be learned by sitting down with a nice cup of tea and a notepad, and writing down all the reasons why your resolutions haven’t stuck in January (whether you think they’re excuses or not)! Then look back over them; chances are some are very practical obstacles that anyone would struggle with. Setting unrealistic goals is a top reason for resolutions stalling and dropping out of the sky. If there’s something big in your way there’s no use bashing against it; the only person who will get beaten up is you. Its time for some frank and realistic consideration of what you might have to change or give up in order to achieve your goals.

Then, there’s the reasons we probably feel a bit guilty about – things we feel we should have been able to do, or things we know for a fact we could have changed but just somehow didn’t. Was it a lack of willpower, or is your resistance telling you something about what’s going on under the surface. Often when we procrastinate its because there’s something we’re trying to avoid, or something we believe about ourselves or our goals that is holding us back (perhaps something we've been taught to ignore or dismiss). 

Self doubt, fear of failure, perfectionism, pure personal dislike of certain activities can all be culprits. Again, there’s no use brushing these under the carpet; learn from them, be honest with yourself, and decide whether these are things you want to challenge. Often confronting them reaps dividends in all areas of our lives, and you might never have discovered what was holding you back until you set yourself that New Year’s Resolution. You’ve probably learned something very valuable about yourself; January doesn’t feel like such a failure now, does it? Its just been necessary preparation for the rest of 2008!

So, now you’re ready to crack on and tackle your language ambitions from a fresh angle, here’s a roundup of some great online resources that will help you get stuck in. First up is the fabulous Italki. This free site is the best I’ve found for tracking down language exchange partners, and also features a “Yahoo” style Q&A board and group repository of learning resources by language. Better still, they’ve recently launched a fabulous Facebook plug-in that allows you to use the site completely within the Facebook environment. Keeping things all in one place is bound to have you checking in with language partners more often.

Next up is Mango Languages, providers of free online language tuition software. Its all web based so you can use it anywhere, and features an impressive array of languages. These guys have got the language blogosphere talking, and it doesn’t take long to see why. I wasn’t sold at first, but after running through the first 15 slides of Russian (which I’ve not touched since a failed attempt with a library Linguaphone course over ten years ago) the material had started to stick! Its well worth a look.

Here’s a bit of a curve ball; Google Reader. I’ve never really got on with RSS readers, but the ease with which Google Reader integrates with my iGoogle search homepage and lets me listen to podcasts and view video seamlessly has made this a firm favourite. On a daily basis I use this to listen to the latest podcasts from ChinesePod and JapanesePod101, as well as videos from Japan Probe and all kinds of other language goodness. Of course its right there in front of you whenever you return to the Google homepage, so it jogs your memory to have a listen, and since it works with popups you can preview the content without even having to leave the page. Fabulous.

Last but not least, some offers and features from the podcasters; JapanesePod101 has recently launched Video Vocab for its premium customers – an audio-visual flashcard type system you can use on your video iPod to review vocabulary. KoreanClass101 is running a January subscription discount of 25% if you enter coupon code “YES25” during your signup. ChinesePod will give you a free initial Skype consultation, a two-month personal study plan and two follow up Skype sessions for free if you sign up to their 12 month premium subscription before the end of January. And Declan Software are offering 15% off all products in January if you enter coupon code “ DECL-7LX7-JANU” while making your purchase.

There isn’t a better time to reaffirm your commitment to achieving success in 2008 with language study, so start now! がんばって　ください！