How We Plan to Learn More Spanish in 2018

by Kali Carollo | Jan 1, 2018 | Booklists

I used to call them New Year’s resolutions. Then I started calling them goals. This year I’m going to call it a plan. Goals get my brain going to lofty places. Not saying that’s a bad thing. It’s good to dream big. When it comes to our language learning for the year though, I need to have a plan. I need to map out where I want us to go, and how we’re going to get there. What will the day-to-day look like around our house, learning Spanish in 2018?

I won’t lie. I’m scared. I took a break from Spanish for a year, and getting back into it is exciting, yes. Also terrifying. Why? Well, I don’t like to be disappointed. I don’t like to fail. But I’m trying to push away alllll the lofty expectations, and just keep learning Spanish. With a plan in hand. I want the plan to be DOABLE, but also to PUSH me.

My Plan for the Kids
The kids’ plan is pretty set, since it is a part of their school curriculum. We actually have a Spanish program planned that we will go through with a small group of friends! Basically we’ll spend 10 minutes a day on Spanish. Each day we’ll learn five new words, and each week we have a set of phrases that we act out. The phrases go along with the Spanish story we’ll be reading for Term 2 of the school year: Ricitos de oro y los tres osos (Goldilocks and the Three Bears). On top of that we’ll learn three Spanish songs and memorize one or two Spanish poems. So by the end of the year this is what we should have accomplished:

learn 1,080 new words
memorize 6-9 Spanish poems
learn about 10 Spanish songs
learn how to narrate 100 simple daily actions

There are tons more things I want to do, but I think I’ll focus on these first, and then come back to the drawing board for Term 3. For example, I’d really like my oldest (age 7) to start learning how to read in Spanish, and I want to make him a calendar notebook that’s all in Spanish. I also have ideas like “Watch ___ movies in Spanish,” or “Read ____ books in Spanish,” but I need to make myself take it one step at a time!

How We Will Keep Track of Progress

For the words, we have a little blank scrapbooking book I had on hand where we will paste (or draw) small pictures of the words we learn each week. That’s how we’ll measure (and review!) all our new words. All of the poems and songs we learn I’ll collect in a folder with sheet protectors so we can have them all in one place. As for the actions, I’m not sure yet how to keep track of all of those!? Any suggestions?

Me writing my Spanish goals for the summer on our bathroom mirror – 2016

For Me

Yes, I’m still learning Spanish too! I have hit a huge plateau in my fluency level, and I’m not quite sure how I’ll get over it. In the meantime, here are the ways I’m trying to get lots of input to see if I can’t improve my Spanish this year:

find/design 365 quotes (a quote or phrase each day!)
write out the scriptures in Spanish
take a past-tense Spanish course (I already signed up for this! eek!)
keep my input consistent: listen to 100 podcasts by the end of the year! (that’s like 2/week?)
read The Art of Teaching and Studying Languages (You can download it free on books.google.com, then send it to your Kindle! That’s what I did.)

How I Will Keep Track of My Progress

I think to keep myself on track I will put some reminders on my phone and on my calendar with alerts set for certain times and dates. I also have a book for myself to write down new phrases and words I have to look up. Lastly, I think I’ll make a little checklist or chart in one of my journals with 100 spaces to write down the titles of the podcasts I listen to. Whew! This is exciting and daunting all at the same time.

Tell me! What is your plan for learning Spanish in 2018?? I’d love for you to share about it in the comments below and we can keep each other accountable!!

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