(1) Two years, eleven months...

I have been studying Spanish for two years and eleven months. 

Where am I at mentally? 

Well, I'll tell you... I think about quiting everyday.  😣😂😂

Studies show that the single most important factor to language learning is.....

(drum roll......) 🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁

M O T I V A T I O N !!! 

But - what is my motivation?

I actually have two...

You see, I am an English teacher. I teach online and my students are mostly adults and mostly Japanese although I DO teach grammar (😒) I have evolved into helping students identify their strengths and weaknesses as well as overcome the physcological side of langauge learning - mostly difficulty speaking. Which brings me to my reason/motivation number one.

1. To experience learning a second language so that I will understand what my students experience, the anxiety, the frustrations and the joys.

2. To actually learn a language and be able to communicate with people to a functional level in their native language when travelling or in my own area. 

- So, what is wrong with this motivation? Nothing. However, how do you measure such things? when are you "done"? I have always had in my mind to learn several languages. When do I switch to other languages? ... and which ones? One thing that I have learned is that language learning takes longer than I thought it would. However, learning one helps you to learn another. You learn how to learn, how to think in a different way and what to focus on. Simply following a language learning program is not always the best method... I know, that is what I started with. I spent a lot of time of things I don't fully understand and will probably never use while struggling to communicate many basic things. 😖  However... it is all part of learning. 

So, here I am, two years and eleven months after starting Spanish...feeling discouraged with my progress, losing interest in the language, longing to travel to non-Spanish speaking countries. I wish I had documented this journey from the beginning. I have in my head but I think it is wildly helpful to share these thoughts and feelings with others. I often do with my students and it encourages them that they are not alone in these things. Simply knowing you are not alone gives a person strength to carry on and it provides perspective about the journey, the process. 

My current idea is to continue and make it an even three years... On the other hand, I would love to start fresh and document my language journey with something completly new.

Stay tuned to find out what happens.