Progress in usable language skills
Are your language-learning goals useful or are they just keeping you busy?
Usable language skills are the primary measure of progress. (From the #AgilePolyglot Manifesto)
When I think of language goals, I often imagine things like,
- “Learn 100 vocabulary words in two weeks,”
- “Listen to a podcast for 15 minutes per day,”
- “Take two tutoring sessions per week,” or
- “Work through 2 chapters of my textbook per week.”
These goals are good in that they are measurable. I can know for a fact whether I worked through those chapters or not, for example.
I had problems with those goals. I was listening to podcasts, but I got little out of them. Learning vocabulary went well, but I couldn’t remember why I was learning those words. Progress in my textbook was not helping in my tutoring lessons. They weren’t getting me where I wanted to get to.
Now I ask these sorts of questions: Are those vocabulary words useful? Is the podcast helping me? Am I getting what I need out of my tutoring? Is working through those chapters useful?
In taking on your language, you likely did not imagine yourself working on a textbook. More likely, you probably dreamt of carrying on charming conversations with beautiful people or something like it.
When we have limited time to work on our language, we want to maximize the value we get out of that work so that we get to those amazing interactions as quickly as possible.
I don’t doubt that a textbook or any of those means may be helpful, in theory, but if I want the skills needed for those charming conversations, a given activity has to be helpful, in fact. Let me use an example from Agile software development.
Creating useful software
Software developers can make all sorts of cool things. “Cool,” though, might not add value. For example, a team of developers could add a feature to email that would make your entire phone screen flash until you open a new email. It might be a cool project, but for people with a phone, it would get really annoying and most people would just turn it off. A cool project, but it doesn’t help people work through their day.
Instead of “cool,” therefore, Agile aims for “useful.” An email user wants to know when a new email comes, but wants to be able to ignore it easily if it’s not important. That’s the definition of “useful” for this functionality. You can offer a colored LED light for a new email, or you can code a notification that comes onto the screen with enough information to evaluate its importance.
Creating useful language goals
Let’s apply this to language-learning. I can perform all sorts of language-learning activities, but what is “useful” for me as an #AgilePolyglot for acquiring the skills I want?
“Useful” language goals would sound more like,
- “I want to greet my Cambodian neighbor,”
- “I want to understand better what my French landlord is telling me,” or
- “I want to watch my favorite K-drama to be able to follow 50% of the story.”
In each case, you are using your language to do something. They are skills. It’s still measurable, but it’s more closely related to the reason you started learning your language. Measuring your language progress by usable skills, you will only see progress.
- Think about what you actually want to be able to do and name that skill.
- Ask yourself what means (tasks, apps, approaches, textbook lessons, etc.) will get you to that goal.
- Spend your time on those specific activities you identify, for example, vocabulary, podcasts, tutoring, and textbooks, with the skill in focus.
These activities are good, but the clearer you are about what those tools are building, the more likely you are to be pleased with the results.
