Set Learning Goals to Learn a Foreign Language

Set Learning Goals to Learn a Foreign Language Language-learning goals are best if they are short, simple and easily measurable. Many of us embark on studying a language by saying, “I want to be fluent in English/Mandarin/Cantonese in six months!” The problem is, what is fluency? Fluent in what way? Casual conversation? Reading and writing? Discussing legal issues for your business? Instead, it’s better to set clearly defined goals. Start with something like, “By the end of today, I will know how to greet someone and introduce myself. In two days, I will learn how to ask someone what they do for a living and explain to them what I do. By the end of the week, I will know how to procure food and avoid starvation.” And to get you started, I’ll give you the goal of all goals, the milestone that will take you furthest on the path to fluency: “Master the 100 most common words in X weeks/months.” Set clearly defined goals

1. How Goal Setting Can Help You

2. How Goal Setting Can Harm You

3. How to Pursue Goals Intelligently

4. When Failing Is More Valuable Than Succeeding