Good Morning everyone!

So, it’s been rough to study languages for me lately. I’m going, to be honest, it’s been frustrating. I feel like I’ve been studying Spanish for over five years and I’m still not fluent. It’s very discouraging for me. However, I know people have been studying languages for over a decade, so they’re probably used to it, and have developed their own study habits and motives.

I guess Spanish for me has been like most parents’ first child. You make the most mistakes because you’re entering into a new world and have no idea what’s happening even though you’ve read all the books. Then by the second child/language, you have a better idea of what you want, and a better study routine/schedule. I think with my second try at learning a language (French), I have more motives and more haste. I feel like I’d really like to be a B1-B2 in June of this year when I really don’t think that’ll happen. My next goal for B1-B2 is by December. Next year, I’m going to double up on Italian and Portuguese. I can’t decide which language I want to learn, so I’m going to do them both!

Back to my fluency frustration. I’m becoming hastier with French, and Spanish as well. My Spanish professor at Italki says I’ll be a C1 by November, but that means I’ll have been a B2 in Spanish for over a year. It really bothers me when I see people like Benny Lewis who are fluent within two years, and I move up a level every year it seems. I may just have to move to a different Spanish speaking country to move faster. I just don’t know what to do to get things moving. Should I do more work outside of lessons? Even though I’m going through finals and graduating? At the time this is being written I’m still going through finals week of my senior year. Even this year I still consider adding in ASL lessons. However I really would like to practice via Italki, but it costs money to do that! Also, I’m going to Paris in a month from Friday to learn French. So I really think this is a French year, but it’s also a Spanish year since I’m doing the DELE.

I just feel like I need a language I’m not actively studying, but one I use to take a break from Spanish and French. Now, you say when I get tired of studying Spanish to study French, and vice versa. But, what happens when I get tired of studying them both for the day but I still want some language study? Where do I go? But I want a language that’s easy.

Now I really think that language should be Esperanto, but no one speaks it natively, and it’s dormant unless you go to a Polyglot Conference, which I don’t have the money to do all the time! I hope to be going to one next year or 2020. Depending on how much money I can save, along with the money I need to use to visit my family for the holidays.

Anyways, I’m frustrated, and not where I want to be in any of my languages. Let me know some tips to change that in the comments!

Have an amazing week!

Marina.