Writing is a task that I find tedious when learning a new language because of my limited vocabulary. My mind races at 100 miles per hour in my native language while my pen can only write about five basic words in my target language. Things become increasingly frustrating when your skills begin to pick up in other areas, and you still see your writing has not improved much. Because I need to put more pressure on my writing skills, I will be challenging myself more for the next three months. Beginning September 1st, 2022, I began to write a lot more. My goal is to write more complex sentences. With time management, vocabulary review prompts, and recommended resources, I aim to improve my skills in this area. So far, I’ve devised a new study plan that I hope will get me motivated enough to be consistent with this task.
Time Management is my first goal. My schedule is ideal for language learning, but I want to add more room for writing. I aim to focus on writing for at least ten minutes a day. I figured this is a manageable time limit for me and it will not add that much pressure, but I want to write at least five brief sentences daily and hopefully get into the groove to make them longer as time goes by.
Vocabulary is an important tool for this goal to be successful. I always stress how valuable building and reinforcing vocabulary is for language learning. Right now, I am in review mode so that my passively learned words can become active. It seems ideal to know over 3000 words, but it becomes useless if I do not review and reinforce them consistently. After all, learning a new language is a lifelong process, and this is something I do not want to give up on. I have managed to learn so much and will do what it takes to keep it going. Each day to help me learn more, I will add a new word to my sentences.
Prompts are helpful for any writer and language learner. I have searched Instagram and saw that as of September 2022, Talk To Me In Korean is doing a daily prompt to celebrate the release of their new book, which aims to help beginners write more on social media or just their day-to-day. I started to do their daily prompts and will continue them until they stop. Pinterest is another good site for prompt ideas. I will aim to combine the word of the day from the online dictionary and work it into some sentences. My goal is to continue with a routine and make more complex sentences.
Resources are essential for me and I have the Talk To Me In Korean’s Build & Extend Your Korean Sentences book. So far, I enjoy how they break down sentences to help you make longer ones. I originally purchased this book earlier in the year and was immensely frustrated, but now that I know a lot more words, it flows, makes sense, and makes studying it a breeze.
Notebooks for writing down mistakes are valuable tools. I have my old notebook from grad school that I used once for an economics course I eventually dropped, so I am glad I can reuse it now. With this notebook, I write down freely, and then with a red pen, I correct and review my mistakes once one page has been filled. I’ve been using this notebook for practicing sentences for months, but I was not as consistent as I would have liked to be. However, for my new challenge for the next three months, this notebook will be key for me.
There are many things we can do to develop each of our skills when learning a new language. The issue can be being consistent and staying motivated. My new plan for the next several months is to incorporate writing more seriously. I can build basic sentences, but I want them to be slightly more complex. It gets annoying writing “The food is tasty” or “The weather is nice” every other day. Hopefully, with this new plan, I can succeed and be proud of what I accomplished when I look back on this post. I am confident that this plan will allow me to be more confident with my writing skills, as long as I can keep on track and remain patient.
This post is not sponsored.
Originally published at http://thoughtsofang.wordpress.com on September 10, 2022.
