Tuesday, January 6, 2015

Looking Back on 2014: What I Accomplished

I honestly had no idea we had views like this where I live--but look at what you can find if you just try a different route! :)
2014 was an insanely awesome year. Seriously.

I've been suffering with a lack of motivation since around Christmas time, and with us already into a full week of 2015, I decided I have to get a move on things (especially Irish, which I said I would be practicing daily (which I have been! ;) )).

My lack of motivation made me look back on 2014 and think, Wow, I sucked. But, once I got out of my moodiness, I realized just how much I was able to accomplish regarding my languages in one full year. I'm going to create a pretty little "timeline" for you below. :)

January '14--barely 1 month into my Spanish challenge


March '14--Spanish challenge successfully completed

I was able to communicate with my coworkers in Spanish and I now have a blast listening to people's conversations (oh, come on--you know you do it, too!)

around May '14--begin to learn Romanian

Romanian is the one thing I have a set resolution to learn this new year, because of how passionate I had practiced it for months. It's been my favorite language since I began listening to Romanian music back in 2012 and I am ready to set a challenge for it, though I'm still collecting materials beforehand.

August '14--1 month Brazilian Portuguese challenge begins and is successful

This was my favorite challenge because of how hard I buckled down and learned the language. I jogged everything in a notebook, studied around an hour a day, and by the end of August, I was talking to a few of my new found friends who live in Sao Paolo. I will definitely write about this challenge in the near future so that you can (hopefully) try it yourself! Agora eu posso falar em portugues e eu amo a idioma!
I created a booklet during the beginning of August, which you can find here

August thru October '14--American Sign Language

I love this language. so. much. I really had fun and was really dedicated towards learning it. My lack of friends who could sign discouraged me a bit, although I was able to make sentences and (hopefully) get my point across. I'm starting this again this month as well to refresh what I learned and get some new vocab!

September '14--try German

German has never been a strong language for me (although I should learn it, since I AM mostly German), but I dove into the learning process for a good month or two, before I lost interest. :'(

November '14--begin Irish and Swedish challenge

You can see my beginning post of the challenge here
... and when I added Swedish to the mix here

So, what did 2014 add to my life?

2014 brought 4 languages into my daily life. That means that before 2014 began, I only knew 3 languages (English, Italian, French). That's a big jump--and I acknowledge that there are more than 4 languages listed above, but I only included the ones I still use today on a regular basis. 2015 will be the year where I learn Romanian and hopefully have another go at German.

What languages were you able to learn in 2014? What goals do you have for yourself in 2015?


I will be updating my Irish in the near future, and until then, I wish you all the very best on your language journeys from here on! Keep with it!

No comments:

Post a Comment