As busy people, we want to make the best use of our time and energy. These resources are limited, so we consider them to be valuable. When we sit down to learn something, the same principle applies. We want to use our time and energy in such a way that at the end of our study period, we want to feel like we have accomplished something. How can we achieve that? By setting learning objectives.
By and large, if there are no goals, then there is usually no progress. Right? In sports, a team has an objective, which is to win the match, usually by scoring goals. Though, reaching the objective is often more that just shooting at a goal. There is a set amount time to adhere by and there’s a game plan devised by the coach. Likewise, to achieve our learning objectives, we need to follow a timeline and have a study plan. So, let’s take a moment and discuss what can be done to set effective learning objectives.
Set long-term, mid-term and short-term objectives. One tool to help you do this is called a goal pyramid. First, draw a triangle and then divide it in three sections by drawing two lines from left to right in your triangle. Now, in the top section, the summit, write your long-term goal. In learning, a long-term goal should be a year. Anything longer than that is hard to plan for without knowing how you progressed the first twelve months. When improving your English, you can target what level you would realistically like to be at. For example, if you are currently at an intermediate level, then aiming for being at an upper-intermediate level is within your reach after a year.
Next, in the middle section of the pyramid, jot down your mid-term goals. What language ability would you like to have six months down the road? Perhaps you could use vocabulary that is more specific to a situation, such as certain professional terms for a certain industry or field of study. After six months of practicing, it would be reasonable to expect to be able to have better sentence structure and describe more complex ideas. It’s possible that after learning from a native speaker for this many months, you’ll have greater listening skills and pick up on some cultural subtleties used in the language.
Finally, at the base of your pyramid, write your short-term learning targets. This should be at the three-month mark. Yes, I said three months. Unless you have to take a crash course for an immediate need and study relentlessly everyday to in order to pass an exam, one month is not really enough time see any difference in improving your overall language ability. You perhaps can increase the amount of new words, but you would most likely have difficulty incorporating newly acquired knowledge in situational use. Three months is a suitable amount of time to be able to look back to when you started and notice the progress. In three months, you could learn useful phrases to add to your repertoire or you could have better use of nuance words that carry more cultural meaning.
In addition, just as an actual pyramid is build with blocks, your goal pyramid needs to be put together block by block, or in this case, week by week. Set a weekly goal of what you would like to accomplish. Why a week? Because it’s reasonable. As mentioned in the outset of this article, we are all busy so it will take a week to work on a certain linguistic goals. If you were taking a weekly language class, then preparing and reviewing the material will be essential as well as applying what you have learned either in a real-life situation or by way of a class assignment than can be presented in class. As you build on your weekly results, you will be able to enjoy forward learning momentum. Moreover, in order to build on already learned knowledge and acquired ability, regularity and consistency are key. Try to avoid skipping study sessions.
Putting it all together, what should your objective be? To have time oriented objectives, along with a game plan of what ability you would like to achieve at that point in time. When improving your English, sounding more natural, more professional or having a greater understanding of terms and concepts for your industry are attainable goals. So try it out! Set your objectives, sign up for a class and feel good about your progress!
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