Challenge Accepted: How I gamified my language learning experience
Irish Learner Support Group 5
Fáilte - Welcome to the fifth edition of Irish Learner Support Group!
On the first Wednesday of every month, I dive into topics to help Irish learners on their journey!
During my first few years learning Irish, one way I kept myself interested and motivated was by issuing myself challenges!
Every month, I would pick something new.
Some examples include:
Reading in Irish everyday for one month
Watching TG4 instead of English shows for a month
Journaling in Irish every day
I’ve even done a few listening challenges where I and other language learners competed to see who could do the most listening over a period of time
And the biggest challenge of all, I completed NaNoWriMo (National Write a Novel Month) where I wrote a 50,000+ word draft of a novel in Irish.
Challenges can be as small as watching a few shows in Irish, or as big as writing thousands of words a day, whatever suits you best!
A good challenge is one that is:
Specific - You know exactly what you need to do in order to complete it.
Enjoyable - You have fun doing it!
For a set amount of time - I would recommend a month or less.
By creating a challenge within those parameters, we don’t find ourselves wondering what to do each day, we don’t dread doing it, and most importantly, knowing that there is an end in sight can help us push ourselves to do more without the risk of burning out by doing too much longterm. It also gives us a sense of accomplishment to reach the end which can keep us encouraged and inspired to keep learning in other ways.
The other benefit to focussing on one activity or skill for a short amount of time is that our progress becomes more visible to us! As long as we’re making some effort to use the language on a regular basis, we will improve, but it can be hard to see these really small, gradual improvements. When we study generally, we’re spreading all of our time and energy across a range of skills. But if we challenge ourselves and focus in on only one skill, we can often see an improvement in that skill from the beginning to the end of the challenge!
At the very least, it will often become more comfortable for us. If you feel like your brain shuts off after five minutes of listening to Irish, if you keep listening every day, the amount of time you can listen comfortably will increase as well. A part of language learning we often don’t consider is our mental endurance. Yes, you might not be able to understand every word at the end of the month, but you will be able to listen more comfortably for longer, which means you will be able to get in more practice and be able to understand everything sooner!
I’ve previously discussed some ways to hold yourself accountable, but if you’re inspired to take on a challenge yourself, leave a comment sharing what that is and check back later to let us know you did it!
You can check out my masterlist of Irish resources for more tools and media to use during your challenges. You can also book a language coaching call with me where we can help you come up with a challenge and give you all the tools you need to take it on!
Maith thú Briana…. Can we get TG-4 in the states?