Stop Wasting Time and Start Learning English

you probably already have language

learning goals but the real key to

success is to make the right goals in

this video I’ll show you how with five

tips to stop wasting your time and start

learning hi everyone Alicia here in this

video I’ll teach you five tips to stop

procrastinating and keep your motivation

for learning a new language some of

these are study methods and some will be

general ways that you can keep your

study motivation up while these tips are

for studying a language some of them are

good for other things in your life -

such as new challenges or other types of

goals but before we start don’t forget

to click the link in the description to

get your bundle of PDF cheat sheets

including survival phrases romantic

lines learning tips absolutely free now

you probably already have some goals

you’re trying to achieve when it comes

to your language learning progress while

achieving these goals is important

making sure you make the right goals is

the real key to success

the very first tip is to set SMART goals

smart is an acronym meaning each letter

in the word stands for another word

the earliest known reference to SMART

goals was in an article written by

George T Doran for a 1981 issue of the

management review academic journal the

acronym varies depending on its use but

each letter generally stands for some

criterion that helps with effective goal

setting for our purposes let’s define

SMART goals as follows the S stands for

specific your goals should target a

specific area for improvement our

natural tendency is to have a goal

that’s very general if your goal isn’t

specific enough you’ll lack the focus

and proper direction you need to achieve

your goals so S is for specific

M stands for measurable your goals

should be quantifiable they should be

able to indicate progress in some way

you have to be able to track your

progress otherwise you won’t know if

you’re getting any closer to your goal

as you see yourself getting closer and

closer to your goal your motivation will

go up so your goals need to be

measurable a stands for achievable your

goals have to be achievable many people

want to become fluent in their target

language immediately however this goal

is unrealistic your goals have to be

achievable if your goal is to

challenging for your current level it

will only D motivate you when you aren’t

where you think you should be instead

think about what results can

realistically be achieved given your

level your resources and any constraints

such as time so make sure that your goal

is actually achievable R stands for

relevant your goals may be specific they

may be measurable and they may be

achievable but are they actually

relevant to what you want to achieve

don’t just do a lot of things if you’re

focused on improving your speaking

skills in your target language make sure

that you spend your time having

conversations with others make sure

you’re doing the right things so that

your efforts actually bring you closer

to your goal instead of just giving you

more work

T stands for timely you need to set a

deadline for your goals if you don’t

specify when you plan to achieve the

result you’ve set for yourself it’s very

easy to put off the task you can delay

it until tomorrow the next week or the

next month and at this rate you’ll never

get things done so your goal must have

an end date

so remember tip number one is to set

SMART goals specific measurable

achievable relevant and timely so for

example a goal you could make is

registering for a challenging test a

test that’s a little bit beyond your

current level

I hate failing so if I register for a

challenging test I’m motivated to study

because I don’t want to fail this is a

good example of a SMART goal because

tests are specific there are tons of

different tests focused on speaking

grammar and comprehension pick a test

that can measure the specific area in

which you’d like to grow measurable

tests are measurable every test measures

your performance to some degree whether

it’s a total count of right and wrong

answers or a simple pass or fail every

test measures your performance tests are

achievable there’s an important detail

to remember here though find a test that

is achievable for you if you’re a

beginner then the most advanced test is

probably not right for you find one

that’s meant for beginners then after

that one work your way up to more

advanced tests in the future tests are

relevant most if not all language tests

are designed to ensure that you’re

capable of performing to a set standard

in your target language lower level

tests are designed to ensure that you

can handle the most essential aspects of

your target language but there are tests

for all levels including higher

education entry exams that could be

difficult even for native speakers pick

the one that’s right for you and finally

tests are timely if your test is

completed in a physical location then

this one is obvious you have to be at

that spot at the set time ready to take

the test there’s no wiggle room but even

online tests will most likely have a

deadline for you to complete them

[Music]

the second tip to help you stop

procrastinating and to keep your

motivation up is to create a diary or

social media account that you can update

every day this may seem simple or even

unrelated to language learning but by

creating a diary in your target language

you have the chance to actually create

in the language itself creating a diary

is also a great way to practice writing

in your target language

another method is to create a social

media account which gives you the chance

to connect with other people who are

working toward the same goals as you

maybe they can even give you feedback on

your writing if you’re following people

online who regularly share good

resources those can be really helpful

for you too it lets you find new tools

that can encourage and motivate you

especially if they relate to some of

your other interests such as music or

books and other languages this is a

really good way to take a few minutes

every day to work towards your goal

without it even seeming like work the

third tip is to focus on understanding a

specific TV show or movie try to watch a

movie in your target language without

any subtitles or try to understand your

favorite TV show that’s in your target

language if you don’t already have a

goal like this it can be a fun way to

practice if your friends often talk

about a particular TV show it could be a

good way to study and a fun way to keep

your motivation up together

Plus TV shows and movies often use the

language in a way that’s vastly

different from the conversations

provided in traditional textbooks so you

often get to hear different vocabulary

choices it’s a very powerful way to

learn a language and end up sounding

more like a native speaker tip number

four is to enroll in a regular language

course register for something you have

to go to or you have to participate in

regularly meaning every week or two

times a week or maybe even every day the

point of this is it’s something that

gives you a pattern to follow forming a

study habit will help you progress very

quickly it will make it easier for you

to achieve your language learning goals

once you form the habit you won’t even

have to think about starting each time

it’ll just be natural have something

that you must take responsibility for

you

be more motivated to continue if there

are others especially classmates or a

teacher watching you progress look for

resources inside your community and if

there are no opportunities there look

for things digitally you can find many

of our videos on YouTube on Facebook and

of course our entire video and audio

lesson library on our website the

lessons on our website also come with

assignment courses so you can test your

knowledge the last tip is to make your

goal public share your goal tell people

about your goal for example if you want

to give a business presentation in your

target language this year then tell your

colleagues or your boss about it some

people may find what you’re doing

interesting and they can support you

this kind of pressure can help push

people forward who have trouble

motivating themselves alone by telling

others about your goal you feel more

accountable because you told somebody

that you were planning on doing

something there’s an underlying sense of

guilt

if you don’t accomplish the task you may

feel that you have failed your peers in

some way even if there’s no direct

pressure from them using this technique

you can push yourself into moving

forward towards your goal especially at

times when you feel the least motivated

and that brings us to the end of our 5

tips to stop wasting time and start

learning a language we’ve talked a lot

about how to set goals for yourself and

think about new challenges first I told

you about creating SMART goals

remember SMART goals are specific

measurable achievable relevant and

timely registering for a test is a great

example of a SMART goal next we talked

about keeping a diary or social media

account in your target language start

doing it right now

even if you’re still a beginner then I

suggested that you focus on

understanding a specific TV show or

movie pick something in your target

language that you really love because

you may need to watch it over and over

again until it all makes sense to you

and next we talked about enrolling in a

regular language course this will give

you something concrete that you must

take responsibility for finally make

your goal public tell someone about your

learning goals to keep you accountable

for them you’re much less likely to

abandon your studies if you have friends

asking you about your progress I hope

that these are useful tips that you can

use to reach your language learning

goals

and before we go let me remind you to

download tons of free pdf lessons to

learn the language the fast fun and easy

way just click the link in the

description if you liked this video give

us a thumbs up and share it with anyone

who may find it useful do you have any

good tips that you’ve used to help

you reach your goals share them in the

comments thanks very much for watching

and see you next time