Issue 287 - Kickstart your 2025 language learning goals!

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Basic

Vocabulary: Vocabulary from the podcast

Look and listen to words with similar meanings.

 

 Can you remember? Choose the correct option.

 

 

Kickstart your 2025 language learning goals!

Listen to the podcast and read.

Kickstart your 2025 language learning goals!

The beginning of the year is a good time to focus on learning a language. Learning a language is good for travel, work, or simply looking to increase your skills. Here are some ideas to help you succeed .

One important first step is to set realistic, achievable goals for your learning. Learning a new language or improving it can feel overwhelming without clear objectives. SMART is a very useful approach to setting goals. SMART stands for —Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound . Applying these criteria will help you to be motivated and see the progress that you make.

Be specific:

Instead of saying, “I want to improve my English,” set a goal that is more specific, for example, “I want to be able to have a 5-minute conversation about my interests in English by March.” Other possible goals could be; order a meal, or write a short email in English.

Measure your progress:

One way to do this is to keep a notebook of the words and expressions you want to learn. Test yourself regularly and then you can tick off the things that you are confident that you know. There are also a lot of useful apps and online resources to help you do this.

Be realistic:

It’s easier to follow a practical, realistic study schedule than an unrealistic one. Assigning 15 to 20 minutes of practice each day can be more effective than having schedules that are too ambitious.

Follow these tips to achieve your language learning goals for 2025. Now is an ideal time to get started.

Find out more about
Net Languages courses
Intermediate

 

Kickstart your 2025 language learning goals!

Listen to the podcast and read. Then answer the questions in the Comprehension section.

Kickstart your 2025 language learning goals!

The beginning of the year is a good time to focus on your language-learning objectives. Whether you're aiming for fluency, planning to travel, or simply looking to expand your skills, here are some ideas to help you succeed.

One very important first step is to set realistic, achievable goals for your learning. Learning a new language or improving it can feel overwhelming without clear objectives. SMART is a very useful approach to setting goals. SMART stands for —Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Applying these criteria will help you to keep motivated and track the progress that you make. Here is a more detailed breakdown of a SMART approach to language learning goals.

Be specific:

Instead of saying, “I want to improve my English,” set a goal that is more specific, for example, “I want to be able to have a 5-minute conversation about my interests in English by March.” This is a clearly defined, achievable and relevant goal for you. Other possible goals could be; order a meal in English, write a short email, or understand a podcast in English without subtitles.

Measure your progress:

One way to do this is to keep a notebook of the words and expressions you want to learn. Test yourself regularly and then you can tick off the things that you are confident that you know. There are also a lot of useful apps and online resources to help you do this.

Be realistic:

It’s easier to follow a practical, realistic study schedule than an unrealistic one. Assigning 15 to 20 minutes of practice each day can be more effective than having schedules that are too ambitious.

Following these tips will be a great step in achieving your language learning goals for 2025 and now is an ideal time to get started.

Now answer the questions in the Comprehension section.

Comprehension: Check your understanding

Choose the correct option.

Find out more about
Net Languages courses
Advanced

 

Kickstart your 2025 language learning goals!

Listen to the podcast and read. Then answer the questions in the Comprehension section.

Kickstart your 2025 language learning goals!

With 2025 underway, there’s no better time to set your sights on achieving your language-learning dreams. Whether you're aiming for fluency, planning to travel, or simply looking to expand your skills, here are some ideas to help you succeed.

One very important first step is to set realistic, achievable goals for your learning. Learning a new language or improving it can feel overwhelming without clear objectives. SMART is a very useful approach to setting goals. SMART stands for —Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Applying these criteria will help to ensure that you stay motivated and track the progress that you make. Here is a more detailed breakdown of a SMART approach to language learning goals.

Be specific:

Instead of saying, “I want to improve my English,” set a goal that is more specific, for example, “I want to hold a 5-minute conversation about my interests in English by March.” This is a clearly defined, achievable and relevant goal for you. Other possible goals could be; order a meal in English, write a short email, or understand a podcast in English without subtitles.

Measure your progress:

You can do this in many ways. The first, simplest way is to keep a notebook of the words and expressions you want to learn. Test yourself regularly and then you can tick off the things that you are confident that you know. There are, of course, also a range of useful apps and online resources to help you do this, which can evaluate how much vocabulary or grammar you’ve mastered weekly.

Be realistic:

You are much more likely to stick to a study schedule if it is realistic in terms of your other commitments. Assigning 15 to 20 minutes of focused practice daily and actually doing it, can be much more effective than setting an overambitious schedule that you can’t possibly achieve.

Following these tips will be a great step in achieving your language learning goals for 2025 and what better time than now to get started.

Now answer the questions in the Comprehension section.

Comprehension: Check your understanding

Choose the correct option.

Interview: listen to more about the topic

Think about your answers to the following questions. Then listen to somebody answering the same questions. Were your answers similar?

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