2025 Language Plan and 2024 Reflections

and a free language project board template!

💭2024 Reflection Questions

What have I noticed in my language learning journey thus far?

2024 began much like other years. The main change I made at the end of 2023 was deciding not to set yearly goals but instead focus on quarterly plans. My main aim was to continue improving my French conversational abilities.

The first quarter of 2024 was the only time I had a formal quarterly recap. As the year went on, my language learning slowed, and I eventually decided to stop tracking my studies. This shift in how I track my progress is something I plan to continue in 2025.

What challenges have I encountered this year?

Early 2024 saw many successes in my language learning journey, especially with French. However, the biggest challenges came not from language learning itself, but from life outside it. My hobbies and other interests took a backseat, and I often felt a sense of ennui throughout the year. Even so, I was able to find moments of success to celebrate.

⭐ Small Wins in 2024

1. Celebrated 2 years of re-learning French and started feeling more confident in my speaking abilities!

   1. Started and completed my first language group class in French.

2. Traveled to Japan, an unplanned adventure that I never thought I’d take, especially not alone! [Snapshots of Tokyo]

3. Visited Montréal for the first time and got to speak French!

4. Dabbled in two new languages (Korean & Spanish)

📅 2025 PLANS

It’s hard not to set language goals when everyone else is doing it at this time of year. Instead of setting specific goals, I’ll be focusing on tasks and intentions using my language project board.

One great tool I used last year was a board similar to a bingo grid, which I adapted to organize my language-related tasks. Unlike bingo, though, the columns are labelled with letters, and the rows are numbered (much like a battleship grid).

To quote myself from 2023:

The ultimate goal is to complete every task on the board but completing a single row, column or diagonally counts too. What do I get if I achieve one of these? Nothing, it’s just a fun way to keep track of my goals/tasks and easily look back when the month is over!

What I love about this board is how versatile it is. Last year, I used it for my monthly tasks, but this year, I’ve created one for the whole year.

Let’s take a look at what’s on the board:

Most tasks, such as taking and passing the DELF exam (B1, D2), relate to French. Some tasks focus on Japanese (B3: Take the N5 exam) or Mandarin (A1: Read 开端), and others are more general (D4: increasing vocabulary). There are also tasks that aren’t language specific (E2: complete a resource) and a few fun ones (D5: Visit Iceland).

Below, the board are extra tasks that help keep language learning enjoyable. These tasks are quick and easy to complete in a day, unlike most of the ones on the main board. They also serve as backup activities if I’m ever unsure what to do for learning or immersion.

💛 Free Template

I’ve created blank language project board templates for you to fill out if you’d like to create your own. Feel free to use them for anything, not just language learning! They can be used for weekly or monthly tasks as well. I’m currently making one for speaking & writing tasks I want to do in French.

I’d love to see how you use it so feel free to share them with me through an email!

✅ 2025 Language Stack

This year, I’ve chosen 4 languages, French, Japanese, Mandarin, and Icelandic, that I’m at different levels with. I’ve categorized them into the following categories: Focus, Fun, Enhance, and Explore.

1. Focus: French

   1. Improving in preparation for the DELF exam.

2. Fun: Japanese

   1. Having fun and solidifying the basics.

3. Enhance: Mandarin

   1. Maintaining and strengthening my current level.

4. Explore: Icelandic

   1. Casual dabbling just for fun.

The Focus and Fun categories are for languages I want to progress in, while Enhance is for maintaining my current level, and Explore is for casual dabbling.

🥐 French - Focus

Current Level: Intermediate | Target: B2 level & improved production skills

Although I have four languages in my stack, French will be my primary focus for at least the first half of 2025. Since I’ve decided to take the DELF exam, I’ll need to dedicate a lot of time to preparation. It’ll be my first language learning exam, so I’m curious to see what the experience will be like!

The tasks outlined below were created before I committed to the DELF exam when my primary focus was on increasing my output. To accommodate this new direction, I’ve reduced my reading goal from 1 million words to 500,000 words. However, both the writing and reading tasks may now be unrealistic, but I’ll keep them since the project board is meant to be a guide.

✔️ Tasks:

1. Journal writing (~22k to 55k words in total/60-150 words per entry)

   1. Use CHAT-GPT/AI to correct mistakes

2. Read 500,000 words from different books in French (E1, B2, D3, B4, E5)¹

3. Take and pass a DELF exam (D2, B1)

4. Visit a French-speaking place (C4)

✨ Anticipated Win: Enhancing my language skills and becoming more confident in using French.

⚡ Anticipated Challenge: Overcoming self-doubt. I may find it difficult to believe that I can pass the DELF exam or wonder if I can continue making progress.

🏮 Japanese - Fun

Current Level: Lower Beginner | Target Level: Upper Beginner

As my second language focus for this year, Japanese will provide a nice change of pace, as I’m sitting at the beginner level, unlike French.

✔️ Tasks:

1. Learn vocab with JPDB.IO and/or Memrise’s course (D4)

2. Use Mandarin to learn Japanese using Mandarin/Japanese vocab book (D4)

3. Find an interest to connect with through Japanese (art, stationery) (A2)

4. Take the N5 exam for fun 😊 (B3)

✨ Anticipated Win: Increased understanding of Japanese, thanks to my knowledge of characters from Mandarin.

⚡ Anticipated Challenge: Struggling to stay interested in learning Japanese and possibly changing my mind about taking the exam.

🧧 Mandarin - Enhance

Current Level: Intermediate | Target Level: Intermediate

Since French is my main focus, I won’t be able to dedicate as much time or energy to improving my Mandarin. To maintain my current level, I plan to use the language laddering technique, learning Japanese vocabulary through Mandarin. I’d also like to finish reading 開端.

1. Stack/ladder by using Mandarin to learn Japanese

   1. Use Mandarin/Japanese vocab book

2. Read 開端 (A1)

✨ Anticipated Win: Feeling comfortable returning to one of the first languages I learned.

⚡ Anticipated Challenge: French requiring all my mental energy, and getting distracted by other books.

🏔️ Icelandic - Explore

Current Level: Beginner | Target Level: Upper Beginner would be nice

Icelandic holds a special place in my heart, so I had to include it in my stack this year. Surprisingly, I already have a few resources for Icelandic, and I love using the Ylhýra website.

✔️ Tasks:

1. Learn Vocab using Ylhýra (D4)

   1. Current progress: 19.49% known out of 3150 terms

2. Visit Iceland (D5)

✨ Anticipated Win: Experiencing joy in learning a new language.

⚡ Anticipated Challenge: Other languages taking time away from studying Icelandic.

I’m really excited about this new approach to language learning with my project board. It’ll be interesting to see how or if it changes the way I study, especially as I step away from tracking study hours. Wishing you all the best with your own studies, and here’s to another year of growth and discovery in language learning!

You may be interested in reading:

🎯 Goal Setting & Putting Resources on Hold

🌿 A Reminder to Language Learners (and Myself)

📊 How I Visualize My Tracked Study Time With Spreadsheets

1. I tend to jump from book to book, which sometimes makes it seem like I’m not reading as much as I actually am. Tracking words instead of completed books might help me better reflect my progress, as I’m still reading and engaging with words, even if I don’t finish a book. I use WordCounters to find the word counts of books.

1.