Celebrate the wins!

Hey folks, it’s been a while… I hope all is well with you and yours. I assure you, I haven’t forgotten about this little corner of the internet known as my blog. My life is just currently full of many priorities which I’m still figuring out how to balance! So, for now, I will post as and when I can, and will hope to return to a more regular posting schedule soon.

Today, I want to share a progress update on my Japanese language learning journey. See, I’ve been self-studying Japanese for a considerable amount of time now and yet I still feel like I’m at the beginner level (in the upper ranks, but still a beginner). Admittedly, this is my own fault due to bad time management, discipline, and low attention span. Still, it can feel rather discouraging at times, knowing I’m still a long way away from fluency.

Quick musing

Even if it’s not perfect, even if it’s not a huge amount, progress is progress. Doing something for your studies (or whatever applies to you) every day is better than doing nothing at all, and it will all add up as you keep going.

This has been plaguing my mind, plus the feeling that I’m somehow not studying “the right way” as I’m on my own and don’t really know what I’m doing. Lol. So I was feeling quite down about it, until just yesterday when I went back to listening to one of my favourite Japanese study podcasts. I pleasantly discovered that I understood everything in the couple of episodes I listened to! Not to mention with little to no translating in my head too. I wouldn’t have imagined being able to do that at the start of my journey, so it was a rather nice surprise and reminder that I have come a long way, and progress is still being made.

Final thoughts

If you’re a perfectionist (like me), you will tend to lose sight of how well you’re actually doing when you haven’t met all your very high, self-imposed expectations. The final note I want to leave you with is this; yes, it’s good to assess your progress and acknowledge the areas where you need to improve, but there’s no need to put yourself down or be overly self-critical when doing so. This is your reminder to choose to put a bit more effort into recognising the progress you have made, and celebrate your wins!

xoxo