Sunrise Stage || Learning Hmong in 30 days series
Updated: Feb 7, 2020
One of my main goals for 2020 is to learn Hmong, which is the language of my ethnicity but I never learned it growing up as child. This has been on my goals list for 7 years now, and though I’ve taken tries at it - taking a Hmong class at my university, buying a Hmong dictionary, buying a Hmong workbook, buying a Learning Hmong Udemy course - I am still yet unable to understand normal conversations in Hmong fully or speak it. I probably know the language as well as I know Spanish from taking that language class for 3 years in high school.
This year I’ve decided to take a new approach to it - as Einstein said "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results." I’m deciding to stop being insane, and deciding to do something different to hopefully get a different result. I’m going to try to get my understanding of the language and ability to speak it conversationally in 30 days! I’m also putting this out into the world, which is also different but I hope that it helps motivate me to learn it better!
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Beginning the journey - Sunrise Stage
I'm calling this beginning stage the "Sunrise" stage because it's when you are springing into language learning and there's so much ahead! The right start to the journey kicks off for a good time, just like starting your day off right. After watching a tons of Youtube videos about language learning, I've broken this stage down into 4 steps:
Know your why for learning the language and be positive to yourself
Do your research to find good structured resources for learning the language
Create a plan of attack so that you can build consistency in your daily routine
Track your progress
Know your why
The first thing you’ll want to do is know why you want to learn the language. It has to have some importance and relevance for you. Languages are tools and they can be used in meaningful ways. Therefore, choose a language that is useful for you.
You have to have a reason and motivation for learning the target language. Envision where you want to be and how it will be once you learn the language. Formulate a mission statement, and write down SMART objectives for language learning. Knowing your why will keep you motivated when you feel like giving up or when you're just feeling lazy.
The following are questions to answer for formulating your why, and my examples for learning Hmong:
Why do you want to learn the language? I want to understand and speak with my elders (grandmas, aunts, uncles, etc.) and friends when they’re speaking Hmong.
How will you feel when you learn the language? Once I learn the language I will feel more connected with those who speak the language (my family and friends, and future in-laws (possibly)), I’ll be happy that I can understand their jokes and stories first hand instead of having to have someone else translate for me. I’ll be proud that I can finally understand Hmong - and can say I learned a language as an adult.
What is your SMART objective? In one month I want to be able to understand the language and be able to be conversational in Hmong. To test my understanding, I will test how much I understand of General Vang Pao message to the youth on Youtube and see if I can have a full conversation with my grandma.
Also, be patient with yourself and persevere during times when you want to give up. Always remember positive speaking throughout your language learning journey. For example, say to yourself "I am doing a great job at learning this language", "I am progressing well", etc. You don't need a "language gene" this is something that EVERYONE has the ability to do as long as you make even just a small bit of time for it.
If some thing in language learning is not working, look at little things you are trying to achieve, and look into different ways you can do it (e.g., how to introduce your self in different ways, etc.) This helps you establish a routine and work out which techniques work for you. Remember that everyone has different ways of learning that work best for them.
Do your research
Second thing to begin your journey is to do your research for learning the language. The world is literally at our fingertips with how much information we can find on the Internet now. For a full month, I watched a ton of Youtube videos about language learning and compiled all the research to come up with a plan of attack to do things differently than what I have been doing. So basically everything I’m going to be doing I’ve learned from those videos and am trying to apply it to what I think may work for me to learn a language.
You’ll also want to try to find good resources that will give you some structure to use as a main learning source. Supplement resources are moreso for random learning on the side (e.g., Flashcards). Using good resources that gives learning structure can also be motivating for you when you see steps outlined, this way you can view the progress you make. If you don't have structured methods - you might end up learning things that are too advanced or too easy for you. You need to know where you are in your learning so that you can stay motivated and not give up. Where you end up depends on how dedicated you are and which resources you use.
Create a plan
Structure and consistency are the keys to learning a language. To learn our native language, we were simply immerged in the language. There is no cutoff to learn another language, you just have to immerge yourself in it. Consistency is so important to learn any new skill - and it's also the hardest part but you have to cultivate self-discipline.
Remember that it's better to do tiny things each day than nothing at all. So, dont jump too big. You can start off by making a small commitment to time specified for learning the language. For example, you can start off 15 minutes once a week. Once you do that consistently, you can increase it to 30 minutes once a week, then 15 minutes every day. Having a goal to making it up to 30-60 minutes per day is a great and effective amount of time to learn. By learning in smaller periods you won't feel so overwhelmed and more regular periods will help you obtain the info better. Since my plan is for only 30 days, I’m hoping to be much more consistent for these 30 days, but I hope to keep some good consistency following this challenge too.
I want to get language learning into my regular routine. A good way to do this is to use the new language as a tool to communicate from day one. Build the habit of opening the text book, listening to language, and so on. Trick yourself into starting, because starting is the hardest thing! Through this process I hope to find effective methods that I can incorporate systematically over a period of some time in a way that I enjoy, this way I can learn a language within months instead of years.
Along this journey I’ll figure out what my ideal learning style is and incorporate it (visual/hearing/writing). Everybody has their own way of learning a language, you just need to find ways where you can enjoy the language learning process. This is how polygots learn languages, there is not one written-in-stone way, but instead they find something they enjoy and emerge it with language learning. It’s crucial to find enjoyment in learning the target language. I’m confident that I’ll see progress when I take learning into my own hands in ways that I enjoy. So maybe after finding this learning style to learn Hmong, I can apply it and learn more languages that I’ve always wanted to know like French, Japanese, and Korean. There are just so many languages!
You never know what works best for you until you do it. It’s important to map out what you want to do week by week, but it’s also important to be flexible for things that may work better for you. Once you make a method that works though, make sure to stick to it. The main schedule I’ll be following each day for the next 4 weeks is:
Morning - Review/Revise Anki cards right in the morning. 5-15 min.
Gym/car - Listen to music, podcast, or vlog in the language
After work - Watch shows/video or do a workbook for the language (Replace Netflix with studying the language!)
Bed - Review Anki cards right before bed. 5-15 min. - it's said that you'll remember things more when learned right before bedtime.
I’m going to try to expose myself to the language as much as possible to learn in all ways everyday. The best way to learn is to surround yourself with those who speak the language. For me this is pretty easy since I’m surrounded by a lot of Hmong people but the hard part will be making them feel comfortable with speaking Hmong around me instead of reverting to English. So we’ll have to see how this goes.
Track your progress
The last, but not least, important thing to do while you’re learning a language is to keep track of your progress. This helps you realize what you’re not doing enough of, where you may be falling short and what you may need to add or change to your routine. You should have a balance of studying grammar, vocabulary, hearing, and writing.
To track your progress, you could start a Youtube, blog, journal, and/or studygram. It'll be a great sense of motivation to see how far you're progressing. Personally, I plan to journal, blog, and maybe put out some videos on Youtube. I may possibly share it on instagram too, but that just might be too much for me and I don't want to overload myself with just sharing progress.
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I've been prepping this for months now, and I'm so excited to finally put this out into the world. I'm actually already 6 days into my 30 day language learning challenge, and I'll be honest, it's been rough and I wish I had more time to pour into it. But I guess we'll just have to see where I end up at the end of February! Writing this post actually reminded me that I have to try to continue speaking positive to myself in learning the language!
In my next posts, I’ll go more into depth about what each of the 4 weeks will look like as I jump into learning the language. Each of these beginning tips should give you a step in the right direction, and also help keep you motivated throughout the process of learning a new language. Good luck learning!
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For a quick version of this in a "worksheet" style Excel spreadsheet, see this Google Sheets that you can feel free to copy over to your own account: Learning a language in 30 days
For an example on how I filled this worksheet out, see the following image:
I'll probably fill this out more throughout my language learning journey, but this is how it looks like as of now.
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