install Language Hour as a regular in my routine

I am most unwilling to do this at home after a day at work – but I have been able to find much more time for this during the day and have been slowly plugging away at stuff.

In terms of spending an hour studying, the Japanese will go fastest, as there are so many different areas to do – often I’ll finish an hour and still have other things I want to carry on with. Reading will yield vocab which will then lead to unknown kanji and then there’s a whole other load of honorifics and then terminology for specific areas. With French I’ve been trying to do half an hour reading and vocab gathering and then half an hour writing, which I think is really helping with my general expression and confidence (as in I may be able to speak to someone at some point in the future lol!)

Am still on the basics with the other two so the hour is a bit of a slog, but the more I do it the more I recognise and the more enjoyable it becomes.

this morning I was thinking: if I went back to doing half an hour of article-reading sometime during the day, building up a rolling vocab list, then that would significantly boost my hours over time. Then, on days when I could face it, I could go home and do just half an hour more on learning vocab, writing, or pronunciation, and that would give me an hour for that day.

That has to be doable, right? Feeling all kick-started again :)

Finally making a leetle bit of progress here. I am trying to clear one lunchtime a week to go and sit somewhere and have a cuppa and study something – usually Russian as that’s what I’m getting on best with at the moment. This takes a bit of organisation as I have to find a lunchtime when I’m not meeting up with someone and also have time to do my walk either in the morning or evening, but it does work. Last week I managed it once.

This week I thought I wasn’t going to have a free lunchtime, so yesterday I brought my Russian book and did a load on the train – both ways is almost an hour and I got a lot done. Then it turns out I can have language lunchtime today after all so I am going to do some French – which will be two sessions this week, definitely progress!

3: French reading practice, Mandarin pronunciation/listening and some French vocab and grammar questions.

Wasn’t my toppest in terms of awakeness and concentration, but in order for this to become a regular in my routine the focus has to be on making it something relaxing – so if lying on the bed reading aloud is what I can face after a day at work, that’s good enough!

2 down for the month: French reading, Russian reading & vocab & listening, Mandarin pronunciation and listening.

1st of hopefully at least 10 sessions this month: half hour of Russian pronunciation and listening, 15 mins Chinese pron. and 15 mins writing practice.

Well I managed half an hour! Was listening to the Russian CDs as I was drawing a postcard, which was quite relaxing really – seemed to be a good compromise on a busy evening. And I wonder if I took more in for being creative while rehearsing…?

It’s a start, anyway.