If I’m honest, the last week has been a bit of a slog. When you’re in lockdown because of a global pandemic, it’s challenging to stay motivated to do the difficult work of learning a new language.
And, I guess every learning journey reaches plateaus. And troughs too.
Engari, he rā hou tēnei - But today is a new day.
In case you are in a similar space, or you think you might at some point, here’s what I think helped, and might help you too:
I learnt something new. I finally opened up Hemi Kelly’s book “A Māori Phrase a Day” and learnt something new! He rā hou tēnei.
I took a break from the daily digital flashcards. I took two days off, even though that’s breaking one of the cardinal rules of habits. But I took a break. I did it knowing that I would still need to put the extra work in to catch up on my backlog of cards, but I did check out for two days.
I got back into the routine and I realised two important things. Firstly, I’m making progress! One great thing about spaced repetition is that I can see that I’m retaining things I learnt ages ago, and I can focus on the new things I’m learning. And secondly, I remembered I enjoy learning Te Reo Māori.
This last point is probably the most significant:
I remembered I really enjoy learning Te Reo Māori.
All the other things that I did, really just contributed to me remembering why I’m doing this, and that I enjoy it.
Experiencing that small spark of excitement from learning something new helps.
Taking a break and getting some distance helps.
Choosing to come back to the work helps.
Looking back and seeing progress helps
The Reo Project | Day 217