Manifesto

Learning a new language takes time. It takes lot of time, no matter how you go about it, so there are many opportunities to quit (or not even start).

To keep going, I need to remain motivated i.e. interested, educated and inspired. And the best way to achieve that, I believe, is though community. You convert what is essentially a solitary affair, into a social one. 

My first step in that direction is to I journal what I do. For me, that's a keystone habit. Just writing about the experience of engaging with a new language - my frustrations, my breakthroughs - keeps me moving ahead. 

But what would keep me more firmly on track would be the knowledge that the stuff I write is being read. And as Sammy Davis Junior used to sing, that ain't necessarily so!

Even better, I'd love to read more stories by other people. The sort that form make up The Polyglot Project (a freely available online pdf book). 

I want to nod my head in agreement, shake my head at shared mistakes, and punch the air when I read about your triumphs. What would really help me, and keep my language learning alive, would be to interact with like-minded individuals upon a level platform.

What do I mean by that? 

Well, I'm thinking of putting out a weekly list of links to online journals, diaries or logs (which is what, after all, is meant by a 'blog' in the original sense i.e. a web log).

I suggest that everyone keeps some sort of record of their language learning journey. It might be a blog, a vlog, a Twitter account or a YouTube channel, or even a combination thereof. Whatever.

That's a very powerful thing to do - a keystone habit, as Charles Duhigg puts it. It establishes and maintains the necessary momentum. Furthermore, it allows you to establish connections with fellow travelers on the linguistic path.

I'll get that ball rolling by compiling a list of the websites that I currently find useful. I may even rank them based on popularity. I'll update it on a weekly basis. My aim is to locate and collate motivational blogs written by people like me. 

I'm interested in real people. While I recognize and respect that people need to make a living in some way, I'm not fond of commercial enterprises. I dislike slickness, salesmen, the gift of the gab, email lists, offers, pop-ups, tips. (Hell, do I even belong here???)

For the moment, here are a bunch of online sites. I've ranked them according to how much I get out of them. I'd like to add better sites - yours maybe. Perhaps later. Maybe we all get to vote. We'll work something out.

I don't plan to do any teaching myself. On the other hand, I don't wish to be taught in any way. I'd just like to hear about your ideas, frustrations, resources, and the like. Human correspondence, in other words. Let's keep things small and manageable. 

I've put myself up there too, but in 10th place. This is not about promoting myself, or my agenda, even if what I do works best for me. 

So to summarize:

Don't tell me what to do. Do tell me what you're doing, and how it's going!

BTW, a more comprehensive vision of my manifesto, if that makes sense, lives at a site that I set up a year or two previously.