I often wonder how you're supposed to balance all 4 language learning skills at the same time and not have half the skills lag significantly behind the other half. But hearing you share about your overarching themes (2024 was for listening, 2025 was for reading, 2026 is more refinement in speaking/writing) was a good reminder for me that...maybe having all 4 skills equally advance at the same time is not necessary. It is *a* way but not *the* way. And there are probably seasons in language learning just like there are seasons in life. I usually don't force myself to manage all 4 skills but I still feel some type of way about not being able to do so, and your article reminded me to take it all more light-heartedly, and intuitively. Love the virtuous cycle. Thank you for the article. I can't wait to hear about how your approaches continue to evolve over time! 🥰
I indeed think that it's almost impossible to have all 4 skills equally advance at the same time. I am convinced that, even if we end up having all 4 skills at the same level at some point, it will be only for a short moment since it's a ever evolving journey/process.
For me personally it's not been much of a concern because I enjoy the activity I am doing so much (like reading last year) that this feeling is much stronger than the one seeing another skill stagnating a bit more. Until… the stagnation-feeling takes the lead, which results in give a breath of fresh air to my routine. It feels like gentle waves and I am just going with the flow.
Also even my focus changes naturally, it doesn't mean I don't keep enjoying and spending time with the other skills. If we take reading as an example, I am still reading a lot in Korean. Probably as much as last year, but my mental focus is on that new path looking for accuracy.
Mhmm it's as though reading in Korean has integrated itself more comfortably (relatively speaking) into a part of your life now! I also subscribe to the idea of checking in with yourself when you feel like something is off rather than drawing up a rigid schedule to follow. Thank you for the insights! 🫶
Reading as definitely become a part of my life now, and that's for sure one of the most beautiful part of this journey. It makes me so happy every single time 😭
Thank you for your comments. I cannot wait for our next deep live-conversation 🥳🌸
Really relatable. I’m also at a stage where I can communicate comfortably, but I rely a lot on the same safe structures. Your point about writing helping speaking really is making me think more about my own routine. Writing makes my gaps much more visible than conversation does. I also love the flexible, intuition‑driven mindset. It’s encouraging and gave me a few ideas to try myself 😊
Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment I am always happy when someone can relate! Relying a lot on the same safe structure is, I think, very common when we reach a certain level. And actually it's a great skill to have: being able to work around difficulties and speak about almost any topic even if we lack a bit specific vocabulary or grammar.
I’d love to hear what are the few ideas it gave you! 🤔😊
You have a very well structured plan for overcoming your intermediate plateau in speaking. I'm sure my French is also in a type of plateau when I speak as I don't have to use complex sentences when interacting with students in the classroom. In terms of my speaking, im focusing on improving my pronunciation of the language. I find that when I'm unsure of how to pronounce something I lose all confidence and it's like ive forgotten how to speak at all. It feels like a good place to start for now.
Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment. Yes, pronunciation is often a big topic, too! For some reason, I havn’t been bothered by my Korean pronunciation. I know it’s not perfect, but it's good enough for me to be understood without any problems.
However, for some reason, I am really bothered by my English accent. I just don't like it at all! It's probably not that bad, but I still can't stand it. As a result, I tend to feel much less confident speaking English, even though my level is much higher than in Korean. So I completely understand when you talk about losing your confidence when you forget how to pronounce something.
It makes me think that maybe I should work on my English pronunciation. Ultimately, it's probably more about getting comfortable with the accent I have than improving it.
Thank you for provoking that reflection in me with your comment! 😊
That is so interesting! Have you ever specifically focused on improving your English accent? Do you know what makes you bothered about how you sound in English but not in Korean?
It's funny because I, too, haven't cared too much about my accent in Mandarin, but French is one where I want to continue honing and refining. I wonder if it has to do with the fact that it is so similar to English, and I am intentionally trying not to mix up pronunciations. Whereas with Mandarin, the sounds are very different, and so I know that as long as I am saying a word in Mandarin, my accent sounds more in line with the sounds in Mandarin than English.
Yes, I have in fact considered focusing on my English accent but haven't done it because Korean and Japanese are more important to me right now.
As for thee reason why I feel so uncomfortable with my English accent I'm not sure exactly why. However I wonder if it's a similar experience to yours with Mandarin?! My second hypothesis is that it's because of the taboo there is in French schools about English. If you try having a good accent in English in class, people will very luckily make fun of you and say you are trying too much. As a result I - and much everyone else in my class - felt very conscious with their accent. I had this conversation with fellow French people multiple times and we all had a similar experience. For some reason, there is a weird relationship with English at school 🤷
That makes a lot of sense. I suppose some people can see it as being pretentious if you try to have a "good" accent. It's funny because a lot of this comes to how we want to be perceived by others. We don't want to be seen as trying too much, so we downplay our abilities.
It's hard not to give in to social pressure/the expectations of those around us.
It is important to enjoy the journey, not learning a language just to speak it.
Absolutely! Which aspect do you enjoy the most in your personal language journey? 😊
Word etymology
I often wonder how you're supposed to balance all 4 language learning skills at the same time and not have half the skills lag significantly behind the other half. But hearing you share about your overarching themes (2024 was for listening, 2025 was for reading, 2026 is more refinement in speaking/writing) was a good reminder for me that...maybe having all 4 skills equally advance at the same time is not necessary. It is *a* way but not *the* way. And there are probably seasons in language learning just like there are seasons in life. I usually don't force myself to manage all 4 skills but I still feel some type of way about not being able to do so, and your article reminded me to take it all more light-heartedly, and intuitively. Love the virtuous cycle. Thank you for the article. I can't wait to hear about how your approaches continue to evolve over time! 🥰
I indeed think that it's almost impossible to have all 4 skills equally advance at the same time. I am convinced that, even if we end up having all 4 skills at the same level at some point, it will be only for a short moment since it's a ever evolving journey/process.
For me personally it's not been much of a concern because I enjoy the activity I am doing so much (like reading last year) that this feeling is much stronger than the one seeing another skill stagnating a bit more. Until… the stagnation-feeling takes the lead, which results in give a breath of fresh air to my routine. It feels like gentle waves and I am just going with the flow.
Also even my focus changes naturally, it doesn't mean I don't keep enjoying and spending time with the other skills. If we take reading as an example, I am still reading a lot in Korean. Probably as much as last year, but my mental focus is on that new path looking for accuracy.
🫶
Mhmm it's as though reading in Korean has integrated itself more comfortably (relatively speaking) into a part of your life now! I also subscribe to the idea of checking in with yourself when you feel like something is off rather than drawing up a rigid schedule to follow. Thank you for the insights! 🫶
Reading as definitely become a part of my life now, and that's for sure one of the most beautiful part of this journey. It makes me so happy every single time 😭
Thank you for your comments. I cannot wait for our next deep live-conversation 🥳🌸
Really relatable. I’m also at a stage where I can communicate comfortably, but I rely a lot on the same safe structures. Your point about writing helping speaking really is making me think more about my own routine. Writing makes my gaps much more visible than conversation does. I also love the flexible, intuition‑driven mindset. It’s encouraging and gave me a few ideas to try myself 😊
Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment I am always happy when someone can relate! Relying a lot on the same safe structure is, I think, very common when we reach a certain level. And actually it's a great skill to have: being able to work around difficulties and speak about almost any topic even if we lack a bit specific vocabulary or grammar.
I’d love to hear what are the few ideas it gave you! 🤔😊
You have a very well structured plan for overcoming your intermediate plateau in speaking. I'm sure my French is also in a type of plateau when I speak as I don't have to use complex sentences when interacting with students in the classroom. In terms of my speaking, im focusing on improving my pronunciation of the language. I find that when I'm unsure of how to pronounce something I lose all confidence and it's like ive forgotten how to speak at all. It feels like a good place to start for now.
I look forward to see how your plan pans out 😊
Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment. Yes, pronunciation is often a big topic, too! For some reason, I havn’t been bothered by my Korean pronunciation. I know it’s not perfect, but it's good enough for me to be understood without any problems.
However, for some reason, I am really bothered by my English accent. I just don't like it at all! It's probably not that bad, but I still can't stand it. As a result, I tend to feel much less confident speaking English, even though my level is much higher than in Korean. So I completely understand when you talk about losing your confidence when you forget how to pronounce something.
It makes me think that maybe I should work on my English pronunciation. Ultimately, it's probably more about getting comfortable with the accent I have than improving it.
Thank you for provoking that reflection in me with your comment! 😊
That is so interesting! Have you ever specifically focused on improving your English accent? Do you know what makes you bothered about how you sound in English but not in Korean?
It's funny because I, too, haven't cared too much about my accent in Mandarin, but French is one where I want to continue honing and refining. I wonder if it has to do with the fact that it is so similar to English, and I am intentionally trying not to mix up pronunciations. Whereas with Mandarin, the sounds are very different, and so I know that as long as I am saying a word in Mandarin, my accent sounds more in line with the sounds in Mandarin than English.
I hope that all made sense 😅
Yes, I have in fact considered focusing on my English accent but haven't done it because Korean and Japanese are more important to me right now.
As for thee reason why I feel so uncomfortable with my English accent I'm not sure exactly why. However I wonder if it's a similar experience to yours with Mandarin?! My second hypothesis is that it's because of the taboo there is in French schools about English. If you try having a good accent in English in class, people will very luckily make fun of you and say you are trying too much. As a result I - and much everyone else in my class - felt very conscious with their accent. I had this conversation with fellow French people multiple times and we all had a similar experience. For some reason, there is a weird relationship with English at school 🤷
That makes a lot of sense. I suppose some people can see it as being pretentious if you try to have a "good" accent. It's funny because a lot of this comes to how we want to be perceived by others. We don't want to be seen as trying too much, so we downplay our abilities.
It's hard not to give in to social pressure/the expectations of those around us.