Setting Goals and Self-Reflection

Setting Goals

Taking Proficiency Step By Step

As you all might be aware, I, R.M, am an international student with a fervent desire to study English. In addition, I have agreed to write for Level-Up Proficiency as I believe that they have the right mindset to understand that gaining proficiency in a language is a hard and intricate process. In order to succeed, there has to be an immense amount of dedication on the part of the learner and the instructor. 

That being said, I was not as fortunate to have an instructor or mentor of sorts to help me out in tough times. That being said, this is my experience of setting goals to make up for the fact that I have had no outside help. This can be hard! This requires you to keep your motivation levels at a constant! So, I hope that this helps to not only keep your larger goals of proficiency in mind, but also help you to pace yourself so that you can reach the finish line as quickly as possible!

1. Understanding Where You Are At…

This is especially important if you are in the process of setting a larger goal (in this case, proficiency). You have to understand where you are in terms of your skill level and what you need to reach the place you want to be at. When I was first learning English, I knew that I wanted to reach the point that I would be able to write a page of English with grammatically correct sentencing. At that point, I had to take count of the resources I had at the time and figure out what I needed in order to reach said goal. 

That being said, this step also includes being aware of your own limitations. I understand that you might want to reach your goals faster, but I urge you to think about what are your limits. Can you learn only 4 words a week? Do you need to work more on learning about the comma splice? This is the time to introspect and really think about where you are and what you need. 

2. One Step At A Time…

After you have done your self-reflection, it is time to set smaller goals that help you reach the larger goal you have in mind. Going back to my example, I decided to start my goal by perfecting 5 sentences a week. I would set my goals in terms of vocabulary and grammar and such) so that I complete my task of writing five sentences that week. 

Your place might be different, some of you may be able to write just three and others may be able to write more than five sentences. Don’t expect yourself to do more than you can because that will actually hinder your ability to learn the language and its will slow you down. So, be attentive to that!

3. Tracking Your Progress…

This is especially important if you want to keep your motivation at a constant level and be on track with your proficiency! Trust me, even the tiniest bit of procrastination can set you back several steps. Keeping track of your progress can help with that by allowing you to see how far you have reached!

I always look at my old Facebook posts to understand how far I have actually come in terms of my English proficiency. When I do that, I actually feel a sense of pride at the fact that I can clearly see the improvement and read it. The same might actually work for you! When you accomplish your smaller goals, why not look back and see how much you have changed? That might actually improve your mindset and your self-esteem! 

4. To Conclude…

There are several tips and tricks that I can give you, but the important part of this process is that you have the self-awareness to understand where you are coming from and to work around it and look at the way to can either speed you up or slow you down. Self-reflection is the most essential component of any long term goal and to improving English proficiency. so, it all starts and ends with you! Interesting thought to end with, right? That being said, please do not hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or if you would like some help with goal setting, vocabulary expansions etc…