Not just their goals for each language learning session. What we mean is their BIG goals. Every little thing they do is linked to the big goals they can see clearly.
If you can’t see your big goals or don’t know what they are, you might be choosing things to learn at random. Do you really need to be learning vegetable names in Spanish? Yes, if your big goal is to work as a chef in Spain.
If you’d rather become an interior designer, it’s perhaps not necessary for you to know that ‘eggplant’ is ‘berenjena’ in Spanish, yet.
Here’s an example of a goal that a person learning Japanese would set:
Big goal: “Communicate with Japanese people about my interests (for example: learning languages, blogging, reading), be able to ask them about their interests and understand their responses. This is something I want to achieve by the end of the month.”
Smaller goals that will help them achieve their big goal: “Learn vocabulary relating to learning languages, blogging and reading, including verbs and some adjectives (for example: interesting and boring, to talk about books). Be able to use the vocabulary in context. Learn to ask questions and find out what the possible responses might be. Listen to them to practise comprehension.”
