{"id":3953,"date":"2019-01-10T11:50:12","date_gmt":"2019-01-10T11:50:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spanish.kwiziq.com\/blog\/?p=3953"},"modified":"2019-09-16T19:18:40","modified_gmt":"2019-09-16T18:18:40","slug":"the-importance-of-setting-goals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spanish.kwiziq.com\/blog\/the-importance-of-setting-goals\/","title":{"rendered":"The Importance of Setting Goals"},"content":{"rendered":"

A dream is just a dream. A goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline.
\n\u2013 Harvey MacKay<\/p>\n

\"Setting<\/p>\n

Whatever your dreams related to Spanish may be, whether you want to speak fluently, read classic literature without resorting to a translation, or travel around Latin America, setting specific goals \u2013 and measuring your progress against them \u2013 is one of the most effective tools in your learning arsenal.<\/p>\n

Motivation and goals go hand-in-hand. Setting goals to guide your Spanish learning is one of the best things you can do to stay motivated<\/a>, and being motivated is the only way to stay on track toward reaching your goals. So it’s important to plan your language learning journey<\/a>: you’ve seen how long the journey is, so just like when climbing a mountain, it’s advisable to plan the journey in stages, ideally both short term and long term.<\/p>\n

Setting Goals<\/h3>\n

Choosing the right goals isn’t rocket science, but there’s a little more to it than just throwing together a list. To be truly effective, goals should be S.M.A.R.T.[1<\/a>]<\/sup><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Specific<\/li>\n
  2. Measurable<\/li>\n
  3. Achievable \/ Attainable<\/li>\n
  4. Realistic<\/li>\n
  5. Timely \/ Time-bound<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \"5-a-dayA short-term goal can be as simple as the declaration that you’ll study, say, an hour a day. To measure your progress, try an online goal tracking app – there are numerous free options available. Or you can be old school: draw seven boxes on a piece of paper and check one after each hour of study. Either way, it feels good to check things off and is a visible way to measure progress, even (especially) when you don’t feel like you’re progressing.<\/p>\n

    Kwiziq’s achievements system<\/a> can help inspire you to work toward short-term goals, such as<\/p>\n