PeterMollenburg wrote: Lately i'm feeling almost overwhelmed and a little sense of just wanting to STOP is creeping in, but i know that if things get really 'bad' then i'll just opt for much more achievable daily targets instead of giving up because i can't do the ideal that my perfectionist mind has it's heart set on.
If it’s time to stop for a bit, there is nothing wrong with that.
I basically abandoned my log at The Real HTLAL late last year. Three things led to that, 1) I was feeling a bit guilty for not consuming "massive" enough quantity of input, like I was falling behind, 2) I was going through a period of "real live", and was having a hard time keeping my pace up, and 3) most importantly I was burning out. So I missed a day of studying, which became two, then three, and soon I was not doing anything with French. I'm guessing it was about 2 months with nothing done at all. From all in to nothing, overnight.
Now prior to taking that break I had been studying close to a year. From about 3 hours a day of studying, reading, watching, and obsessing about French, to nothing. I started to feel a hole in my life, like I had lost an old friend. I felt I let myself down, and had an intense need to get back and start studying again. So I started back and told myself no pressure. I chose something easy and fun. I did a full circle and went back and finished levels 3 and 4 of Fluenz (I had previously left off half way through level 3).
I learned something from that break. French is now a part of me. It can never disappear. That would be impossible. I highly suspect it would be impossible for you as well. So what I'm saying is if you need a break, there is no harm in that. If you need to slow down and go from massive effort and time to minimal effort for a while, there is no harm in that. A break can have an energizing affect and the time to reflect can put things in perspective and actually be a gift.
PeterMollenburg wrote: I'd be much more satisfied now I've decided to reach a C2 in French than stop at B2 and add more languages. I want to do this thoroughly and i'm in it for the long haul no matter how many times i might feel tempted to throw in the towel.
rnlv, how is your French learning going of late? (a link to your log would suffice, or comment here if you like)
PM
That is my path as well. I want the absolute highest level of French achievable (for me), versus having more than one language at lower levels. I don't know if I'll ever write the C2, but getting to that level is something I definitely aspire to no matter how many years it takes.
I'm not doing a log right now. I'm still in my no pressure faze of just enjoying my time with French.