iwanttolearn wrote:Is too late to join?
No, definitely not. Still, please take note of the following points taken from the rules. I've highlighted sections in red that are particularly relevant to your late (but very welcome) arrival.
3. You can start after the 1st of February, 2019, but you must finish 31st Jan 2020. Therefore, you can still participate, you just won't be participating for a full year.
4. If you post that you want to join the challenge on a date earlier than your post, you can do so. For example if it's February 17th and you post that you want to join but your start date is January the 21st, this is acceptable. If you have studied every day since January 21st the same language(s) you are announcing to participate with and you have been completing 30 minutes a day for your language(s), then there are no penalties. If you have missed days, then the usual penalties apply from your back-dated commencement date (in this case January 21st).
As a reminder, if your official start date is between Jan 1st 2019 and February 1st, 2019, your finish date will be after 365 days of study (if you take one day off the same date the following year - eg. you first day of study is Jan 27th 2019, your last day of study will be on Jan 26th 2020) However if you sign up for a commencement date after February 1st, 2019, the latest possible competition end date remains Jan 31st 2020, so the competition will not be a full year for such competitors.
There is currently no limit set on retrospective start dates, as to how far back your start date can be, so for the moment this will be a case by case discussion until further notice. MAIN POINTS:
** So, yes you can join, by all means.
** Your challenge will not be a full year (there's an exception, see next point below).
** You can have your start date set earlier than your request to join (provided you've been studying as per the rules). You can even start months ago if you've been studying according to the rules of the challenge for months, but just haven't joined officially. So how long have you been studying as per the rules? Not at all? Since the start of the year? A week? A few days? Set your start date as the date you started studying as per the rules and requirements of this challenge (even if you didn't know what the rules were at the time- as long as you were doing what's required).
Feel free to message back if anything needs further clarifying. Oh, and if you are joining, announce it as such, tell me your official start date and which language(s) you're joining with.
My main challenge (ha ha) has been keeping track of both this challenge and the 6WC. At present, the 6WC suits my current situation better, where I can skip on day but binge study the next day. 
