What a strange year. But I cannot complain. It’s been devastating for many, but we’ve been extraordinarily lucky. Moving house in May meant that I have a study to work in, and working at home means I save an hour and a half each day. I can take my daughter to school before I start work and when I finish work I’m immediately home with the kids. Whatever happens in the future, my firm have now embraced home working as part of its long term strategy, so these changes are here to stay. This year has also made me reflect on how lucky we are and to be grateful for what we have.
In terms of self development, I’ve read a few interesting books this year, but most notably in the last few days I’ve been looking at Yale’s “
The Science of Well-Being” course on Coursera, which is well worth the time and effort. I’ve also been reading Tim Harford’s “How to Make the World Add Up”, which has helped to give context and a small dose of scepticism to the research and numbers cited in the former.
In terms of language learning, let’s review my 2020 objectives:
Jim wrote:French: continue progress towards C1, focussing on listening comprehension, vocabulary and writing.
Good progress was made in listening comprehension. My vocabulary needs to improve as does my writing. Focus for 2021 is writing and CLE advanced courses. DALF C1 seems a stretch this year, but let’s see how we go.
Jim wrote:Spanish: get a solid B1 to B2 level. My previous B1-ish level is coming back to me quite quickly, but I need conversation practice.
I completed Assimil and reviewed quite a bit of vocabulary. Next step is reading (a lot). I’m keen on the idea of extensive reading, so would like to try to put that into practice.
Jim wrote:Russian: I’m a faux débutant, but it would be nice to work through the Penguin course and perhaps have some iTalki sessions.
I did two thirds of the Penguin course and spent quite a lot of time studying cases. I cannot say I’ve really achieved anything, but I’ve maintained my interest. Ideally I’d like to complete Penguin and do a better audio course. I’ve not been impressed with either Pimsleur or Michel Thomas.
2021 will be busy again, but I’ll check in here from time to time with updates.
Best wishes to all on the forum for a great 2021.