Back in June, I decided to challenge myself to spend the whole month of July reading books in French to try to boost my language skills. I invited anyone who was interested in reading in another languages to join a challenge I called Summer in Other Languages. Now summer is coming to a close, so I wonder how it went for you?
If you had good intentions but failed to complete them, don’t feel bad. Believe me, I know how hard it is to stay motivated to make progress in a different language, especially if you’re not living in a country where you are forced to use it on a daily basis. It may seem as though your love of reading would easily transfer over into that other form, but actually it’s hard work and can take all the fun out of your beloved hobby.
If you did succeed, I’d love to hear about it! I was very pleased with how my challenge went; I only completed three books in July but I have continued to read almost daily and I can see how I’ve progressed since last year, which is encouraging. I now have an online French book club to help keep me motivated, thanks to Emma of Words and Peace. (She’s inviting others to join, if anyone is interested.)
Even if I’m the only one, I think I’m going to make this a yearly challenge for myself. Next year: German? I’ll give more notice this time, in case anyone else wants to join.
The Emerald City Book Review Archive 
Well done! I was really chuffed to read a whole very easy small children’s book in Spanish!
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Well done! Small steps…
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So sorry, I didn’t get round to it. 🙁 Next year maybe? 🙂
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We can always try again. Next time I’ll give more notice.
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I’m glad to hear this went so well for you and very impressed you’re taking this on! It seems like having found a club to continue with should be a lot of fun 🙂
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Yes, it helps a lot to keep me on track.
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now you are tempting me to refresh my German. It used to be my 2nd foreign language at school, after English, so I studied it for many years. Though I never went to Germany. so I forgot a lot of he vocabulary. But maybe I could still read children books.
we’ll see next year. for now, sticking to Italian/Spanish and Russian should be enough, lol
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Indeed, I should think so!
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What a fun idea for a challenge! Glad to hear it went well for you. Learning (or working to improve) a new language always takes time, but it’s such a great investment in the long run in my opinion. Cheers!
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It is a great investment. I wish I had put more time into it when I was younger … but it’s never too late.
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