GERMAN

LEARNING
GOAL SETTING

HERR
ANTRIM
WE NEED A PARADIGM SHIFT IN THE WAY
WE THINK ABOUT LANGUAGE LEARNING.
Stop thinking in terms of A1, A2, B1 and B2 and figuring out what’s on the exams for
each level.

Think instead, “what do you want to DO with this language?” and “how can I get to a
point where I can DO x, y or z?”

Sure, there is some general knowledge that you will need no matter what your goals
are, but if the goal is always figuring out what is on some test and working towards
that as a goal, frustrations will run high and you will suffer from burnout in no time.

ASK YOURSELF, “WHAT DO I

WANT TO DO WITH THIS
LANGUAGE?” AND DON’T
ANSWER “PASS THE B1 EXAM”
OR “GET INTO A GERMAN
UNIVERSITY”.

These are bad goals. Let me explain.

First of all, the goals I just mentioned are ok to have as “end goals”, but you are missing
a ton of steps in between.

If you are just starting to learn German and your goal is to pass the B1 exam, when you
reach that intermediate plateau, you are going to struggle to be motivated by this goal,
as you won’t see progress that you want to see. You probably are making progress, but
you can’t see it, because your goal is too far away.
ONE GOAL AIN’T ENOUGH. YOU’D BETTER
MAKE IT THREE.
– GEORGE THOROGOOD (SORT OF)

This is why I recommend you don’t set one goal.

Set an end goal, but make as many small goals in between where you are now and
where you want to be, so you can see that progress as you work towards your
goals. If you can’t reach a goal each week, I would say your goals are too far apart
and you need to find what steps need to be taken in between the steps you already
have found.

RECENTLY I STUMBLED UPON THE IDEA

OF “SMART” GOALS.
This concept aligns really well with my own personal views on language learning
and the reason that goals like passing the B1 exam are, in my opinion, bad goals.

I’m going to use the concept of “SMART” goals to teach you how to really set
language goals, how to work towards those goals and how to actually attain them.
 SPECIFIC, SIMPLE, SENSIBLE,
SIGNIFICANT

The “S” in “SMART” goals traditionally stands for “specific”, but it has also been
labeled as “simple”, “sensible”, and “significant”. I would argue that your language
goals should be all of the above.

First and foremost, your goal should be specific. “I want to be able to converse with
any German native speaker I meet on any topic that could possibly come up.” isn’t
specific enough.

It is a great overall goal, but it isn’t a “SMART” goal.

To me, the word “specific” is perfect for reminding you exactly how small each
stepping-stone goal should be.

Let’s keep the example of being able to speak with any native German speaker on
any topic. One of the steps along the way would have to be “I want to be able to
order food in a German restaurant.” This is a goal that is specific and simple. It is
also sensible, as you will very likely have a conversation like this at some point.

To me this is also a significant conversation, too. It is a great feeling the first time
you use your German skills to order food in a German restaurant.

Ask yourself this series of questions in order to find goals that are specific, simple,
sensible and significant.

What do I want to be able to do?

Are there steps I need to complete before this goal can be met? If so, you need to
add a goal for those steps first!

Why is this goal important to me?

Will I actually use the things I learn on my way to this goal? Don’t study
astrophysics unless you anticipate you plan on having a conversation on
astrophysics in German.
 - MEASURABLE, MEANINGFUL,
MOTIVATING

Next up is “measurable”, which is also sometimes labeled as “meaningful” or

“motivating”. I would again argue, it must be all three.

First, it must be measurable.

How will you know you have accomplished this goal? What boxes do you need to
check in order to consider this goal met?

It must be meaningful.

Does your goal have a purpose? Is there a real reason why you are making this
goal?

It must be motivating.

Why do you want to do this? Will this make you proud of yourself if you can
accomplish this goal?

These questions are great for crafting measurable, meaningful and motivating
goals.

The bottom line is this. How will you know that you have accomplished this goal? If
you can’t answer that one question, you need to rework your goal to make an
answer to this question.
 – ACHIEVABLE, ATTAINABLE

This one is a pretty easy one to conceptualize, but it is often more difficult to
actually create a goal with this component.

Is it achievable? Can you actually ever do the thing you want to?

Sure, you can become completely fluent in German and never have to consult a
dictionary during any conversation about any topic, but just as I mentioned before,
having such a grandiose goal leaves too much time between milestones, which can
lead to problems.

I would combine this component with that of the letter T in SMART goals, which I
will explain in more detail later.

This is all about time.

Is it achievable, yes. Can you do it in a short time span, probably not.

If you can’t combine these two ideas, you need to change your goal.

In addition to the time constraints, you should also consider other factors that might
hinder your ability to reach your goals.

Do you have a job?

If you are at work for 10 hours each day, studying German for 10 hours each day
isn’t going to work. So if your goal is to be fluent by next Tuesday, you have chosen
poorly.

Are there financial constraints to consider?

You can’t afford to take lessons for $1600 per month. Planning your goals around
this would be problematic.
 – RELEVANT

This essentially means, is it even worth trying to achieve this goal?

Since you are already making smaller goals that are targeting a bigger overall goal,
this boils down to one question.

Do you need this topic in order to communicate?

Do you need vocabulary for astrophysics? Probably not. I doubt you are planning
on discussing astrophysics anytime soon in German. This goal is not relevant.

Also under the umbrella of “relevant” is the question of timing.

Do you need to learn the Konjunktiv 2 in the first few weeks of learning German?
No. You need other building blocks first. So you need to think about what the next
step would be.

Don’t try to jump over steps in order to get to the finish sooner, this will only cause
you problems in the long run.

For example, if you ignore the genders of nouns in German when you first learn
nouns, you will have a ton of problems later on when you are trying to master the
cases. Make sure your goals are in a logical order.

This does not mean, however, that the goals you set have to be in some
predetermined order.

There is no official order of things to learn in German.

If you want to learn sports vocabulary before you learn school vocabulary,
because you are more likely to talk about sports than you are to talk about school,
this is a logical order for you.

A high school student might have a different order than you and that’s ok.
 – TIME BOUND

This is very important for keeping yourself on track.

First, you need to think about how long it will realistically take you to reach your
goal. Then you need to make this a solid deadline.

Don’t let yourself get into the habit of moving back a deadline because something
came up.

You set a deadline for yourself, you need to stick to it. This is a very slippery slope
that could lead you to giving up entirely. Take the deadlines seriously.

Have you ever missed a step when going up a flight of stairs? If you do it more
than once, that can spell disaster.
 SMART LANGUAGE LEARNING GOAL
EXAMPLE #1

SPECIFIC

I want to learn to order food in a German restaurant.

MEASURABLE

I will write an example dialogue using the knowledge I gain in

pursuit of this goal.

ACHIEVABLE

This is definitely doable.

RELEVANT

I will definitely need this information when I am in Germany,

as I plan to eat while there.

TIME BOUND

I will accomplish this goal by the end of the week.

That’s a good SMART goal. It has all of the components and it is small enough to be
achieved in a short amount of time, which will keep you encouraged for the next
goal you set.
 SMART LANGUAGE LEARNING GOAL
EXAMPLE #2

SPECIFIC

I want to be able to speak German in any situation I might

encounter while on vacation in Germany.

MEASURABLE

Think through the entire trip and anticipate the kind of things
you might need to do.

ACHIEVABLE

Definitely achievable. Lots of people can speak German well

enough to interact in these kinds of situations.

RELEVANT

I’m doing this so I can communicate while on vacation. I’d say

that is pretty relevant to me.

TIME BOUND

I have already booked my flights.

With the “measurable” part of this goal, I would break the main goal into smaller
SMART goals. Make a goal each week to learn a new topic. There will be a ton of
little parts to put together in order to meet this goal, so make sure you take the time
to map it out in detail.
On this page, write your biggest goal along your German learning journey.

What is the big, overarching goal that you would like to reach? This should be your
end goal. If you accomplished everything you ever wanted with regards to
German, what would that look like?

Below the formatted goal, expand upon the goal and explain how you will get
there. Give as much detail as possible.

SPECIFIC

MEASURABLE

ACHIEVABLE

RELEVANT

TIME BOUND
On this page and the next, write out two large, but far off goals that you will need
to reach before you can reach your end goal listed on the previous page.

SPECIFIC

MEASURABLE

ACHIEVABLE

RELEVANT

TIME BOUND
SPECIFIC

MEASURABLE

ACHIEVABLE

RELEVANT

TIME BOUND
On this page, write what you would consider to be the first step along your German
learning journey.

What goal can you reach by the end of this week or month? Don’t make the goal
too far away.

This goal is here to build your confidence. Once you complete one goal, the rest will
fall like dominos.

Below the goal, write what steps you can take today to work towards that goal.

SPECIFIC

MEASURABLE

ACHIEVABLE

RELEVANT

TIME BOUND
Now that you have your big goal a few steps along the way and your first step,
you are ready to get started. Revisit these pages often and review goals as
needed.

Never put yourself more than one month from your next goal.

If your next goal is 6 months out, it does not meet the “timely” part of SMART
Goals. You need steps leading up to that goal to help you continually make progress
towards that bigger goal.

In the next part, you should write out which resources you are going to use to help
you meet your goals.

There are four main parts of language learning: reading, listening, writing and
speaking. If you aren’t practicing one of those, you probably aren’t learning to use
that part of your German learning muscles. You have to practice them all in order to
be well rounded in your German skills.

I have a huge list of recommended

resources, which you can
DOWNLOAD FOR FREE HERE,
but here are some general
recommendations to help you practice
each portion of the German language.
READING:

While books are the most obvious in this category, there are a ton of other
options. You could use LingQ to read some dialogues or short articles.
Read the news online. Read fairy tales online. Read reviews of restaurants
in Berlin on Tripadvisor. Anything you are interested in can be used to
practice reading in German. This is by far one of the easiest categories to
practice.

LISTENING:

Podcasts, music, talk shows, news and YouTube videos. Don’t think that
the things you listen to in German have to be meant for German learners.
In fact, there is a solid argument to be made that the things you listen to
should not be meant for German learners. You could also add in movies,
TV shows and series. Anything you already watch in English is probably
dubbed into German online, if you look deep enough.
 WRITING:

This one can be a bit tricky, as it requires feedback in order to be fully

successful. That said, there are things you can do that don’t involve
feedback. Write a German learning journal. Keep notes of your language
learning. Write your own practice dialogues. Write a short story in
German. Post them on Reddit, if you are bold, and see if the German
learning community there will help critique your work. Of course, the
obvious answer here is to join a course or other organized group that
critiques writing in German.

SPEAKING:

Arguably the most difficult one on the list, this is mostly about getting your
brain used to thinking in German and being able to be flexible enough to
speak off the cuff. It is also about training your mouth to move in the ways
necessary to sound natural in your speech patterns. This means, you don’t
have to speak to someone. You can speak to yourself. You could also find
a German partner online and speak with them or find a Stammtisch near
you. There are lots of options.
READING:

LISTENING:
WRITING:

SPEAKING: