{"id":50480,"date":"2020-04-13T01:15:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-13T01:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/127.0.0.1\/aee\/aee-1346-why-you-are-the-worst-judge-of-your-own-progress-in-english\/"},"modified":"2023-04-25T15:41:54","modified_gmt":"2023-04-25T15:41:54","slug":"aee-1346-why-you-are-the-worst-judge-of-your-own-progress-in-english","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/aee-1346-why-you-are-the-worst-judge-of-your-own-progress-in-english\/","title":{"rendered":"AEE 1346: Why You Are the Worst Judge Of Your Own Progress in English"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"learn<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Is it easy for you to measure your own progress in English?<\/p>\n

When you have a goal, are you too hard on yourself or can you easily see and evaluate your own results?<\/p>\n

We look at various ways to measure our progress, particularly when it comes to learning English.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re going to look at some tips you can use to measure your own progress, why it\u2019s important, and how you can make this all work to reach your goals faster. <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n

You Never Want To Be Too Hard On Yourself<\/strong><\/h3>\n

You see it all the time that people tend to be too hard on themselves.<\/p>\n

Perhaps you have lived through this
\nyourself, and you have come up short or felt frustrated when you didn\u2019t meet a
\ngoal.<\/p>\n

You want to measure your progress to
\nstay on track, but you also want to be sure that you are setting realistic
\nexpectations.<\/p>\n

Lindsay recently had an experience
\nspeaking with a student, Luis from Chile, and it\u2019s very easy to relate to this
\nwhen it comes to measuring progress. <\/p>\n

When Lindsay talked to Luis from
\nChile he was working in New York City.<\/p>\n

At work his colleagues had a certain
\nexpectation of him to speak English.<\/p>\n

By the end of the workweek he would
\nfeel great with his English, and he was into a new rhythm but then the weekend
\nwould come.<\/p>\n

He would spend the whole weekend
\nwith his wife who only speaks Spanish, and so he would regress a bit in his
\nEnglish speaking.<\/p>\n

He would go back to work on Monday
\nfeeling rusty, and then he would have to start the process all over again.<\/p>\n

This is a situation that you may
\nvery well be able to relate to, as can many of the listeners. <\/p>\n

So the question becomes how often do
\nyou actually measure your progress with something like this?<\/p>\n

If you look at a story like that of Luis, he came to the US in 2016. <\/p>\n

One thing he could do is record a conversation he had on January 1st of each year.<\/p>\n

He could have someone else listen to the recording and score it.<\/p>\n

This is a great way to note the progress that he\u2019s making year to year.<\/p>\n

This may work for him, or he may have a much better way to measure his progress year to year or even month to month. <\/p>\n

Perhaps that\u2019s not the best tactic for you though\u2013and this is where you have to come up with your own measures. <\/p>\n

You may wish to measure the number of in depth conversations you have in English each quarter.<\/p>\n

If you are actively doing something like that, then the improvement will actually take care of itself.<\/p>\n

You do need measures so that you can see what type of progress you are making.<\/p>\n

However this is going to be a personal thing, and some tactics or activities that you are a part of everyday may help you to get the work done. <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

We All Measure Our Progress Differently<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Measuring progress is personal for everyone.<\/p>\n

Measuring progress is personal for
\neveryone but extremely helpful.<\/p>\n

It can be about many more things in
\nyour life than learning a language.<\/p>\n

Though this is where we tend to
\nfocus the most right now, measuring progress carries over into every other area
\nof your life more than likely. <\/p>\n

We\u2019ve talked about overcoming
\nsetbacks before, such as on Episode 1343: Tips On How To Prime Your Mind So
\nThat You Don\u2019t Freeze Up In English.<\/p>\n

Now it\u2019s about setting goals so that
\nyou can become proactive, so that you can stay ahead of the obstacles.<\/p>\n

Setting up goals and then revisiting
\nthem helps you to actually measure your progress in these areas.<\/p>\n

No matter what you are trying to do,
\nyou want to be diligent about measuring your progress.<\/p>\n

It helps you to see what\u2019s working,
\nwhat\u2019s not, and then switch things up accordingly. <\/p>\n

This might make you think of how
\noften people weigh themselves for example.<\/p>\n

If you have a friend who is dieting
\nand they weigh themselves every single day, you may hear them getting
\nfrustrated.<\/p>\n

If the weight goes up even by a
\nsmall amount each day it\u2019s easy to get frustrated.<\/p>\n

The reality is though that water
\nweight can factor in and your weight may just fluctuate more than you realize.<\/p>\n

So while you may want to weigh
\nyourself to measure your progress when you are dieting, you want to be
\nrealistic about how often this is.<\/p>\n

This sort of thought process can
\ncarry over to so many other areas of your life.<\/p>\n

You want to set goals and check back
\non them in a given time, for that\u2019s how you measure progress.<\/p>\n

You just want to be sure that you\u2019re
\nnot trying to evaluate or measure that progress too little or too much.<\/p>\n

As with anything, it\u2019s all about balance! <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Looking At This In All Areas of Your Life<\/strong><\/h3>\n

There are so many areas of your life that you can and should measure your progress.<\/p>\n

This is where it becomes very
\npersonal and where you have to determine where this exercise can become helpful
\nin your life.<\/p>\n

What are some other potential areas
\nin your own life where you can measure progress? <\/p>\n