“Do as I say, not as I do!”
You have most likely heard this saying lots of times, but why is it the title of my blog post?
Well, I have fallen foul of my own rules!
Whenever students tell me that their German isn’t good enough or that they are struggling I tell them to go back to things they previously learned and enjoy what they have already achieved.
I’ve written blog posts about it:
- Celebrate your German knowledge
- How to enjoy what you have learned
- 10 ways to improve your German Learning
One of the bullet points in the last post is “Don’t compare yourself to others!”
And that was exactly what I did!
In September 2022 I joined a gym. I became a member of Fruci Fit, a gym for Wiltshire women over 40. I enjoyed it and I still do.
But then I heard comments from others like ‘I lost a stone in one month’. ‘I’m so much fitter!’ ‘I’ve lost inches!’ etc…
And, guess what, I didn’t! I lost a little bit of weight, felt a little bit fitter but I still needed to wear the same size clothing, even if they began to feel a tiny bit loose. But nothing worth shouting about.
And then my trainer told me how much fitter I was, which made me stop and think.
That’s when I realised that I was making the same mistake many language learners make, I was comparing myself to those other women instead of checking my own progress.
And I found out that my progress actually was quite impressive: Over the last 21 months I have lost weight resulting in new (yay!) and smaller sized clothes. It just happened VERY slowly, but it did happen! I started jeffing (run/ walk/ repeat) and my fitness and stamina from my gym sessions increased so much that I dared to enter the London Marathon. The best thing (apart from completing it in 6hrs 30 mins 15 secs) was that afterwards my recovery time was quite short, and four days after the marathon I was able to run for a train! (Still missed it, but hey!)
So, now I remember to do as I tell you: I don’t compare myself to the other women and I enjoy what I have achieved. And when I cannot do something I adjust and do it differently.
And that’s my advice to you again:
- Don’t compare yourself to other German learners.
- If you’re stuck, look at what you have achieved so far.
- While still stuck, adjust and find different ways to improve and enjoy your German.
We once bought this sign in a charity shop to remind ourselves to ‘look back to see how far we’ve come’.
When it comes to learning German, how far have you come?
