[Happy New Year] First Writing of the Year: Goals for 2025!
Happy New Year, everyone!
I look forward to your continued support this year as well.🥰
I've finished eating osechi with my family and completed the usual New Year's traditions, so I'm going to do my first note writing of the year now.
✨First note writing of the year✨ Goals for 2025
Main Goals
1. Strengthen physical stamina!!!
2. Improve English vocabulary!!!
I hit many walls in 2024.
My mental health suffered, I started seeing a doctor, went on leave, and although I was lucky enough to return to work within 2024, my stamina remained low, and my studies didn't progress very well, so the year just passed by.
The hardest part was that when my depression was at its peak, I completely lost the "love" I was supposed to have for English, which I love so much...
It felt like something that didn't even concern me anymore, wondering, "How did I used to like it?"
But being able to crawl back up from that has become my greatest asset.
On the other hand, even though my feeling of "love" returned, I hit another wall with my actual "ability." This is something I have no choice but to overcome by studying. Realizing that about myself was one major point.
With that said, I have set the two main goals above. Details follow.
1. Strengthen physical stamina!!!
For my recovery from depression, my ongoing challenge is to appropriately draw the line between what I "can do" and what is "too much" as I go about my days.
This includes not only mental aspects but also physical ones.
Mentally, it's quite difficult to raise the bar for what I "can do." I have no choice but to proceed without rushing while consulting with my doctor.
However, I believe that the physical line for what I "can do" can be maintained or improved if I train little by little. If I do nothing, it will only decline.
I can't even continue the studies I love if I don't have the stamina.
So, this year I'm aiming to improve my stamina. Maybe through muscle training or something. First, I want to somehow increase my muscle mass.
2. Improve English vocabulary!!!
The wall in my English learning.
It has always been vocabulary.
I love English grammar and writing (especially technical English writing).
I also like reading and listening.
(I barely even practice speaking😅 I recently started ELSA, but it's just at a break-time level...)
However, I am really bad at words, idioms, their usage, and collocations... (I'm sorry to those who like them.)
Throughout my life so far, I have mostly put off studying vocabulary as much as possible until the very last minute, hit a wall, and then had no choice but to focus on vocabulary in tears (especially by repeatedly going through wordbooks).
I wondered if my method was wrong, so I tried other ways, like looking up etymologies, breaking down words (prefixes and suffixes), or picking up and learning unknown words while reading extensively... but none of them seemed to fit me, and in the end, almost nothing stayed in my head, and above all, I couldn't keep it up, so I quit. I think this is probably a matter of compatibility depending on the person. Like a difference in brains. Unfortunately, my brain isn't that flexible and is a small, piece-of-junk brain, so I think I have no choice but to force it in. Spartan-style.
Now, as I mentioned in my post before last, my TOEIC score is currently on a downward trend.
Also, I feel like I've hit a plateau with my main goal, the Technical English Test... especially every time I take a writing seminar, I am painfully reminded of how few tools I have at my disposal.
Ah, this is probably a "wall."
Has it finally come again?
If so, there is only one thing to do.
Improving my vocabulary, that is all.
Until now, I have used a method of focusing intensively for a short period and repeatedly going through wordbooks (by the way, I used an app. Details later). If I don't set a target period, or rather an end, my meager motivation won't last.
However, I feel like this wall is the highest one I've ever faced in my life. It might be that I'm no longer in a position to be talking about the Technical English Test, TOEIC, or Eiken Grade 1.
I am prepared to spend the whole year doing vocabulary building.
Here is a list of books I have already started & want to start. I want to make these studies the main focus of 2025.
● Ultimate English Vocabulary 4
● Advanced English Vocabulary LOGOPHILIA
● University Entrance Exam Invincible Difficult Words PINNACLE 420
● University Entrance Exam Leap Phrases IDIOMATIC 300
● 16,000 Word Level Strongest Vocabulary Building
● Kiku-tan Science Series 4 Books (Life Science, Engineering, Information Science, Earth and Energy)
● Ultimate English Vocabulary Premium 1
● Practical Eiken Grade 1 Vocabulary Book (Selecting now)
I have all of them except for the one I'm still selecting. I've started the top two, but the rest have just been sitting on my shelf unread...😭
I don't know if I can do them all within this year, but I will try to proceed as much as I can while setting periods for each.
If you have any other recommended vocabulary books, I would be very happy if you could let me know✨
My vocabulary study method is always the one below. It's digital but a super analog method.
1) Pick up unknown words, idioms, usage, related words, etc., from the book
2) Create a list in Excel and convert to CSV
3) Import into an app (I currently use "Tangochou F")
4) For the first round, select "Incorrect" for everything to lower the correct answer rate
5) From the second round, set the question settings to within 40% and select correct/incorrect as usual. However, any word I can't answer within 1 second is marked "Incorrect." Repeat until there are no more questions. Once they are gone, repeat the same while changing the settings to 50% -> 70%
6) When there are no more questions even at a 70% correct answer rate, return to 4)
I used to use "Smart Memorization Cards" for a vocabulary app and it was my favorite, but it's a shame it's gone...😭
That one had better, more detailed percentage settings...
abceed also has vocabulary books, but the usage and settings are somehow troublesome, so I don't end up using them. I don't know when I'll stop the subscription either. Still, I'd like to be able to use it a little bit. I am paying for it, after all.
I will continue to take the TOEIC every month. The Technical English Test will probably be held in the summer as well, but I wonder if there will be no local venues this year either...? Also, I am planning to take the Practical Eiken Grade 1 exam somewhere.
With that said, this year looks like it will be a "year of laying the groundwork" for me.
It's plain, but I have no choice but to do it! I'll do my best🔥
Actions speak louder than words!!!
#noteFirstCalligraphy