I don’t think I’ve been going through a full blown “Are we there yet” phase, but I have been thinking more about the future than the present lately. Either way, what I realized was that thinking, “I’m at x stage of the journey” is forever placing where I *should* be in the future, and leaves me in a state of uncompleted-ness.

What I’ve found is, the better way to reflect on the situation is simply thinking, “being able to understand and comprehend x amount; it’s my current way of life.” This more present-centric way of thinking seems like a more uplifting way to think about things for me. After all, we don’t go around saying. “yeah, I’m at x stage of life” – we generally just think in the now.

I don’t know, this is probably a twist on something that’s already been covered, but I thought I’d put it out there in case it helped anyone.

In reality, language learning is more process than a chore with the beginning and the end. Also , some people don’t get that one can rarely go to job, study for school, phd or whatever, go to gym , hang out, make a business and travel at the same time! You must be focused in a funny way. Like AJATT, you still have a life and you are enjoying it but you are making progress, far better progress compared to “serious learning” process where you look like a retard , always feel under the pressure and compare with others.

To conclude , keep learning and it is not possible to stay on the same level.

I’m at exactly this stage in Dutch right now, and having those same thoughts like “alright already, when am I going to stop sucking?”. The thing is, I already have my own evidence because I taught myself fluent German using something “AJATT-like”, and German is reeeally close to Dutch.

So why does my brain insist on telling me that I suck at Dutch and I’m never going to get there, when I’ve already proven that it works in nearly identical circumstances? I guess that’s just the power of your perception during the intermediate stage that you’re not really going that fast, even if you are. Fly a hundred flights, and the take-off will still seem more exciting than the middle.

I guess this also holds some advice for those new to language acquisition: even the “experienced” people feel this way when they’re partway through a language. Focus on the fun instead of the result, and it’ll work itself out.

thanks!