Monitoring
Reflecting on your own learning
It is helpful to reflect on your own learning process and, in particular, to reconsider the tasks, the tools and the timetable. The following checklist will help you to do this.
Tasks
Is the task suitable for achieving your goal?
- If yes, what did you find easy, what did you find difficult?
- If no, which other taks or exercises could you use to achieve your goal?
How motivating is the task you have chosen?
Resources
Are the resources you planned to use helpful (for example, a grammar book, online dictionaries)?
- If yes, take note of which resources were particularly helpful for your goal and why.
- If no, do you know of other resources (for example, a simpler grammar, a thesaurus, a monolingual dictionary, a native speaker) that you can use to reach your goal?
Timetable
Were you able to keep up to your timetable?
- If yes: That's great! However, make a note of the reasons, so that you are aware of your successful strategies (for example, my timetable was realistic, I planned extra time between the tasks, I was disciplined).
- If no: Don't worry, this happens often. Make a note of the reasons, so that you can plan better later (for example, the schedule was not realistic; my learning goal was too ambitious; external, unpredictable factors came into play, such as an unexpected visit, or other appointments).
Reflecting on yourself as a learner
What does booster your motivation?
What methods and strategies do suit your learning style?
Get to know yourself better as a learner and choose specific methods that suit your learning style, for example: If you are a visual learner, create mind maps to expand your vocabulary, make excerpts or tables to summarize information).
You will find suggestions for self-reflection in the following documents:
- Lernstilfragebogen (PDF) (in German)
- Fragebogen zu den Lernstrategien (PDF) (in German)
- Checkliste Lerntrategien (PDF) (in German)
- Über die eigene Motivation nachdenken (PDF) (in German)
- Motivationstagebuch (PDF) (in German)
- Tips for increasing your motivation (PDF)
- Gefühlstagebuch (PDF) (in German)
- Vertrauen bilden und über die eigenen Gefühle reflektieren (PDF) (in German)
- Tips for reducing language anxiety (PDF)
- Habit Tracker (PDF) New!
- Example Habit Tracker (PDF)
If you have questions, consult our language learning advisory service.