"Post JLPT Plans
A Few days removed from the JLPT N1 and it's time to start the next goal. I've been watching a lot of videos on effective ways to absorb (I always want to use the word apprendre (to learn)) new language but I think my base in Italian is weirdly strong in combination with French and English. So my plan is as follows, I am going to combine some methods from several YouTubers I watch like Days and Words, LanguageJones, Alexandre Arguelles, Lindie Botes, Language Stories, and polýMATHY.
I think the combination of these learners' techniques will be a really good way to synthesize new information and allow it to permeate through me enabling me to speak earlier and more fluently. My goal is to be able to speak with a strong Italian accent, fluidly and understand 80%+ of content that I would like to engage with (history, politics, sports) in 1 calendar year - so December 2026. Here's how I'm going to do it and what I've already done.
- Completed: Memorized at least 625 first words as laid out in Gabriel Wyner's book Fluent Forever
- Listened to 50-100 hours of Italian content through podcasts, shows and YouTube
- Read approximately 10 hours total in Italian with no translation tools
To do/Next Steps:
- Begin the practise laid out in this video (days and words) of obtaining sentences from videos and practising shadowing techniques using the audio as a guide for pronunciation and accent.
- Use the Scriptorium method from Alexandre Arguelis and Polymath guy to further develop reading ability/speaking ability without the use of a tutor (for now)
- Continue reading the news and short stories in Italian
- Writing weekly journal in Italian
After after steps:
- Consult with tutor to practise speaking 1 on 1
- Talk to my Mom to practise Furlan language pronunciation and vocabulary.
- Increase level of difficulty and specialize the topics of study (History -> specific period in history etc)
- Double shadowing sentences/halve time spent on each (days and words method)
- Listen to Italian constantly
Maintenance stage begins when I can have full conversations and not have to worry about anything. This is fluency for me, unlike Japanese I am not aiming for a certification in the language I just want to be able to use it whenever I want. Maintenance is through watching content and speaking to Mom/tutor/language partner
Thank you for reading, we'll see if I come back and provide some updates in the future or not.