I recently saw a conversation thread online in which someone asked how they could get to the B2 level of Greek in 9 months. There were lots of responses. Some of these responses were people saying that they themselves had achieved the same progress and more.
My first thought on seeing the original question was, “Wow! B2 in 9 months – that’s impressive!” The next thought started like this, “Hmm, I’m not even close to that level and it’s taken….”
Wait a second… I’m learning Greek because it makes me happy! I have goals for my learning, but the timeline is not so important to me. While I’m super impressed that there are people who can learn so quickly, that’s their journey and not mine.
If you’ve had a similar experience, I highly recommend watching the video “A message for all language learners” by Γιούλη of the YouTube channel Linguatree.
She quite eloquently addresses the issue of comparing your own learning to that of someone else. It’s a message that’s worth listening to. In fact, even if you haven’t had a similar experience, I think it is worth the seven minute watch.
While you are on the Linguatree channel, take the time and watch her other videos – they are an amazing resource!
Modern Greek Learning Journey 
One response to “Enjoy the learning process!”
My Greek tutor told me on day one of my Greek language learning journey, “Learning Greek is a marathon, not a sprint”. It was good advice.
I have done many language exchange sessions via Skype with native Greek speakers who want to improve their English. Most of them were young guys in their early twenties who were entering the working world, and their English proficiency was extremely important for opening up job opportunities.
I learned from them the process for learning English, while growing up in Greece. They start when they are 9 years old, and they take language lessons from a separate school that is not part of their daily regular school. If they apply themselves, by the time they graduate from high school, they are at a B2 level in English. That is almost ten years, which seems like a normal pace for learning a second language. Of course, there are always exceptions who learn faster, but I’ve also met guys who goofed off and were trying to catch up.
It’s human nature to compare ourselves to others, but set your own pace, study every day, and enjoy your progress.
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