An excellent habit to get into when trying to learn something is making goals. It is very good to constantly think about goals and to make goals. Tatsuya was a high school student who was interested in study abroad during college. He wanted to study in an English speaking country so I helped him make goals.

First we talked together about what he wanted to do long term. This means far into the future. What would he do with English as an adult. Life changes so this didn’t have to be a perfect plan. Making the goal is good enough. He decided that he wanted to work for a Japanese company overseas.

Next we talked about a goal for a few years from now. We knew he was going to college. So he set his goal to spending one year abroad for study.

Last we set his goal for the immediate future. What was he going to work toward now? This had to be something specific and clear. Because he wanted to study abroad I suggested TOEFL. He said that it was an important goal but wanted to start with something else. So he decided his goal was to take the TOIEC test within a year and get a higher score than he did before.

This was a very healthy habit and helped Tatsuya reach his goal of studying abroad. He had a goal in mind and planned it out. He was able to succeed.

What do you think? Are there any short term or long term goals you can think of? If you are interested in learning English check out my profile at Cafetalk.com where I offer private tutoring.