Since October, I’ve been learning Korean through a variety of different apps, YouTube Channels, and watching KDramas (they’re my favorite thing!). I started on DuoLingo because that seems to be the go-to app for languages. It started off okay and then I started incorporating the apps Memrise and LingoDeer and I realized that I really hated DuoLingo. I’m not sure how it is for the other languages but for Korean, you’re being taught by a computer-generated voice. The difference was especially jarring when I was learning the words from native speakers on Memrise and on Duolingo, I couldn’t even recognize the same words because they sounded so different.
But I really didn’t want to quit.
Learning a new language was a huge thing for me. I was so happy that my brain could cooperate and that I could actually do it but also that I was able to stick with it for so long.
I had a streak. It didn’t matter that I wasn’t learning anything and that I was doing the bare minimum each day just to keep that streak active, and that it wasn’t fun.
I had to tell myself that it’s okay to quit something I don’t enjoy.
I quit and it wasn’t the end of the world. I’ve technically maintained my streak. still practice every day on the apps that I enjoy and I’m still having fun!
It’s okay to quit things if you’re no longer enjoying them. Stop the movie right in the middle and watch something else. Stop a show after a few seasons if you’re not liking it anymore. Find a different book to read.
Life is too short to be filled with things you’re making yourself do under a sense of obligation.
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