Anne-Marie here this time!

I know a lot of workers and students will be struggling to get along with working at home. It’s a lot harder, isn’t it? There are so many other distractions, such good weather to tempt us into the garden and a thousand other things we might wish we could be doing.

We at the ICE team have been figuring out how to work from home, we’re so used to flitting in and out of schools that it’s taken us a while to get used to our new routines and our new normal.

Learning is challenging most of the time, let alone in lockdown! But for a little while I’ve been trying to learn Korean. I fell in love with Korean culture and language through the last winter Olympics and since then have been trying to learn Korean. Mostly I’ve been using language learning apps, with a couple of text books and a lot of engaging with Korean media – both K-dramas and K-Pop!

So…how is it going?

Well, It think it’s going slowly. I don’t always have as much time as I’d like to sit down and study the language. But I hope that the amount of Korean I listen to in a day (it’s a lot) is making a difference! Between being busy, feeling unmotivated sometimes and just being tired out sometimes too, learning is hard! I also don’t personally know and native Korean speakers, so practising with someone is a little tricky.

Fortunately for me, Sally is also learning Korean, it helps that there’s someone else who’s learning the same thing. We can encourage each other and try to use the bits of Korean we are learning with each other so we get used to it.

We’re also planning to visit South Korea together (when travel is safe again, of course!) so that’s a great motivator to keep going. I really want to be able to go and order food confidently or chat with some Korean locals when we eventually get there.

I also want to be able to sing along with my favourite band when they’re next able to do their world tour. It’s great to be able to enjoy their music even though they don’t sing in English, but it would be even better to be able to sing along with them in Korean.

And I also know that learning something like a language is good for my brain. Studying and learning keeps our minds active and growing and that’s never a bad thing.

There are lots of things that keep me going when I feel down about how slow I feel I’m going, and there are lots of reasons for me to keep going on days when it’s harder to push through that unmotivated feeling. Learning takes perseverance and dedication, which isn’t always easy but always pays off in the long run.

I wonder, what helps you when you struggle with your working or your studying?

Are there ways you can switch it up and try a different method?

Maybe there are some apps or websites out there that can help you learn in creative ways?

Is there a goal you have ahead of you that can help keep you going on tough days?