Welcome to the first day of 2026 (as of writing this blog post anyway)! I hope everyone is having a great start to their 2026 so far. After the terrible year that was 2025, I am so looking forward to what's to come this year. With that being said, I have decided that I will not be setting any resolutions for this year whatsoever. This will definitely won't be ones of those "This is your year" type of unrealistic expectations. That's not to say that 2026 won't be a good you for you or me but trying to downplay real issues and challenges standing in your way is not exactly all that helpful. Therefore, I have decided to set goals that can be updated and adjust as time goes by without needing to beat myself up after experiencing a failure or challenging issue in my life.
Which languages do I want to focus on in 2026?
My current target languages include Catalan, Dutch, Finnish, German, Japanese and European Portuguese. However, I have not spend a consistent amount of time each of these languages that I felt like I didn't make the progress I would have like to have made in 2025. So which languages will have more priority over others? Right now, I am focused on learning Dutch, Finnish and Catalan at the moment. Which German still being learned in the background here and there. Unfortunately, this does mean that Japanese and European Portuguese will have to put aside for the time being.
Language Bench
These are languages I had to put aside either for the time being or indefinitely due to different priorities taking focus:
Japanese: I haven't really been focusing a lot of Japanese these days. Which is quite sad considering I spent a decade learning Japanese. But I haven't really found any engaging content to interact with that would pique my interest. There may be a possibility for me to return to Japan this year so if that ends up being the case then I will most definitely make Japanese a priority language again. I am also at level in Japanese where I can put it aside for a while and not lose too much of what I already learned.
今のところ、日本語を習ったり練習したりするモチベーションがなくなりそうです。たぶん新しいコンテントを見つけたほうがいいと思います。今年日本に戻ったら、きっと日本語を習って続けるつもりです。
European Portuguese: I have been learning European Portuguese on and off for few years as language I would dabble in here and there rather than dive deep and immerse myself in it. Apart of it was because I needed to revive my motivation to learn languages. I still want to visit Portugal and do genuinely find Portuguese culture amazing. But at this moment in time, it could interfere with my Catalan even though these language are easy enough for me to differentiate from each other, I don't want to rely on one to get practice with in the other. I also don't see myself headed to Portugal this year but we'll see what happens.
Mandarin Chinese: I took a Mandarin Chinese class in high school and really enjoyed the class but I was unable to continue with it afterwards because I was more motivated to learn Japanese than I was with Mandarin Chinese. I may come back to this language should an opportunity for me to go to China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, etc or encounter a Mandarin Chinese-speaking community I can practice with.
Icelandic: I was really passionate about learning Icelandic for many years and I am still fond of Icelandic culture, folklore, etc but I haven't been all that motivated to learn it due to the lack of resources. Especially up to date resources that reflect how Icelandic is spoken today in Iceland. There is a real possibility to move to Iceland in the near future for me so I definitely don't want to entirely give up on it yet.
Faroese: This language is similar to Icelandic and is another language spoken on the Faroe Islands (which are currently owned by Denmark) so if I have a chance to visit there, it would be nice to speak to them in their native language rather than just Danish.
russian: I was obsessed with russian music and culture in the early to mid 2000s and have met many people who spoke russian as their native language even if they couldn't write it in nor speak their country's native language (ex: Georgia, Armenia, etc). Unfortunately, due to russia's current political climate (I am considered a "Terrorist Threat" in russia for simply being LGBT+), I have decided to completely abandon learning russian altogether. Yes, people aren't their countries but unless I meet more russian speaking friends, I am not likely to ever attempt to relearn this language again.
Ukrainian: I was passionately about learning Ukrainian around the same time I was learning russian but I gave up on it after a while due to the lack of resources and people to practise Ukrainian with. If I do meet more Ukrainians and Ukraine becomes safe to visit again, I would love to relearn it later.
French: I used to be really passionate about learning French and even had the intention of moving to France or French-speaking Canada in the future. Plans have unfortunately changed and while I still listen to French music from time to time, I don't get enough practice in the language nor have I attempted to learn any new words and phrases. I took 3 years of French (2 years in middle school and 1 year in high school) and had a great teacher who helped make it fun. I will come back to this language because I know and am connected to many people who speak it.
Italian: I remember being incredibly passionate about learning this language a teenager. I love Italian food, culture, the people and the music. I will definitely come back to learning it but for now I have other priorities at the moment. That and I won’t be in Italy this year.
Spanish: This language is one I can understand quite well to a degree simply from seeing Spanish signs everywhere where I live and work (yes, I have colleagues who only speak Spanish). I prefer to learn Spain Spanish and it will be there alongside my Catalan. I haven’t found the motivation to learn at the moment even though I have an abundance of opportunities to practise Spanish all around me.
Conlangs
I will continue to develop Kalovanian, Lubenavian and Vasatulokian by creating more words, phrases, idiomatic expressions and develop the worldbuilding surrounding the fictitious countries I have created for these languages. Will I create another for 2026? Probably but nothing is set in stone just yet. I will share more progress on these as they develop further. They will be on their specific pages on this site but I may write posts on specific topics or challenges with these languages as I see relevant. I may create a new language to help with a grammatical aspect I am struggling with in my target languages to get more practise and ability to understand it in better by using it in my own language.
What language learning goals do you have this year? Let me know in the comments below!
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