Paradigm shift

Or, what happens when you started a project with a specific end and the messiness of life intervenes?

This blog was set up to track my progress as a language learner, to reflect on how and why I learn a language, and as a project to think about motivation and language acquisition. When I started I was employed as a language lecturer in the University also teaching aspects of Latin American culture including literature, film and cyberculture. In September, it was mooted that I move from my languages' department to Media. This changed things dramatically. No longer did I need to learn Portuguese and continue this project in order to figure out how I learn to therefore better understand how students learn. So it has lapsed. For that reason, and because much of my energy was expended on adapting to my new circumstances and learning the modus operandi of my new role. The change means that I have to consider what *my* motivation is, why do I now want to learn Portuguese, and for whom is it useful. In addition, I have to think through whether I need to be pure instrumentalist about this, ie if it works for work do I do it?, or does it have a greater/wider good?, will my learning help others?, and is that good enough. This is where I return to motivation and something I need to reflect on at length, as well as simply get myself back on the wagon (so to speak), and back into the books/websites/blogs/cds/dvds/apps that have proven useful tools for my learning.