Mack's log: Mandarin, damn the torpedoes!

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Dr Mack Rettosy
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Re: Mack's log: Mandarin, damn the torpedoes!

Postby Dr Mack Rettosy » Wed Jul 28, 2021 1:57 pm

昨天,我的同事给我两个黄瓜。这个黄瓜上起来他的菜园。 我打算去中国商店,买传统中国的配料。但是我工作很晚和很累,所以我做饭美国‘stirfry’。我的女朋友觉得很好吃。我觉得差不多。请你给我矫正。谢谢!

Microsoft's pinyin input is a bit clumsy. Strange that I couldn't find the character for girl 女. Instead, typing in the pinyin the only option I received was 奴朋友, which roughly translates to slave friend..

I'll have to sort out the settings, or switch to a different input system, before I get serious about writing.
Last edited by Dr Mack Rettosy on Wed Sep 15, 2021 2:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Mandarin goals:
Read: 2146000 / 10000000 /10,000,000 汉字
Study: 2006 / 5000 / 5000 hours

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cjareck
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Re: Mack's log: Mandarin, damn the torpedoes!

Postby cjareck » Wed Jul 28, 2021 2:29 pm

Dr Mack Rettosy wrote:Strange that I couldn't find the character for girl 女.

I've struggled with that problem earlier and figured out that you have to type nv to get the character, similarly with all other ü characters.
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Listening: 1+ (83% content, 90% linguistic)
Reading: 1 (83% content, 90% linguistic)


MSA DLI : 30 / 141ESKK : 18 / 40


Mandarin Assimil : 62 / 105

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Dr Mack Rettosy
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Re: Mack's log: Mandarin, damn the torpedoes!

Postby Dr Mack Rettosy » Wed Jul 28, 2021 4:59 pm

cjareck wrote:
Dr Mack Rettosy wrote:Strange that I couldn't find the character for girl 女.

I've struggled with that problem earlier and figured out that you have to type nv to get the character, similarly with all other ü characters.


That did the trick! I was having a tough time finding an answer through google. Thanks!
2 x
Mandarin goals:
Read: 2146000 / 10000000 /10,000,000 汉字
Study: 2006 / 5000 / 5000 hours

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Dr Mack Rettosy
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Posts: 134
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Oct 14th 2020 – August 13th 2021: Ten Month Update

Postby Dr Mack Rettosy » Fri Aug 13, 2021 2:47 pm

Oct 14th 2020 – August 13th 2021: Ten Month Update

This month I read an average of one hour a day. More and more, reading is requiring less effort. It's no longer confined to my first waking hours, where I was free from distraction and enjoying the benefits of coffee. Now I can pick up my phone and dive into a graded reader anytime and anywhere, on the bus, eating lunch, before bed, etc. Previously this time was dedicated to working on the Anki Spoonfed Deck. Now that I am more comfortable with reading, it seems like a poor use of my time to learn flashcards out of context. I dislike quitting goals, and I feel some effects of the sunk-cost fallacy. But as I said in this post, the point of the Spoonfed Deck was to bridge me to graded readers. Well, I'm reading now, so I guess that means I'm officially setting down the deck. I anticipate this will be a short break from flashcards because soon I'd like to begin making my own using reading and immersion materials.

On the topic of immersion, haven't been doing a lot of TV watching. I'm on episode 72/100 of Home with Kids. It's enjoyable, but not compelling. I'm beginning to understand that I go through waves of interest with visual media. I even have a hard time finishing American TV and movies, which drives my partner crazy. But I'd like to do more because it benefits my language learning. More so than passive listening, which has been my go-to listening option because it can be multi-tasked during exercise and chores. But I have a hard time keeping my attention on passive material, and don't have the benefit of using subtitles to bolster comprehension. So the slight progress noticed this month is that some phrases are being shunted into the "automatically understood" category: 很多人,因为我觉得,etc.

Mandarin goals:
Rainbow Bridge Graded Readers: 9 / 15 / 15 higher books
Mandarin Companion Readers: 13 / 17 / 17 books
Read: 157000 / 10000000 /10,000,000 汉字
Study: 796 / 5000 / 5000 hours

Completed goals:
✓ HelloChinese Maincourse [14 Oct 2020 - 29 Nov 2020]
✓ HelloChinese Immersions [1 Dec 2020 - 6 March 2021]
✓ Heisig's Remembering the Simplified Hanzi Vol I [31 Jan 2020 - 22 April 2021]
✓ Read Rainbow Bridge Graded Readers; 20 starter books [04 May 2021 - 24 May 2021]

Suspended goals:
X Read 500 HSK1-5 TCB articles in pinyin [read ~250 HSK1-3 articles; 1 Dec 2020 - 25 March 2021]
X Anki Spoonfed Chinese [reached 886/8017 cards; 25 Mar 2021 - 13 Aug 2021]
6 x
Mandarin goals:
Read: 2146000 / 10000000 /10,000,000 汉字
Study: 2006 / 5000 / 5000 hours

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Dr Mack Rettosy
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Posts: 134
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Re: Mack's log: Mandarin, damn the torpedoes!

Postby Dr Mack Rettosy » Thu Aug 19, 2021 7:52 pm

I have six weeks to meet the biggest work deadline of my career, of which my new job is conditional upon its completion. If that wasn't enough, I'm getting married at the end of September. Effective immediately, my Mandarin bar has been lowered to 40 minutes a day, 20 minutes on a Home with Kid episode during lunch and 20 minutes reading in the evenings.

See you on the other side...
13 x
Mandarin goals:
Read: 2146000 / 10000000 /10,000,000 汉字
Study: 2006 / 5000 / 5000 hours

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Dr Mack Rettosy
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Posts: 134
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Re: Mack's log: Mandarin, damn the torpedoes!

Postby Dr Mack Rettosy » Fri Sep 03, 2021 1:24 pm

As I first mentioned here, Refold has really helped me subjectively track my comprehension progress, and I've noticed some improvement with the two TV shows I'm watching:

Home with Kids; although there are many instances where whole exchanges will go over my head, I understand more words than not and often can get the gist. I've entered a solid level 3 with this material.

Peppa Pig; At first I was put off because it's a children show, but this is by far the most comprehensible input I've been able to find. In fact, my comprehension is high enough that I'm learning new vocabulary, where other immersion materials I get swamped with all the unknown. I think I'm slowly approaching level 4:
Level 4: Story "You can follow along with the majority of the ideas being expressed, but some details are lost here and there. You rely heavily on contextual inference to determine what was said when you can’t make out all of the words. When you’re not able to understand something, you often can’t tell why you weren’t able to understand"

That pretty much describes my subjective experience when watching Peppa Pig, at least on the good days.

Importantly, these comprehension levels are with the use of subtitles, and because my reading is more advanced than my listening, my actual listening comprehension is probably quite lower. Based on anecdotes this is really common, and some time in the (far) future I'll probably turn off subtitles for pure listening practice.
6 x
Mandarin goals:
Read: 2146000 / 10000000 /10,000,000 汉字
Study: 2006 / 5000 / 5000 hours

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Dr Mack Rettosy
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Posts: 134
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Oct 14th 2020 – September 15th 2021: Eleven Month Update

Postby Dr Mack Rettosy » Wed Sep 15, 2021 1:43 pm

Oct 14th 2020 – September 15th 2021: Eleven Month Update

Studied a total of 43 hours this past month: 19 hours of reading and 24 hours of active and passive listening.

Learning feels slower. Probably the combined effect of less study time and reaching the intermediate plateau. But I still sense progress, and that keeps me coming back every day.

At some point in the month (it's all a blur) I tried something new. I laid on the ground with my eyes closed and headphones in and focused all my attention on listening to this beginner conversation. I was surprised that I could follow much of the conversation. Now granted, I had listened to it passively several times before, but it served as a powerful reminder of the effects of active listening. I'd like to do more of this in the future.

I'm in a strange place where my reading is still improving but I rely heavily on context and characters appear less "distinct". In regards to RTH, I've forgotten all the mnemonic devices and English keywords. To be honest, it's disappointing, but it wasn't all for loss. I've retained an ability to break characters into their components, which helps distinguish them and recognize pronunciation patterns. I suppose it's one step back two steps forward on the quest to use characters authentically. But man is it painful. I'd like to get to a point where I read all 1500 RTH Vol I characters comfortably. I think I can read 600-900? And I still don't have a method for learning new characters. I may have to revisit Imron's method. Either way, I don't think I'll end up using RTH's Vol II, which makes me feel a little sad.

I'm really burning the candle at both ends. The goal for the next month is to expose myself to Mandarin at least every day, whether its reading a page from a graded reader or a 10 minute podcast. By mid October things will have calmed down and I should have more time for study. There will also be an opportunity to write up a one year update and lay out goals for the next year of study.

Ongoing goals:
Rainbow Bridge Graded Readers: 9 / 15 / 15 higher books
Mandarin Companion Readers: 15 / 17 / 17 books
Read: 192000 / 10000000 /10,000,000 汉字
Study: 839 / 5000 / 5000 hours

Completed goals:
✓ HelloChinese Maincourse [14 Oct 2020 - 29 Nov 2020]
✓ HelloChinese Immersions [1 Dec 2020 - 6 March 2021]
✓ Heisig's Remembering the Simplified Hanzi Vol I [31 Jan 2020 - 22 April 2021]
✓ Read Rainbow Bridge Graded Readers; 20 starter books [04 May 2021 - 24 May 2021]

Suspended goals:
X Read 500 HSK1-5 TCB articles in pinyin [read ~250 HSK1-3 articles; 1 Dec 2020 - 25 March 2021]
X Anki Spoonfed Chinese [reached 886/8017 cards; 25 Mar 2021 - 13 Aug 2021]
X Heisig's Remembering the Simplified Hanzi Vol II [never began]
10 x
Mandarin goals:
Read: 2146000 / 10000000 /10,000,000 汉字
Study: 2006 / 5000 / 5000 hours

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Dr Mack Rettosy
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Re: Mack's log: Mandarin, damn the torpedoes!

Postby Dr Mack Rettosy » Fri Oct 08, 2021 12:23 pm

We had a beautiful wedding and couldn’t be happier! Myself and Mrs Mack are thankful to have so many wonderful friends and family (and each other). We took a relaxing honeymoon to an island off the coast of Lake Superior which was much needed. No work, no language study, but many board games, books, and good eating.

Work has been a whirlwind. I hadn’t been this busy since graduate school days. I’d wake early and go directly to my computer and wouldn’t stop until late into the evening. There was a stretch of ten days where I didn’t study Mandarin, there was just zero extra time in the day. I was a bit worried whether I’d come back, whether I still had the interest and habits. But I did, and I’ve been building my reading and listening and it has come back quickly. And now work is wrapping up, papers are written and submissions are complete. There’s a bit more to do over the next week but my job is essentially done. I’ll have about a month until my new job starts.

So if you’ll excuse me I’m going to enjoy some well deserved time with a Mandarin Companion reader while my coffee is still hot!
Last edited by Dr Mack Rettosy on Fri Oct 08, 2021 8:18 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Mandarin goals:
Read: 2146000 / 10000000 /10,000,000 汉字
Study: 2006 / 5000 / 5000 hours

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Dr Mack Rettosy
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Posts: 134
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Re: Mack's log: Mandarin, damn the torpedoes!

Postby Dr Mack Rettosy » Fri Oct 08, 2021 8:00 pm

That turned into a massive reading session. Five hours later and I’m done with the last Mandarin Companion reader, 地心游记, an adaption of Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth. It was a fun read, I felt like a kid again having nothing to do but spend the day reading science fiction.

This completes my Mandarin Companion goal:

Mandarin Companion Readers: 17 / 17 / 17 books [July 6th 2021 - Oct 8th 2021]

Next I’m going to circle back to the unfinished Rainbow Bridge readers. I might reread a few of the easier books beforehand.

After that, I’ll probably start reading my first books. I’m thinking I will start with some translated works before going to native material. Stay tune..
9 x
Mandarin goals:
Read: 2146000 / 10000000 /10,000,000 汉字
Study: 2006 / 5000 / 5000 hours

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Dr Mack Rettosy
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Posts: 134
Joined: Thu Oct 15, 2020 5:53 pm
Location: USA, The Great Lakes
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Re: Mack's log: Mandarin, damn the torpedoes!

Postby Dr Mack Rettosy » Thu Oct 14, 2021 3:23 pm

My work colleagues expressed a 成语 when they learned of my marriage and new job acceptance:

双喜临门. Shuāng xǐlínmén. Literal translation: a pair of happiness facing the family. I.e. two happy events happening at the same time.

I'm fascinated by how they used the expression. Two colleagues in particular, upon learning of the news, made eye contact with each other, and in mutual agreement happily shouted Shuāng xǐlínmén! It was neat to see a natural demonstration of 成语 usage. 我很喜欢成语, 它最重要中国文化和语言,让人们表达感觉和快乐。成语 are definitely an aspect of the Chinese language and culture that I enjoy.
6 x
Mandarin goals:
Read: 2146000 / 10000000 /10,000,000 汉字
Study: 2006 / 5000 / 5000 hours


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