Re: Oct 15th 2020 - Mar 14th 2021: Five Month Update
Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2021 9:37 pm
Oct 15th 2020 - March 14th 2021: Five Month Update
Current Course of Study
Now that the HelloChinese app is finished, my time is equally split between character study and active listening 'immersion'.
I've developed a good routine with characters. I'm working through Heisig's RTH Vol I at a pace of 20 characters/day, sometimes more, sometimes less, avg of 70min/day. I generally only spend 15-30min/day reviewing characters with Pleco, spaced throughout the day. I originally planned to start reading around the 500 character mark, but for now think I will keep focusing on building my character list. Maybe next month I'll start reading? Either with TCB articles, graded readers, or the Anki spoonfed deck.
My active listening 'immersion' is still quite unstructured. I try to get 30-60 minutes of active listening a day. Right now I'm going through Mandarin Corner's youtube channel. I'll often quickly read the English subtitles and then focus on listening. I know this isn't proper immersion, but I find that it greatly increases my comprehension and keeps me following along the conversation. I've tried a few Mandarin TV shows on Netflix. I've watched three episodes of Meteor Garden in proper immersion fashion, no Eng subtitles. I picked up the basics of the plot but there were some scenes that were just so strange I had to rewatch with Eng subtitles. While I can tell this is really good for my language learning, I just can't bring myself to watch anymore as it is truly awful. Sorry if I offend anyone here, FWIW I heard the Taiwan version and the original Japanese anime is better. Overall I'm really struggling to find immersion materials for mainland Mandarin that's not either campy or political or both. I think I need to stop restricting myself to materials that have Eng subtitles. Also, can't help but feel jealous of all the immersion materials Japanese, Korean, and Taiwanese Mandarin learners have.. I did however watch an original Mandarin anime called Scissors Seven with Eng subtitles. I'm not too keen on anime but actually found it really enjoyable. I think I'll watch the Mandarin dub of Dragon Prince next. If anyone has any good mainland Mandarin TV shows or anime dubs please share! I'm starting to feel a little discouraged.
Quantitative Summary
Total unique pinyin word (拼音) exposure: 2230 (stopped recording on Feb 6th 2021)
Total character (汉字) exposure: 756
Total time of intensive study: 454 hr
Average time studying per day: 3 hr 3 min
Qualitative Summary (brackets = estimated proficiency)
Listening [>HSK3]
My perceived rate of progress is slowing but still noticing subtle improvements. Recognizing more words and short phrases. Instant recognition of very common words. Improved sound parsing. Beginnings of tonal recognition.
Speaking [>HSK2]
More vocabulary and slightly more complex grammar coming about, usually when I'm by myself. No real efforts yet to activate speaking yet.
Reading [拼音: HSK3 / 汉字: <HSK1]
None. Although I do read Pinyin when subtitles are available through my active immersion work. Still unable to read characters.
Writing [拼音: >HSK2 / 汉字: <HSK1]
None.
Cultural
Business etiquette and dinner table manners.
Personal Goals (list of ongoing and completed goals as of March 14th 2021)
Ongoing goals:
☐ Read 500 HSK1-4 TCB articles: / 500 articles
☐ Heisig RSH Vol I: / 1500 汉字
☐ Study: / 5000 hours
Completed goals:
✓ HelloChinese Maincourse [14 Oct 2020 - 29 Nov 2020]
✓ HelloChinese Immersions [1 Dec 2020 - 6 March 2021]
Current Course of Study
Now that the HelloChinese app is finished, my time is equally split between character study and active listening 'immersion'.
I've developed a good routine with characters. I'm working through Heisig's RTH Vol I at a pace of 20 characters/day, sometimes more, sometimes less, avg of 70min/day. I generally only spend 15-30min/day reviewing characters with Pleco, spaced throughout the day. I originally planned to start reading around the 500 character mark, but for now think I will keep focusing on building my character list. Maybe next month I'll start reading? Either with TCB articles, graded readers, or the Anki spoonfed deck.
My active listening 'immersion' is still quite unstructured. I try to get 30-60 minutes of active listening a day. Right now I'm going through Mandarin Corner's youtube channel. I'll often quickly read the English subtitles and then focus on listening. I know this isn't proper immersion, but I find that it greatly increases my comprehension and keeps me following along the conversation. I've tried a few Mandarin TV shows on Netflix. I've watched three episodes of Meteor Garden in proper immersion fashion, no Eng subtitles. I picked up the basics of the plot but there were some scenes that were just so strange I had to rewatch with Eng subtitles. While I can tell this is really good for my language learning, I just can't bring myself to watch anymore as it is truly awful. Sorry if I offend anyone here, FWIW I heard the Taiwan version and the original Japanese anime is better. Overall I'm really struggling to find immersion materials for mainland Mandarin that's not either campy or political or both. I think I need to stop restricting myself to materials that have Eng subtitles. Also, can't help but feel jealous of all the immersion materials Japanese, Korean, and Taiwanese Mandarin learners have.. I did however watch an original Mandarin anime called Scissors Seven with Eng subtitles. I'm not too keen on anime but actually found it really enjoyable. I think I'll watch the Mandarin dub of Dragon Prince next. If anyone has any good mainland Mandarin TV shows or anime dubs please share! I'm starting to feel a little discouraged.
Quantitative Summary
Total unique pinyin word (拼音) exposure: 2230 (stopped recording on Feb 6th 2021)
Total character (汉字) exposure: 756
Total time of intensive study: 454 hr
Average time studying per day: 3 hr 3 min
Qualitative Summary (brackets = estimated proficiency)
Listening [>HSK3]
My perceived rate of progress is slowing but still noticing subtle improvements. Recognizing more words and short phrases. Instant recognition of very common words. Improved sound parsing. Beginnings of tonal recognition.
Speaking [>HSK2]
More vocabulary and slightly more complex grammar coming about, usually when I'm by myself. No real efforts yet to activate speaking yet.
Reading [拼音: HSK3 / 汉字: <HSK1]
None. Although I do read Pinyin when subtitles are available through my active immersion work. Still unable to read characters.
Writing [拼音: >HSK2 / 汉字: <HSK1]
None.
Cultural
Business etiquette and dinner table manners.
Personal Goals (list of ongoing and completed goals as of March 14th 2021)
Ongoing goals:
☐ Read 500 HSK1-4 TCB articles: / 500 articles
☐ Heisig RSH Vol I: / 1500 汉字
☐ Study: / 5000 hours
Completed goals:
✓ HelloChinese Maincourse [14 Oct 2020 - 29 Nov 2020]
✓ HelloChinese Immersions [1 Dec 2020 - 6 March 2021]