It has been a long time since I have updated this. I moved back to the United States back in late June of 2014, and since then, haven't been really studying. I have been reviewing almost every day over the past few months, but it has been an effort of simply maintaining the skills I had before. I feel that my Chinese is getting worse because I don't have the same type of environment that I had before, but I do try to talk as often as I can. I have a few Chinese contacts that I can talk to, and usually am able to do so at least once per week.
I am in a process of deciding what direction I want to go in the future in terms of language learning, (and life in general). Recently, I have been working on three languages; Chinese ( trying to maintain), Spanish (have an OK vocab, but no real fluency), and Russian ( a newcomer to the language). I don't know where I want to direct my efforts right now, as I am going through some adjustments in my life outside of language learning.
I have been using two avenues of approach in my Chinese learning.
1. I speak to Chinese people as often as possible. In recent weeks, I have been able to talk to Chinese people 2 - 3 times per week. This is better than it was at the beginning.
2. I still use Anki, but mostly to review (and also vocabulary build for Russian and Spanish)
Thats all for right now.
Thursday, May 21, 2015
Monday, November 4, 2013
05 year 50 weeks into study
Hey guys, Im still at it, but been busy with other things as well. I would say that over the past three months, I have studied every day, but there were a few days where maybe I studied only 20 minutes or so. Really, my life lately has be centered on four things.. Socializing with the other foreigners, studying Chinese, going to the gym, and working. I have been busy, and I feel it. Today, I have decided to scale back a bit on the Anki, I have set the decks so that there is about an 20-25% decrease in my daily workload. I feel this is necessary because I need to do more than simply review Anki. Seriously, besides having conversations with people in the city, I haven't been doing any work besides reviewing Anki, but that takes between 2-3 hours every day. I have also started studying Japanese, but only dabbling in it just a little. I haven't had time, and it is hard to really jump into it when I don't know if I will go to Japan or not.
Guess thats all for right now.
Guess thats all for right now.
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
05 year 39 weeks into study
Three things I would like to talk about today... Anki, Memrise, and follow up on the plan I mentioned in the previous blog entry. I will begin with Anki. As I have stated in the past, Anki is a computerized flashcard program. It is decent, and about a year ago (or so) they introduced a new version (2.0). Initially, I was not too impressed with the new version. After using it on an irregular basis, my opinion has started to sway. At this point, I think I like the newer version better overall than the first. Initially I did not. Anyway, I will talk about the pros and cons...
pros -
1- the algorithm is really good, better than for 1.0.
2- all the decks are grouped together, but may also be examined separately. This is better than in Anki 1 where they were all in different decks and I needed to open each deck to examine them.
3 - because they are all combined, I can search all decks for a common term, very convenient and much more powerful
4 - seems faster than the previous version.
cons -
1 - adding terms seems a bit clunkier than 1.0. This may be the result of me not really understanding the new system, or taking ample time to learn it.
2- sometimes when importing decks, I run into problems with the fields as such that I may have set more than one field, but Anki 2 incorrectly groups the wrong fields for some of the cards.
3- I miss some of the graphs that I found in Anki 1.
Well, Anki 2 is improving, and it is certainly better than it was at release.
The next thing I want to talk about is Memrise, a learning site that I recently learned about from the message boards on Chinesepod.com. I have been using the site for a week, and so far, I think it is fantastic. Because I am doing other things, and I am afraid that they are going to soon start charging for their service, I have been loathe to pursue this site with full vigor, but it does look really good. It reminds me of Smart.fm back in 2010, but I think this one is better, and not exactly the same, but similar idea.
Now to follow up on the previous post. I kind of gave up on the increased structure of study. I will go bullet for bullet and update on what I have done.... Green text is the plan listed in my last entry.
- I plan to study an upper-intermediate and an advanced Chinesepod lesson each week. Yes, I have been doing this, but not in a very systematic way. I have selected 7 adv and 7 upp lessons to review over the summer, and been working at it half-steam.
- Work my paper flashcards and Anki every day- specifically, I want to catch up on my hanzi deck. Right now, I have about a 650 card backlog (yeah, and lately it has been whipping my ass). I did catch up, and still working both Anki 1 and Anki 2. More and more with Anki 2 as I continue to migrate the data.
- Do some type of practice test once per week, either out of the HSK exam book, or on Chinesepod. I haven't done this.
- Continue to transcribe the Qing wen lessons to my notebook I transcribed about 8 or so lessons. It is hard to stay motivated because I am still on the early ones that had Amber and Clay, and they seem somewhat childish, so it is sometimes painful to listen to them, but I will be past them soon and move onto other hosts.
- work on listening extensively, i.e, while on the treadmill at the gym, I will listen to Advanced level lessons. I did so-so with this, but I could do better.
- other stuff to a lesser extent than before. Yeah, Ive pretty much stopped all the other stuff I was doing in June and early July. One thing I have been doing is, is listening to more Intermediate level lessons. For the most part, they are too easy. If I can listen to a dialogue and understand everything, then I just look over the vocab, expansion etc to see if there are any terms I don't know, or any phrases that I want to memorize. If there are parts I don't understand, I will certainly do more work.
Yeah, thats pretty much it for now. Until next time.
pros -
1- the algorithm is really good, better than for 1.0.
2- all the decks are grouped together, but may also be examined separately. This is better than in Anki 1 where they were all in different decks and I needed to open each deck to examine them.
3 - because they are all combined, I can search all decks for a common term, very convenient and much more powerful
4 - seems faster than the previous version.
cons -
1 - adding terms seems a bit clunkier than 1.0. This may be the result of me not really understanding the new system, or taking ample time to learn it.
2- sometimes when importing decks, I run into problems with the fields as such that I may have set more than one field, but Anki 2 incorrectly groups the wrong fields for some of the cards.
3- I miss some of the graphs that I found in Anki 1.
Well, Anki 2 is improving, and it is certainly better than it was at release.
The next thing I want to talk about is Memrise, a learning site that I recently learned about from the message boards on Chinesepod.com. I have been using the site for a week, and so far, I think it is fantastic. Because I am doing other things, and I am afraid that they are going to soon start charging for their service, I have been loathe to pursue this site with full vigor, but it does look really good. It reminds me of Smart.fm back in 2010, but I think this one is better, and not exactly the same, but similar idea.
Now to follow up on the previous post. I kind of gave up on the increased structure of study. I will go bullet for bullet and update on what I have done.... Green text is the plan listed in my last entry.
- I plan to study an upper-intermediate and an advanced Chinesepod lesson each week. Yes, I have been doing this, but not in a very systematic way. I have selected 7 adv and 7 upp lessons to review over the summer, and been working at it half-steam.
- Work my paper flashcards and Anki every day- specifically, I want to catch up on my hanzi deck. Right now, I have about a 650 card backlog (yeah, and lately it has been whipping my ass). I did catch up, and still working both Anki 1 and Anki 2. More and more with Anki 2 as I continue to migrate the data.
- Do some type of practice test once per week, either out of the HSK exam book, or on Chinesepod. I haven't done this.
- Continue to transcribe the Qing wen lessons to my notebook I transcribed about 8 or so lessons. It is hard to stay motivated because I am still on the early ones that had Amber and Clay, and they seem somewhat childish, so it is sometimes painful to listen to them, but I will be past them soon and move onto other hosts.
- work on listening extensively, i.e, while on the treadmill at the gym, I will listen to Advanced level lessons. I did so-so with this, but I could do better.
- other stuff to a lesser extent than before. Yeah, Ive pretty much stopped all the other stuff I was doing in June and early July. One thing I have been doing is, is listening to more Intermediate level lessons. For the most part, they are too easy. If I can listen to a dialogue and understand everything, then I just look over the vocab, expansion etc to see if there are any terms I don't know, or any phrases that I want to memorize. If there are parts I don't understand, I will certainly do more work.
Yeah, thats pretty much it for now. Until next time.
Friday, July 26, 2013
05 year 35 weeks into study
So I, at least for the timebeing, have returned to the original title format that I used when I started this blog. Anyhow, a few days ago, I decided to develop a more focused plan of study. It is rather ambitious, and seems a bit too much right now. I will go ahead and describe the plan that I have designed...
- I plan to study an upper-intermediate and an advanced Chinesepod lesson each week
- Work my paper flashcards and Anki every day- specifically, I want to catch up on my hanzi deck. Right now, I have about a 650 card backlog (yeah, and lately it has been whipping my ass).
- Do some type of practice test once per week, either out of the HSK exam book, or on Chinesepod.
- Continue to transcribe the Qing wen lessons to my notebook
- work on listening extensively, i.e, while on the treadmill at the gym, I will listen to Advanced level lessons.
- other stuff to a lesser extent than before.
Well, I started off strong, but yesterday and today, I just... basically... Don't fucking feel like studying Chinese... period.... Yeah... so I am going to put my notebooks down and ... like do no more studying related work at all this evening. I hope I feel better about this tomorrow than I did today, or I may need to rethink my priorities, or scale-back the plan that I have.
Thats all for tonight.
- I plan to study an upper-intermediate and an advanced Chinesepod lesson each week
- Work my paper flashcards and Anki every day- specifically, I want to catch up on my hanzi deck. Right now, I have about a 650 card backlog (yeah, and lately it has been whipping my ass).
- Do some type of practice test once per week, either out of the HSK exam book, or on Chinesepod.
- Continue to transcribe the Qing wen lessons to my notebook
- work on listening extensively, i.e, while on the treadmill at the gym, I will listen to Advanced level lessons.
- other stuff to a lesser extent than before.
Well, I started off strong, but yesterday and today, I just... basically... Don't fucking feel like studying Chinese... period.... Yeah... so I am going to put my notebooks down and ... like do no more studying related work at all this evening. I hope I feel better about this tomorrow than I did today, or I may need to rethink my priorities, or scale-back the plan that I have.
Thats all for tonight.
Friday, July 19, 2013
Return to ChinesePod.com
Hey guys,
I want to talk a bit about some changes I have made to my studying plan. I have, for the time being, dropped the Japanese learning. I did this in order to focus more on the Chinese. In my last entry, I wrote that I decided not to renew Chinesepod, but I had a change of heart. A few days ago, I did a practice HSK 4 exam. It was a humbling experience, but I learned a little bit about my abilities. I have areas that I am really strong, and I have areas that I need to work. I felt that it was a bit hard, and I don't know how the exam is scored, so if I had to guess, I would say that either I barely passed it, or barely failed it. I did good with writing, it was a piece of cake, but I had some trouble with the listening. I felt caught off guard, and felt that, although I understood most, the questions were difficult to answer, and I needed more time to think. For the reading, I knew almost all the characters I saw, but I didn't know all the words. There were a few words that appeared on the exam more than once that I don't think I had ever seen. To sum up the experience, I felt that the way that I am learning Chinese is not really matching the curve of the HSK. In some aspects, I might be a strong level 5, in others, maybe a 3.... if you know what I mean. Couple this experience with a meeting I had with a potential tutor, I feel that a change was needed in the way I was studying. Ive been meeting with people to find a potential tutor. The process has not been easy, and I have met with many excellent, seemingly qualified people who are willing and eager to help me improve my Chinese. Choosing one is not easy, and I have more people to meet with. The day after taking the practice exam, one of the interviewees suggested I use a system to learn Chinese. I am thinking that maybe she is right, but it would be hard to find a good system to jump onto at my level. Anyhow, taking a practice HSK is an eye-opening experience. In light of this, here are the actions that I am taking to learn Chinese....
1. Suspend Japanese (mentioned this already)
2. Suspend learning traditional characters for the time being.
3. Renew my subscription to Chinesepod.
4. Try to spend at least an hour per day diligently working on listening to difficult stuff.
5. Still using the paper flashcards, grammar textbook, and reading books, but backing off a little on these to focus more on Chinesepod.
6. Really drill down using Chinesepod, especially doing the hard stuff. The harder the lesson, the better I feel. Oh, by the way.... I am listening to Advanced lessons on Chinesepod now....
So yeah, increase my listening and vocab (not necessarily individual characters) using Chinesepod. I am working on grammar using a textbook and Chinesepod. I use Anki to learn and review individual characters. I will find a tutor to help me improve my speaking, to become more accurate and natural. I have a reader that I use to help me improve my reading.
Thats all for now.
I want to talk a bit about some changes I have made to my studying plan. I have, for the time being, dropped the Japanese learning. I did this in order to focus more on the Chinese. In my last entry, I wrote that I decided not to renew Chinesepod, but I had a change of heart. A few days ago, I did a practice HSK 4 exam. It was a humbling experience, but I learned a little bit about my abilities. I have areas that I am really strong, and I have areas that I need to work. I felt that it was a bit hard, and I don't know how the exam is scored, so if I had to guess, I would say that either I barely passed it, or barely failed it. I did good with writing, it was a piece of cake, but I had some trouble with the listening. I felt caught off guard, and felt that, although I understood most, the questions were difficult to answer, and I needed more time to think. For the reading, I knew almost all the characters I saw, but I didn't know all the words. There were a few words that appeared on the exam more than once that I don't think I had ever seen. To sum up the experience, I felt that the way that I am learning Chinese is not really matching the curve of the HSK. In some aspects, I might be a strong level 5, in others, maybe a 3.... if you know what I mean. Couple this experience with a meeting I had with a potential tutor, I feel that a change was needed in the way I was studying. Ive been meeting with people to find a potential tutor. The process has not been easy, and I have met with many excellent, seemingly qualified people who are willing and eager to help me improve my Chinese. Choosing one is not easy, and I have more people to meet with. The day after taking the practice exam, one of the interviewees suggested I use a system to learn Chinese. I am thinking that maybe she is right, but it would be hard to find a good system to jump onto at my level. Anyhow, taking a practice HSK is an eye-opening experience. In light of this, here are the actions that I am taking to learn Chinese....
1. Suspend Japanese (mentioned this already)
2. Suspend learning traditional characters for the time being.
3. Renew my subscription to Chinesepod.
4. Try to spend at least an hour per day diligently working on listening to difficult stuff.
5. Still using the paper flashcards, grammar textbook, and reading books, but backing off a little on these to focus more on Chinesepod.
6. Really drill down using Chinesepod, especially doing the hard stuff. The harder the lesson, the better I feel. Oh, by the way.... I am listening to Advanced lessons on Chinesepod now....
So yeah, increase my listening and vocab (not necessarily individual characters) using Chinesepod. I am working on grammar using a textbook and Chinesepod. I use Anki to learn and review individual characters. I will find a tutor to help me improve my speaking, to become more accurate and natural. I have a reader that I use to help me improve my reading.
Thats all for now.
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Just to fill you in ....
On what I have been doing over the past year in terms of studying... First, I want to say that I have been studying. Lately, I have been studying hard. I have been pounding Anki everyday, and it runs me between 1.5 hours and 3 hours every day lately. I mentioned in a previous post that I had been focusing on a pronunciation deck and starting with writing... Well, I finished the pronunciation deck, and now I am up to my neck in the Character writing deck. Right now, I am overwhelmed. I have about a 1500 card backlog, and I am adding 25 cards per day. I study around 340 cards per day, and I will work my way up to at least 350 cards per day. I hope to seen be able to chip away at the backlog. The pace I am working at now, I figure I will be finished with all new cards in the early part of November, or late October... It is hard to say for sure right now.
Although I am focusing on Anki, I am also doing other work. I am also using paper flashcards, studying Chinesepod, using a reading textbook, a grammar textbook, HSK practice exams, and I meet with a group of Chinese friends on Sunday to drink tea, and I use this time to practice speaking. I am also dabbling a bit with Japanese, and learning to recognize traditional script.
I would say that my Chinese at this point is 'OK'. I am reasonably fluent at the conversational level, and my reading is pretty good as well. Handwriting is not so good, but lately, I have been practicing writing more often than before.
I decided not to renew my subscription to Chinesepod right now. I have enough lessons right now to hold me over, and it is somewhat expensive to do. Maybe in the future, I will purchase another subscription to download more upper and advanced lessons and pdf, but right now, no plans.
One thing I would like to do is hire a tutor to help me with my learning. I think it would be useful, but I would need to be somewhat picky. I need someone to help me work on speaking. I don't necessarily need someone to practice with, but someone to teach me how to speak Chinese well.
Guess that's all right now.
Although I am focusing on Anki, I am also doing other work. I am also using paper flashcards, studying Chinesepod, using a reading textbook, a grammar textbook, HSK practice exams, and I meet with a group of Chinese friends on Sunday to drink tea, and I use this time to practice speaking. I am also dabbling a bit with Japanese, and learning to recognize traditional script.
I would say that my Chinese at this point is 'OK'. I am reasonably fluent at the conversational level, and my reading is pretty good as well. Handwriting is not so good, but lately, I have been practicing writing more often than before.
I decided not to renew my subscription to Chinesepod right now. I have enough lessons right now to hold me over, and it is somewhat expensive to do. Maybe in the future, I will purchase another subscription to download more upper and advanced lessons and pdf, but right now, no plans.
One thing I would like to do is hire a tutor to help me with my learning. I think it would be useful, but I would need to be somewhat picky. I need someone to help me work on speaking. I don't necessarily need someone to practice with, but someone to teach me how to speak Chinese well.
Guess that's all right now.
Friday, August 31, 2012
September 1st, 2012 ChinesePod Profile Update
This was posted to Blogger on September 15th 2012 at around 600 Beijing time, but I backdated it to when I wrote this.
Updated on September 1st, 2012 -- I started learning Chinese on November 23rd 2008. I have been diligently studying Chinese everyday, haven't missed a day in over a year. Lately, I've been using three means to study: 1. Using Chinesepod, studying lessons in a somewhat haphazard way. If I see a lesson I want to study, I study it. 2.I use Anki, an online flashcard program that I may download for free. With Anki, I focus on pronunciation, Hanzi writing, and intensive vocabulary and sentence reading review. During the academic year, I work with a tutor to improve conversational skills. I also occasionally review my grammar textbook and other resources. In addition to Chinesepod, I also use Nciku, which is a pretty good resource. I think these measures are helping me greatly. I hope to continue to progress.
You can keep track of my progress at;
(http://amesbury georgechinesestudy.blogspot.com/) without the spaces or paranthesis. If you do go to that page, I would be interested to know that people are reading it. Feel free to follow the blog, or comment so I know of your presence.
Updated on September 1st, 2012 -- I started learning Chinese on November 23rd 2008. I have been diligently studying Chinese everyday, haven't missed a day in over a year. Lately, I've been using three means to study: 1. Using Chinesepod, studying lessons in a somewhat haphazard way. If I see a lesson I want to study, I study it. 2.I use Anki, an online flashcard program that I may download for free. With Anki, I focus on pronunciation, Hanzi writing, and intensive vocabulary and sentence reading review. During the academic year, I work with a tutor to improve conversational skills. I also occasionally review my grammar textbook and other resources. In addition to Chinesepod, I also use Nciku, which is a pretty good resource. I think these measures are helping me greatly. I hope to continue to progress.
You can keep track of my progress at;
(http://amesbury georgechinesestudy.blogspot.com/) without the spaces or paranthesis. If you do go to that page, I would be interested to know that people are reading it. Feel free to follow the blog, or comment so I know of your presence.
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