The 2011 Aims and Objectives Progress Thread

[edelweis]

Basically life just can't sit still long enough for me to learn Chinese... now they are saying I should update my resume... updates might get infrequent.

Not that there is a lot to report. I already know I won't fulfil most of my goals this year. But perhaps I can salvage one or two.

I am still ploughing through characters, some of which I promptly forget, some of which do stick. I am hoping I will have studied the 1500 most frequent characters before the end of the year and have some time left to go back over those that didn't stick the first time, and also learn more traditional characters. Perhaps.

I actually tested myself a few weeks ago and found I know at least one reading for 1315 characters among the 2500 most frequent ones.

Also reading a little, listening a little, nothing too serious.

I did start reading a novel in Spanish while on vacation (Insolación de Emilia Pardo Bazán). And promptly found out Chinese has changed my definition of "reading in a foreign language". Where previously I was happy to understand the general meaning of a sentence, or even the global meaning of a paragraph, and call it "reading Spanish" (and I've "read" several historical novels this way), I have now become acutely aware of all the unknown vocabulary (just like I am aware of all the unknown characters and words when reading Chinese, trying to remember whether they are characters I actually learned previously etc.) and it tends to ruin my pleasure.

Also I opened my first Arabic textbook at the first page and found out I couldn't properly vocalize من هو

So if I were to fulfil my goal of reviewing all the Arabic I've learned I'd have to start almost from scratch.

Sorry, not a very fun or inspiring read so far

I did make progress at some point in time though. The little 电脑常见疑难问题 book that I bought two years ago, at a time when I could only read 电脑 on the cover and thought "duomeiti" was the name of the publisher, is no longer all err Greek to me. I can now read whole sentences from it, such as 内存是决定系统运行速度的一个重要因素

Also I finally realized that English pronunciation is actually one goal that I can legitimately work on at work.

So I started reviewing the pronunciation of 5 words per workday before going on vacation - and I only remembered it just now

Anyway I've my work cut out for me on this hehe - I really speak English with the thickest French accent you can imagine - does anyone know of a free English pronunciation popup dictionary for Firefox?

[querido]

I told the forum about my studies "hitting a wall" and "jumping the tracks", etc.

Then, in the threads http://www.chinese-f...friends-online/ and http://www.chinese-f...-to-start-over/ I told you what I did about it, and I find that after all of this drama and agonizing, I might still reach my goal this year, of useable elementary conversation (e.g. all of CSLPod Elementary).

I hope this encourages someone; it feels good to struggle past a blockage and suddenly find oneself in better shape. But for me personally (as I posted) making new friends was the decisive step. :-)

[OneEye]

Well, I'm a little late here, but oh well.

I'm in Taipei now. We have a 套房 not too far from NTNU (actually just a few minutes' walk north of Da-an Forest Park). I'm in my second week of classes and things are going well. I tested into a lower class than I hoped for, but my teacher thinks I should stay in this one. She says that although I've studied a good bit further than where we are, my speaking ability isn't up to speed yet (tell me something I don't know...the hour-long cab ride in Shanghai 4 weeks ago was the most I had ever spoken Chinese with another person in my life up to that point), but by the end of the term I should be caught up and right on track . There are only two other native English speakers in my class, which is nice because when I hang out with my classmates I'm forced to use Chinese so that everyone can understand. This necessitates a lot of talking "around" the topic to try to explain what I mean, but it's good practice.

I haven't done anything with French since I left the US, but now that I've settled into the routine of being in an intensive class and the amount of homework that entails, I think I'm safe to pick it back up starting tomorrow. One of the Japanese students in my class wants to teach me some Japanese, but we'll have to see about that. Chess has been all but ignored for the past month and some change, unfortunately. Maybe that will improve.

[Meng Lelan]

Ah, well, my update, I did two wushu competitions this year and don't think I will do a third this fall because I'm starting on the intermediate level changquan form now which will take several months to learn from start to finish. I have got over 2500 characters on Skritter right now (both simp and trad) so that's halfway to my goal of 5000 characters on Skritter. I'm sure I will get to 5000 characters soon enough. I am already thinking about goals for 2012. Actually I only care for just one goal for next year and that's getting into Middlebury College in Vermont next summer. What's weird is I've started on the application and today I was driving home from work and was followed for several minutes by a car with Vermont license plates. In San Antonio, Texas of all places, while I'm in the process of applying to a Vermont school....

[BaoMiHua]

My second to last pitiful update, all failed, F's all around. Won't even bother listing points. Don't even know what happened, everything just stopped.

Even flashcards have been put on hold. Reading Chinese stuff has changed to once a week at most, since last update pretty much been just very little study. Some upkeep by daily conversations and occasional Chinese character here and there...

Sorry to fail everybody's expectations, I know you believed me on my quest to achieve my goals

As for continuing, I will now take one week to contemplate on my motives, mistakes and lack of enthusiasm...

Starting from october I will start a new life and really put effort on getting back on the track. Honestly

[imron]

Don't even know what happened, everything just stopped.

Chinese burnout. Happens to most learners at some point in time, usually (but not necessarily) after intense bouts of studying.

Starting from october I will start a new life and really put effort on getting back on the track.

http://dontbreakthechain.com and/or my own 100%

[Meng Lelan]

Maybe just start with a few goals for now while you're getting on track.

I started to get "Chinese Burn Out" when I tried to do too many different Chinese learning websites or too many new technotoys for Chinese learning.

So now I stay away from all of that and just limit myself to Skritter, a good advanced textbook, and the most recent issue of 中國旅遊. Well, until my copy of 平凡的世界 comes in, at least.

[Liebkuchen]

Have now been 3 weeks in Yantai. I've got a Chinese tutor twice a week for an hour, I do Anki most days on about 4 different decks, mostly HSK related, I watch/listen to Chinese TV almost all the time and I've got some Chinese books which I read for pleasure just going with what characters I know. I've ended up with a few graphic novels/comics and I'm enjoying these far more than the children's books I bought a day after arriving.

In term of my speaking, I get stuck after "which country are you from?". I'm getting a smidge better at saying what I want when there's no pressure- hence I've spontaneously managed 我们吃饭了 and 你唱得好. I've just signed up for Skype so hopefully this will help with practice once my vocab's up a notch.

My reading's surprised me. I'm recognising characters all over the place and found myself understanding some place names of major cities.

As for listening, my numbers are baaaad. I get in a real muddle in the canteen. Otherwise, bar the odd word here and there, its always the pronouns I recognise and 好,好,好- rarely anything of use.

So trying to keep things in perspective and realise its early days yet.

On a personal level, very much enjoying myself!

[skylee]

My aims are at #9. And I haven't made much progress ... except that I donated blood twice this year (this is healthier right?), and have gotten better (not good) at my writing at work simply because now I have spent more time in this office.

I have not become more useful or more contented.

[Meng Lelan]

I have not become more useful or more contented.

Me also. I'm not even sure why I came up with any goals at all.

[edelweis]

@Meng Lelan

The Wushu competitions did give you some satisfaction, didn't they? and think of the many things you have accomplished without even having identified them as "goals"...

Goals make life less boring, they do not make it perfect. But if we were able to fulfil all of them on the first attempt life would be even more boring than if we did not set any goals.

Having goals is having hope. Or something.

@skylee: regarding the being useful and contented goals, that's not easy to quantify. But giving blood is being useful, so you have been useful at least twice. You saved someone's life and by posting about it you are inspiring others to do the same. Thank you.

And I hope you can look back and find that on some days you did feel contented. Not everyday, but well, that would become boring after a while...

[Meng Lelan]

True that the wushu competition brought satisfaction in that a lot of the competitors around my age were lumbering through those loathsomely slow taiji forms while me and high school/college aged teammates were pummeling each other in the modern wushu divisions. But that feeling lasted five hours. Now I'm lumbering through the longer and advanced 長拳 and 棍術 forms that I have to have down nice and good and fast by spring.

[edelweis]

@Meng Lelan: it is not entirely clear to me whether having to learn those advanced forms is part of the required preparation in order to reach one of your goals, or whether it's the end result produced by having reached one of your goals.

Anyway, if I understand correctly, you are disappointed that the satisfaction of fulfilling some of your goals is small and temporary and that the hassle you have to go through is much more lasting and possibly not worth it. Is this correct?

If the end result does not satisfy, and the process also does not satisfy, you could alter your goals, differ them, make the process more enjoyable somehow, so that you find some kind contentment before, during and after reaching a goal.

For instance: alternate learning new forms with something easier or that you enjoy more. Give yourself more time to master those new forms - is next spring a really immovable deadline? Branch out into other styles of martial arts. Take a break. Or possibly just hang on and practice if you think that your current mindset is just a temporary mood that will go away soon.

[Meng Lelan]

The wushu competitions are organized by three levels (beginning, intermediate, advanced) and everyone goes on to the next higher level after two or three years of competition. So that means starting next year I go on to intermediate level competitions and the forms are longer and advanced. I'm not interested in other martial arts. Probably this is a temporary thing that has to be approached from many more different ways in many more different directions.

[querido]

We hurry to reach our goals but don't forget to enjoy each day as it passes too.

Speaking of which...

My tutor went out of town. Oh, it's terrible. I've doubled and redoubled my studies lately because I'm close to useable basic conversation. But, I am exhausted. I need to pull back a little.

With regard to this thread, I believe that by the end of the year I'll be able to say I have done as I had hoped, moving from just knowing many words, to knowing them and also being able to use them in basic conversation. (I have a QQ history with the evidence) :-)

[Meng Lelan]

Well I called my former wushu coach in Austin and he invited me to go there two or three Saturdays a month to learn the new forms, so that should help my situation. The coach here has pretty much run out of tricks to teach me.

[edelweis]

@Meng Lelan: that's good news

September update:

I joined a once-a-week 90' class, and was consumed with anxiety about it for a full week. (well, there were other reasons as well...). Finally I found the level appropriate. It seems my main challenges will be speaking and grammar, but I can catch up/keep up with that and spend some time on my own studies as well, and it will push me a bit out of my comfort zone - not too much and not too often. I wanted a class that ends not too late, and I got it, but it's at dinner time, so my mental faculties are not at their best. Must remember to bring food. I've only attended the first class this week, but so far I am satisfied with it.

I watched a few wuxia movies and also two episodes each of 大学生士兵的故事 and 大女当嫁 (got sick of 家有儿女) - and did not understand much of anything when hiding the subtitles, except for a few short sentences. 大学生士兵的故事 has Chinese subtitles, 大女当嫁 has French subtitles, I find both are useful in their own ways. I guess I'm more likely to keep watching the army thing - more comedy and less angst.

Also watched an interesting documentary about 中国器乐, but missed the conference about the history of 筷子...

Character drilling was stalled while I was busy getting all worked up about taking a class, but I am getting back on track.

I've been reading a few pages of Agatha Christie in Chinese - all the transliterated names are a pain, but overall I understand enough to follow the story - a passenger was found dead by the steward and the short guy with a moustache gets involved. The book is on my bedside table, we'll see what happens.

And, I did not work on my English pronunciation at all

[renzhe]

Won't even bother listing points. Don't even know what happened, everything just stopped.

If anyone here has NEVER had this happen, please raise your hand.

[Meng Lelan]

@Meng Lelan: that's good news

And not only that, just found out there's a Chinese conversation meetup in Austin on Saturdays at noon. So I get Chinese and chow at noon then off to wushu.

The Middlebury Chinese summer school application is now available online. Jeez it was quick to complete, at least for me, I was done in five minutes. I already started collecting rec letters and transcripts a month ago.

[OneEye]

@ Meng Lelan, there used to be a meetup on Tuesday afternoon, I think at JP's Java. I never went, but it might be worth looking into.

As for me, it's just class all the time right now. We were supposed to go to a town on the coast today to do some sightseeing but the weather sucks today, so it's postponed. My Chinese is progressing nicely, and I'm doing a lot of extra studying outside of class. I like the Far East Everyday Chinese textbooks better than the Practical Audio-Visual Chinese books, so I'm supplementing with that. I've done a bit with French, but not much. Chess is still non-existent in my life. Oh well.