Shelley Posted October 2, 2014 at 11:23 AM Report Share Posted October 2, 2014 at 11:23 AM I am intrigued he knew it was you 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anonymoose Posted October 2, 2014 at 11:42 AM Report Share Posted October 2, 2014 at 11:42 AM Mod's privileges. So, Rods, do you mind being called Rods? What does your significant other think of your interest in Chinese? Why did you leave China? Do you intend to spend any significant time in China again? If so, where would you choose? What aspect of your Chinese do you think still needs most improvement? Are you satisfied with your level of Chinese? Have you been tempted to learn any other languages? Japanese or Korean perhaps? What would Imron say about you if he thought you wouldn't find out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted October 2, 2014 at 12:19 PM Report Share Posted October 2, 2014 at 12:19 PM The Chinese predates her by quite some years, so I think it's just more or less what I do. She's Mexican and has lived in the UK for almost a decade so the idea of living on other continents for extended periods isn't that alien. And she used to design sandwiches, which is actually wierder and more interesting that anything to do with Chinese. Why did I leave China? Ah, there's a topic for that. The productive skills, definitely. I've never done any serious writing in Chinese, and God help me if I need to do it on short notice. Similarly speaking was always a weak point and the last few years of rare use haven't done me any favours. So no, I'm not satisfied with it, but at the same time there isn't, currently, much of a pressing need to improve. There aren't currently any plans for significant lengths of time in China. I could perhaps be tempted by a good job offer, but I'm not looking for one. I might like the idea of doing an extended stint of working on my above weak points, but at the moment - I'm actually really enjoying being in the UK. Don't think I'd opt for Beijing again, unless maybe I could pick and choose where to live and work. I'd probably go for one of the coastal cities - anywhere from Dalian to Xiamen. Although if I have free range to choose, I would probably opt for Taiwan or maybe Hong Kong. I've got as far as signing up for courses or buying books for French, Japanese, Korean and Spanish over the years. Spanish is at the top of the list at the moment, although I'm being characteristically lax about putting the time in. Imron would say.... well, why don't you ask him. I promise not to read his answer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneEye Posted October 8, 2014 at 11:09 AM Report Share Posted October 8, 2014 at 11:09 AM "What other tips do you have for fighting the battle against laziness? Productivity tools, gamification, to-do lists and apps. Any particular methodology?" Back at you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted October 8, 2014 at 11:30 AM Report Share Posted October 8, 2014 at 11:30 AM Wow, too lazy to paraphrase. You win. Theoretically I work to Getting Things Done, which is basically Advanced Lists. I'm not a religious practitioner (unless by that you mean 'reluctantly, about once a week'), but I'm at my most productive when I have up-to-date to-do lists and calendars. It's not so much that everything on a to-do list gets done, but knowing it's written down in a safe place which I will refer to at least once a day means that my brain is free to not constantly remind me about it. That for me is the value of it - not so much getting everything finished, but having a clearer head and getting more done - or even being able to say 'you know what, this lot will wait and the sun's shining.' If I can at least sit down every few months and do a review of all the stuff I have to, want, and would like to do then I feel I'm at least keeping ahead. I've finally, after years of working solely on a netbook, got myself a reasonable desk set up. I'm plugging a full-size keyboard and monitor into a convertible ASUS T100 netbook, and being able to work at home then unplug the netbook to go out and work in a cafe or something, then come home and remove the keyboard to do some reading in tablet format on the sofa, all with the exact same desktop and not even having to sync files through the cloud, has been fantastic. Plus, SSD and a faster processor, so the difference with my old Samsung is like night and day. I don't do anything that isn't text, so don't need any more processing power. Apps I use Pocket Informant - there are possibly better options out there now, but I've been using this since Windows Mobile days (hey, stop laughing kids, we didn't HAVE iPhones back then). Actually an improvement I could make there is something that syncs to desktop - currently I go via Google Calendar, but tasks don't sync. I should look into this. I have a bunch of really trivial things on there set to repeat daily - gives me a few easy wins early in the day. I use Wunderlist for shared lists, but that's basically grocery shopping. I'll also use other apps for other language learning (currently on Duolingo for Spanish and am finally past the 'the boys touch the tortoises' stage, have a few different musicianship ones). I've been playing around the last year or so with meditation and concentration exercises, and I do think this is something you can strengthen, like a muscle. If I'm on a streak of spending 20 mins a day deliberately not thinking about anything, I then find it a lot easier to deliberately think about something later on. Been using the Headspace app for this, mainly as it's very progressive and guided. Exercise as well, if I don't get out for a run then at least try and get in 15 minutes of yoga. I'm going to take a look at the HabitRPG think you mention. Should while away the afternoon... Edit: I liked the look of HabitRPG, but you can't schedule stuff on a monthly / fortnightly basis, etc. Pocket Informant lets me schedule a task for, eg, the first Monday of every month, every second Tuesday, six weeks after completion, etc. I'd miss that, and I don't want to be running two systems. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murrayjames Posted October 8, 2014 at 12:03 PM Report Share Posted October 8, 2014 at 12:03 PM Your profile signature and my notebook cover are almost identical. Do I win a prize? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted October 8, 2014 at 12:10 PM Report Share Posted October 8, 2014 at 12:10 PM No, but I will refrain from launching a copyright infringement suit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneEye Posted October 8, 2014 at 12:19 PM Report Share Posted October 8, 2014 at 12:19 PM I liked the look of HabitRPG, but you can't schedule stuff on a monthly / fortnightly basis, etc. Yeah, it can be a bit limiting, unfortunately, but having grown up on JRPGs like Final Fantasy, I enjoy the gamification side of things. Does Pocket Informant have the ability to schedule something to happen multiple times per day? I've been thinking it would be nice to have a sort of "Hey, do something in Chinese for a few minutes" reminder a few times per day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted October 8, 2014 at 12:25 PM Report Share Posted October 8, 2014 at 12:25 PM Strictly speaking you can't have one task or event repeat more than once a day. You could have separate morning, afternoon and evening reminders though, for example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylee Posted October 8, 2014 at 01:03 PM Report Share Posted October 8, 2014 at 01:03 PM I have an ASUS T100 too. It is quite nice. But I seldom use it as I prefer windows 7 to windows 8. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelley Posted October 8, 2014 at 01:25 PM Report Share Posted October 8, 2014 at 01:25 PM Interesting - about using progs, apps etc to motivate learning and getting stuff done. I don't use any of these things. One of the things i was told when learning to manage my lung condition was to set goals but also to learn how to deal with not reaching those goals if things don't go the way you hoped. In fact setting short term goals is the only thing I can realistically do. I don't mean not taking on long term things but tailoring things for what you can actually do on any given day. Taking all this in to consideration is there any one of your motivation tools that would deal with this sort of scenario? And how do you cope with failure? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted October 8, 2014 at 02:14 PM Report Share Posted October 8, 2014 at 02:14 PM I guess not setting all or nothing goals - don't make the goal 'I get to go to Disneyland if I do this 100 days in a row' if you know you won't make it. Make it more realistic (85%) of days, or graded (Disneyland for 100 days in a row, Bognor Regis for 50, the park for 10) How do I cope with failure? Repeatedly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lu Posted October 8, 2014 at 03:18 PM Report Share Posted October 8, 2014 at 03:18 PM My problem with (motivation and) techniques for motivation/efficiency is that they usually only work for a few weeks or so and then I just fall back into old habits. I'm almost afraid to try a new method for fear of wearing it out. That said, for the last few days I set a timer: 50 minutes of translation and then I can stop for a bit (and get lunch/read the internet for a while/whatever). So far it's been very helpful. Starting to do something when I know I can also stop doing it after a bit helps, and having to get stuff done before the timer goes off gives a sense of urgency. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelley Posted October 8, 2014 at 04:08 PM Report Share Posted October 8, 2014 at 04:08 PM That is good advice, not all or nothing, I shall try and remember that. i am a bit of an all or nothing person so that's a good place to start Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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