The 14-minute study day
When I first arrived in Taiwan I was studying 8 hour-days, which was fun and exciting but I couldn’t sustain that forever.
Life happened. Work responsibilities happened. And motivation fluctuated.
But I didn’t want to lose the momentum and progress I had built.
So I committed to studying a little bit every day. But I would only focus on the most important tasks.
I call these the Fundamental Tasks.
These Tasks are the bedrock of everything I do.
If I complete these I can trust that the big levers are taken care of:
Native Listening Input. Vocabulary Encoding & Recall. Speaking Output.
Once I'm done with those I can choose to either continue studying or do something else.
Depends on the day.
Today I had to run some errands and play roundnet.
I finished my studies for the day and checked my timer.
14 minutes.
Everything was finished in 14 minutes:
Listening.
Speaking.
Learning major vocabulary.
Done.
I can finish my work in 14 minutes not because I put more effort in my studies.
But because I just have a learning model that works for me.
I call it The Learning Funnel:
Unlike how I used to study, The Learning Funnel doesn’t focus on each activity separately (Learning Silos).
It focuses on all of them in sync. In a funnel. Learning new vocabulary flows naturally down the funnel so each stage enhances the last.
Learning vocabulary one day flows naturally into the next day. Listening leads to encoding, leads to shadowing leads to speaking.
I used to get overwhelmed spinning my wheels trying to keep up with learning tons of vocabulary.
But now, each touchpoint adds more context to the vocabulary so it anchors in my memory.
This ensures the vocabulary sticks.
I don’t worry about memorizing a lot of vocabulary if I can’t complete the funnel. I know I’ll just forget it so it's not a good use of my time.
I understand the whole is greater than the individual parts. The Learning Funnel is greater than the individual steps.
The Learning Funnel allows you to have the best of both worlds:
Have better conversations because you learn vocabulary deeply and spend less time studying.
It's how I started having 3-hour conversations in less than 1 hour per day.
It can work if you are self-studying with just your phone/laptop.
And when done right it allows you to make vocabulary stick so you speak with confidence (in my case it's allowed me to have daily conversations).
And less than 1 hour a day (and in today's case, 14 minutes).
Not by memorizing vocabulary in Learning Silos.
But by learning vocabulary in a Learning Pyramid.
加油,
Danyo
P.S.
We help you create your Learning Funnel inside Chinese Speakers.
The goal is for you to remember the vocabulary you study so you can use them in conversation.
(Without studying hours per day).
I can only take 4 more learners in July.
I'll open officially on July 1st and close July 6th.
(Or when the 4 spots are gone).
I've got some space in my calendar this upcoming week.
Hit reply and I'll get you the early invite.
Danyo
PPS Cool vocab of the day:
面面俱到 (miàn miàn jù dào)
面 (miàn): Aspect; side.
面 (miàn): Aspect; side (repeated for emphasis).
俱 (jù): All; without exception.
到 (dào): Arrive; reach.
Translation: To cover all aspects; to attend to every detail.
Example sentence: 这篇报告面面俱到,涵盖了所有重要的细节和观点。(Zhè piān bàogào miàn miàn jù dào, hán gài le suǒyǒu zhòngyào de xìjié hé guāndiǎn.) This report is comprehensive, covering all important details and points.