How much should you study?
"I don't have enough vocabulary."
A fellow learner came to me recently.
"I want to learn 100 new Chinese words a week."
"Ok. Why?"
"I just feel it's the thing to do."
"Gotcha."
"But before you do, let me ask you. Is your goal to learn as much vocabulary as you can?”
"No, not really."
"Ok. Well, what do you want to do with that vocabulary?"
"I want to hold a conversation by the end of the year."
"And would you prefer to learn by immersing yourself in native content you enjoy or by memorizing long lists of words?"
"Immersing myself."
It was like reality had just smacked her point-blank in the face, all from a simple question:
"What kind of Chinese learner do you want to be?"
She had never really thought about it.
But when you define what you want, achieving it becomes easier.
Many learners study for the sake of studying.
And they end up following someone else's learning plan.
Vocabulary list, check.
Grammar rules, check.
Flashcards, check.
Language app, check.
They do this without ever asking themselves what they enjoy. Because the reality is, there is no "right" way to learn Chinese.
The only right method is the one that you enjoy and moves you towards your goal.
If you don't want to memorize vocabulary lists, there’s no need to. I didn’t.
If you don't want to use grammar drills, you don’t need to. I didn’t.
But if you don’t define your goal, you won’t know what to focus on.
I’m fortunate that my current learning method suits me perfectly:
Engaging with native content
Daily speaking practice
No boring textbooks
Listening to podcasts and native videos
1 hour a day max
Enjoy conversations with native speakers
It’s not for everyone.
But for the right people, it’s liberating.
If that sounds like the way you'd like to learn, I'll show you how to do that inside Chinese Speakers:
This new community is designed to help you become conversational in Chinese.
This is not a "course."
It's a way to speed up your progress and turn your study efforts into real conversational skills.
I can only take 9 learners because I want to provide personalized support:
First - I'll hop on a 1-1 call with you to build your personalized study plan and get clear on your goals to improve your speaking and listening.
Second - we'll implement the Copy Paste Speak system into your routine to boost your listening and speaking skills every week. The goal is to make steady progress.
Third - we'll give you personalized feedback to fix bad habits and make consistent improvements over time.
We're closing doors in 8 days.
Reply "CS" and I'll get you the details early.
加油，
Danyo