First Log Entry
I have decided that I should be writing about my study progress. Hopefully it should help me enjoy it more and keep on track. I’ve been trying to learn Chinese for a few years but progress has been slow. Here it goes, I guess! Here’s my first study log entry.
I have been using HanziHero since the start of this year. It’s been by far the most efficient study resource I’ve found. Although I’ve been delayed by some health issues this year, it’s allowed me to actually make progress rather than just starting and stopping, climbing up and sliding back down etc.
Idealised Learning Methods?
I often wonder if part of the problem has been trying to find a method of learning which is too perfect. I, like a lot of people I suppose, after only a bit of research into language learning found the idea of comprehensible input fascination. Along with this goes the idea that traditional learning methods don’t work (probably not helped by poor language teaching in schools). But I do wonder if at the start of language learning these ideas can be dangerous. Maybe comprehensible input is theoretically the best way to learn a language. But maybe it is very idealised?
What do I mean by that? Well, everyone seems to run into an obvious problem when they try to use comprehensible input to start learning a language: no input is comprehensible. In order to get comprehensible input you would need someone talking to you in the way a parent talks to a child, repeatedly pointing at things and slowly pronouncing the word for it.
Maybe you can get a friend to do this? How often could this be done? Could you find a teacher who was willing to teach this way? And how expensive would that be?
Practical Problems
It seems like the practical problems of doing this are enough to stop you in your tracks immediately. Perhaps a similar problem occurs when we disregard traditional teaching resources like HSK. A very common sentiment on Reddit, for example, is that HSK isn’t very useful. Language learning, they rightly point out, is about listening, reading, speaking and writing the language. It’s not about test taking.
But again, practical problems emerge if you disregard these resources. How are you going to structure your study? How will you organise things? The sheer task of organising and generating a whole new study system from the ground up has the potential to soak up all your time, leaving very little left for actual study. Is this simply a case of reinventing the wheel?
Language Learning Fantasy vs Reality
This is why I so appreciate that HanziHero is structured around the HSK syllabus. Now, if I want to enhance my listening skills to match with the characters I’ve memorised, I can very quickly find good HSK 1 material which is abundant on the internet because it’s a standardised syllabus.
I think we must take into account the practical problems of a study method, even if the method is theoretically the best. Trying to fit language learning into a busy life of work, social life and other pursuits is already hard enough. If we ignore the practical problems (by chasing a theoretically perfect learning method) we risk getting caught in a fantasy of language learning rather than actually learning the language.
Maybe this is what has kept me stuck.
What Do You Think?
I’m not sure if I’ve expressed this very well. But I’m curious if anyone else has thoughts about this? Or if anyone else can relate? Or if anyone has any counterpoints? I’d be very interested to hear your thoughts. 