I Have Been Studying Chinese For A Decade: What I Wish I Knew Early On ( ´-ω-)

Hey there! Welcome back to my blog! o(^o^)o

Today I wanted to share something that is very important to me: learning world languages! To give you some background, I started becoming interested in studying a second language in my first year of middle school (age 12/13) after getting into anime. Yes, I was the textbook definition of a weeaboo (I legit thought Japan was this utopia just because their cartoons are fun to watch and sushi is delicious ^^;), so obviously I wanted to learn Japanese. I taught myself hiragana (one of the Japanese alphabets) but didn't go past that. Of course, I thought I was the shit because I could finally write "sushi" in the alphabet. XD

I would have continued my studies at that time if my school had the option to take Japanese. So I just did what any weeaboo would do: pick closest language possible that my school did offer. Luckily for me, Mandarin Chinese was an option once I entered high school, so I gave it a shot. (つω｀*)

I did not realize how much I would actually fall in love with the language! ～(´∀｀～) I had this good feeling from day 1, so I decided to continue studying it throughout high school and college. I was only 14 when I started, and I am 24 now still going strong! :D

With all of that in mind, my studies did not come without their challenges. Before I met my current husband (who is from China), my Mandarin was incredibly broken. I lacked so much confidence and was so terrified to speak to him in his own language. I tried so many different things to become more advanced, but I did not really find the best possible methods until (embarrassingly) earlier this year. I wasted so much time on methods that simply just don't work well. (￣～￣；)

This blog is especially for anyone who is currently learning a language but failing miserably like I did. The good news about my current methods is that I progressed so much in only a few months, and my progress keeps getting better and better! I'm going to share the things I wish I knew when I started studying Mandarin and what I do currently to maintain a high level!

Let's go! (^_^)v

1. Language ability tests are USELESS! (`へ´*)ノ

I know what you may be thinking. Isn't the point of taking these tests to know how fluent you are? My answer to that is absolutely no. A test cannot determine your actual knowledge. You are under a stressful environment where you are timed for most of these. There are also certain words you must know, whether they actually are used in real life or not. Furthermore, I would receive a different result each time I took a different test! They're not consistent and aren't going to help you if you want to talk to native speakers or visit a country without relying on English.

2. Textbooks are a good supplement, not the main source of your learning. ( ;´･ω･`)

If you have ever taken a world language class (at least in the US), 99% of your teachers have definitely relied on a textbook as the main language resource in class. "What's the problem?" you may ask. Not only can textbooks become incredibly outdated over time, but they also incorporate unnatural dialogs. For example, all of my Chinese textbooks taught me how to say "How are you?" But in reality, Chinese people do not actually ask each this question. Instead, they will ask if each other has eaten, if each other is busy, or what each other are up to. Had my husband never told me this, I wouldn't have known any different.

Another problem I have with using textbooks as your main language resource is that they treat grammar like a math problem. You can't just plug in any noun, verb, or object into a grammar pattern and expect it to work. You're going to sound incredibly unnatural if you do that. While every language has rules, every language also breaks their own rules!

Do textbooks have any redeeming qualities then? Yes, the vocabulary lists. I'll get into that later with my tips section.

3. You don't have to be a child to successfully learn a new language. That is a big fat myth. ┐('～`;)┌

We all have heard it. "It is easier for children to learn languages because they are sponges." Nope nope nope. WRONG! The reason that children seem to magically grasp languages is because they don't use the pointless methods that adults do. They simply just become immersed in the language by living their day-to-day lives. However; you don't need to move to a new country to also gain that immersion! You just need to create an environment online for it to happen.

4. Language learning is not a race. ( *´・ω)/(；д； )

There can be so much pressure sometimes to learn a language as fast as possible. You'll see so-called polyglots online, but a good bunch of them fake their actual levels in their target languages. You can't compare yourself to these people. They have different schedules than you, different priorities than you, and sometimes even different ways of processing information than you. Take it from me, I'm just starting to get comfortable calling myself advanced in Mandarin after learning it for over a decade. Sometimes i have imposter syndrome about it, but it does lead to a question lots of people have asked me, which is if I'm "fluent" in the language. This leads me to my last point.

5. You will most likely never be "fluent" in your target language. (*´・з・)

This may sound controversial, but most people never achieve so-called "fluency". There is so much that goes into being considered fluent, including learning words that even native speakers would never use. When I am asked the question from my last point, I actually tell people that I am conversational instead. Basically, if you threw me into China, I could survive based on my language skills alone. However, I can't teach a calculus lesson in Chinese. I can't write a well-crafted doctorate-level thesis in Chinese. And I certainly don't understand most classical Chinese texts. But most people in China don't know how to do those things either. You can't expect yourself to master something so high level if even natives aren't expected to do those things. That is why fluency is not the goal. Knowing enough of the language to survive in the country is.

Ok, the moment you've been waiting for! What words of wisdom can I provide?

1. Flashcards are your best friends! (*^ー^)ノ♪

One thing that has helped me tremendously is creating flashcards. All of mine are digital on a application called Anki. It uses spaced repetition, so words that you kerp forgetting appear more often than words you've mastered.

I would recommend learning the first 5000 most common words in your target language and making a flashcard for each before you go off into anything else. This is where textbook vocabulary lists can be a gold mine! If you have a textbook laying around, be sure to utilize it since it will give you words meant for beginners!

2. Comprehensible input all the way! ( ´∀｀ )b

Once you have learned a bunch of words, you will need to hear them in context. That is where comprehensible input will help you. I recommend looking up podcasts made for language learners since they use this method quite often. How it works is you listen to something that is slightly above your level. That way, you understand most of what is being said but can learn the new words you don't know.

3. Talk to native speakers! (* ´ ▽ ` *)

I cannot stress this enough. In order to successfully learn a language, you must talk to people! I use rednote as a free option and chat with an online friend there! Her English is very limited, which forces me to use Chinese with her. She sometimes uses a word I don't know, which I can easily copy and paste into my dictionary app (for Chinese learners, I highly recommend Pleco), then make a flashcard of it! Different countries have different popular apps, so it wouldn't hurt to download one and Immerse yourself in their online communities.

4. Consume native content! (*ゝω･*)

One of the most fun tips I have is to consume stuff made by native speakers. This could be a movie, TV show, YouTube video, video game, etc. as long as it is in your target language. While this tip is the most enjoyable of them all, you also have to accept that you are not going to automatically understand everything in the media you consume. You have to get comfortable with the unknown and use context to figure out what is happening. If you hear a new word repeatedly, it would be a good idea to look it up and make a flash card of it.

5. What about grammar? σ(^_^;)?

This is my last and most tough tip, but unfortunately, to master how grammar is used, you need many hours immersing yourself in your target language. You can look up different grammar structures for a basic idea on what they are used for, but understanding for nuance and context won't come until you put in those hours.

I hope this blog helped anyone learning a new language avoid some of the same mistakes that I made! Let me know what language you currently are learning and why you decided to study it! I'd be happy to see what kinds of languages people on here gravitate towards. ^^ As for me, I'm picking up Japanese again and actually learning it more effectively this time. 

Thanks for reading! (*´ω｀*)