Creating goals for a slacker

[xuechengfeng]

Hi all,

I haven't posted on here in a long time. I graduated in 2006 with a degree in Chinese. At that time, I was probably pretty decent and around a 2 on the State Department level. I've been to China 4 times since then and spent nearly a year in country, but a lot of that has been basic tourist junk. I took the language test for FSO position this year and failed miserably.

I've struggled most with making and keeping up with goals. I want to try this next year to achieve a higher level of Chinese, beyond what I was even when I graduated. I must do this for my sanity because of the money I spent on a degree.

What can I do, short of going to China and studying? I ask because I'm in graduate school and have a couple job offers, but nothing that will send me to China to learn or update my skills.

Do any former intermediate, current advanced learners have any tips?

I find it hard to set goals, especially when nobody is gauging your progress.

[roddy]

Will be tricky to stick to goals if you don't have any actual immediate use for the language. Could you perhaps aim to retake that exam (or another one) sometime later in the year - even if you wouldn't actually want the job now, the idea of going back and succeeding at something you failed at earlier could be a good motivator. A late 2010 HSK sitting to aim for? Or promise yourself a trip to China at the end of the year, on the basis that you are going to arrive with better Chinese than you've ever had before.

Or smaller, more regular goals - aim to watch and understand an average of three Chinese TV shows per week for the next year. Work through the First Episodes on here, watch more of anything you actually like, and in the process you'll likely pick up a lot of Chinese. Pick a book or something at the level you'd like to reach by the end of the year and figure out what you need to do on a weekly basis to get there.

More generally, I find Getting Things Done useful for setting goals and figuring out what you're actually going to do and what is just mental junk distracting you. It looks a bit like management-speak nonsense, and I don't apply the whole methodology - but the bits I do use are valuable. Definitely increased my productivity (albeit from a low base )

Sounds like a useful first stage might be to review your last decent year of Chinese study to get yourself back up to where you used to be. I'd start with that, break it down into managable chunks (Forty chapters in two months is too vague - one a working day for eight weeks, with weekends to catch up on any missed days, is more useful.)

One of the things I love about this forum is seeing people journey through Chinese. Five years ago you were getting help with learning Chinese. Now you've learned it, forgotten it, and are getting help learning it again.

[chinahandinfo]

For me it is all about routine. Even when i don't have any specific goals laid out i find that as long as i stick to my routine i continually make progress. Get into a routine, stick to it and you'll get where to want to be. Good luck!

[renzhe]

You could look at the aims and objectives thread for some inspiration. Perhaps some of the goals posted there could give you some ideas.

[Meng Lelan]

I'm in graduate school and have a couple job offers, but nothing that will send me to China to learn or update my skills.

But you did get into the FSO, right? You can apply to be posted to Chinese speaking countries as FSO, can't you?

[anonymoose]

If you already have an advanced level of Chinese, I think it must be quite difficult to improve upon it or even maintain it if you aren't in a suitable environment.

If you can set yourself and actually meet goals, then that my help. Personally I have never bothered setting myself specific goals because unless meeting the goal actually has a consequence, then there is little motivation to actually meet it.

Although it's not an ideal solution, perhaps you could just try reading more in Chinese. At least you can read for the sake of reading, and not just for the sake of learning, making it somewhat less of a chore. That's what I do mostly when I am out of China. Eventually your reading ability will get disproportionately good compared with the other skills, but that's still preferable to letting the thing slip as a whole.

[Lu]

Nice to see you back here Xuechengfeng, but pity your Chinese is tuibu-ing. I see the same with former classmates, even if you have a pretty high level at graduation, it's very easy to loose if you don't use it.

What might work:

- Do something daily, whether it's reading a number of pages, watching a tv show, or reviewing words/characters.

- Find a class or a teacher, or something else that forces you to study/makes you feel guilty when you don't.

- Find someone to speak Chinese with and meet regularly.

I don't know if it's feasible to improve your Chinese if your main occupation (be it work or study) is something that has nothing to do with Chinese, it's already good if you can stay at a certain level.

Good luck!

[chrix]

It happened to me too... After leaving Taiwan eight years ago, I didn't do too much to maintain my Chinese (was also too busy with other things), which I've regretted a lot. Last year I had occasion to go to Taiwan again, and was able to "reactivate" it. It's quite surprising how it can all come back to you, and with the advances in digital technology we've made in the last eight years, maintaining your Chinese overseas also has become a lot easier

[wushijiao]

Do any former intermediate, current advanced learners have any tips?

I can sympathize with your situation. When I first came to Hong Kong studying for an MA taught in English, I was spending almost all of my time per day using English and in a non-Putonghua environment, and my Putonghua level started to regress. Eventually, I was able to reverse it. The two main lessons I would share are:

1) Get a lot of input per day in both reading and listening(this can be through TV shows, podcasts, reading....etc).

2) Expand your knowledge through learning more. Sometimes I think like language levels are a bit like businesses, "if you're not innovating or expanding, you're slowly dying". Of course, your level can quickly come back given the right environment (moving back to China), but barring that, I'd suggest doing things to actively expand it. In my case, I always find that setting a goal of looking up a certain amount of words per day (through readings, or whatnot) is the easiest way to make this happen. (Of course, there are times when you can sit back and consolidate your current level, but if you want to get back to where you were, or beyond, I think you should try to actively expand your the fringes of your knowledge sphere).

And, as others have pointed out, reading a lot, plus setting up daily goals, and setting up daily habits, are all good ideas.

[abcdefg]

Sometimes I think like language levels are a bit like businesses, "if you're not innovating or expanding, you're slowly dying".

Would you mind telling me where that great quote is from? A Google search and a look at Bartelby didn't turn it up for me.

[wushijiao]

Would you mind telling me where that great quote is from?

I'm not sure (I think I heard it somewhere). I'm not sure if it's really true in the business world (although I'd bet most CEO's feel tremendous pressure to expand and innovate). But as far as languages, I notice that when I reading and looking up a lot of words, and learning things, I feel like I' getting better. (I think that that is due to the very important role vocabulary acquisition plays in comprehension). If I spend a month or more not doing that, even if I'm doing a lot of passive stuff, then I feel my level starting to retreat. But maybe that's just me?

[xuechengfeng]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Roddy, isn't life strange? I knew nothing before, then I knew a little, now I know nothing again. :help

I guess I shouldn't mislead everyone by thinking I'm a real slacker, just a Chinese slacker because at this point as I've said, I have no real use for it and no motivation to keep me going, especially because I rarely can gauge my progress.

I like the TV show idea. I'm sure some of my questions have been discussed ad nauseam, but where can I find some good shows to watch? And any suggestions? Also, I've used ChinesePod before, but is it really worth the subscription? I feel paying for something might motivate me to use it daily.

Right now I'm brainstorming the usage of Chinese Pod, TV shows, Voice of America articles to translate, movies to watch and translate, a couple characters a day for a year, maybe watching a few videos on Youku. Maybe I'll come back to religiously posting on the site and open up a thread noting my daily progress. That's always helpful.

I really have no excuse not to be able to come up with goals for reading, writing, and listening, but I need to speak more, which has been my downfall. I need to find some Chinese friends in the area!!!!!!

Lastly, I think besides setting educational goals, I like your idea, roddy, of scheduling the HSK or promising myself a trip to China. I shall return!!

[roddy]

I'm sure some of my questions have been discussed ad nauseam, but where can I find some good shows to watch?

Man, you have been away. Enlighten yourself. Watch as many of those as you can, and I'd be delighted to see you posting questions about the shows.

Take a look at PopupChinese.com also - you might find that more interesting that Chinesepod. Then there's native podcasts.

To be honest, I don't think anyone would blame you if you just said goodbye to Chinese for a while - you would hardly the first person to not use their first degree. If you want to keep it up and improve, excellent. But doing anything because of some vague sense of 'should' isn't the best approach.

You're welcome to open up a 'Xuechengfeng's Daily Progress Topic' if you want. But be aware, I will nag . . .

[abcdefg]

I feel paying for something might motivate me to use it daily.

That seldom works for me, even though I always think it will. Barbells in the garage, etc.

"if you're not innovating or expanding, you're slowly dying".

I like the concept. I'll just file it as a 五十角 quote.

[Meng Lelan]

I highly recommend Slow Chinese. It's free and it's the closest thing to NPR-type of news/culture material that I've seen so far.