Focus on one study topic or many?

[haihuozhe74]

Hey, I'm trying to improve my studying methods and I'm hoping that 大家 can give me some thoughts/opinions.

I've been 琢磨'ing this a lot recently and any contributions would be appreciated.

--Is it better to study the hell out of one topic/resource(ie. textbook), like studying the same thing with different teachers; OR, is it better to diversify your bonds and study several different things and focus on that overlap of knowledge?--

Corny way to think of it, but, I think of it like pouring water on one place in the floor to make it bigger, or making lots of drop around the floor until they all eventually connect and make big puddle, like a big web.

Or does the latter only lead to "knowing" more, but not knowing it as thoroughly?

So, study the sh*t out of one thing, or study a lot of sh*t?

[Shelley]

Hi ya,

IMHO I think loads is better than one, if only to help stop me getting bored. I hope that by having many different types of study available I will always feel like studing one of them. I am mostly self-taught although I did a small (6-7 people) private classes for 5-6 years, and I have done an evening course at our local University ( got to leval 2a). As I am learning for pleasure (my passion is chinese) it suits me. This method might not be so good if you are following a course. Even so I think some variety is helpful. It can highlight some very interesting relationships between what appear at first sight to be disconnected things. Good luck whatever you choose.

Shelley

[murrayjames]

Study from many sources at once. I learn Chinese from:

1) Books

2) Talking with my inlaws

3) Watching 喜羊羊

4) Street signs

5) Chatting on QQ

4) Reading Chinese wikipedia, my Chinese friends' Facebook pages, comments on videos on Youku, etc etc etc.

None of this involves university classes, textbooks or fees. If you go that route, supplement your learning with other sources. A textbook, while helpful, can't begin to prepare you for all the vocabulary you'll need.

[haihuozhe74]

Yeah, that's kinda of been my reasoning for how I used to study in the past.

But the reason why I just started re-thinking about it is because of what happened this last week in class. (gonna be a little bit long)

I have 6 hours of class a week with 2 teachers, 4 hours (2x a week) with "Stella," and 2 hours(1x a week) with "Fuhui." Fuhui and I study this textbook thats surprisingly not bad. Me and Stella read a whole bunch of stuff, from articles about Tiger Mom Amy Chua, to that recent article by 茅于轼 about turning Mao back into a "human being."

Class is really interesting, and its mainly up to me to find articles, which (usually) isn't a problem. Both these teachers are incredible. Patient, very good at explaining things, and they're cool as hell, so I really do enjoy talking with them.

Last week I didn't find an article for Stella, so brought in my textbook and went over a chapter that I've already done with Fuhui. I didn't tell her I was taking another class (don't want her to know about my other baby mama), and so we read the chapter under the impression that she still has to explain and make me converse about the topic.

It was an awesome class. Words, structures that I learned in the class with Fuhui came back and I was able to use them, even though I hadn't been able to use them in my daily life (I live in China btw) since I had the class the week before. I learned even more, it reminded and drilled all of it into my head, and I've found that I am actually able to use most of the words and structures.

So since this, I've been trying to rethink whether or not I should just learn the hell out of this textbook with these two teachers, or go back to mixing it up. I'm not bored, and even though its the same topic, I like talking to these teachers a lot anyway, so its still pretty interesting.

I'm leaning heavily towards staying this one. BUT, I'm gonna get another tutor, and I don't know if 3 teachers 1 topic (which, by the way... sounds disturbingly like 2 girls 1... um. you know.) is overkill. There's only so much to get from a chapter in this textbook. Am I making a big, faulty logic jump by thinking, "Oh, with two teacher, I remember and am able to use around 70% of the text (pull that number out my ass), so, with three teachers, I should remember ~~%!"?

Sorry to get so in depth and descriptive. Once again, thanks for your thoughts

[haihuozhe74]

Thanks, yeah, I actually completely agree with that. I guess I wasn't very clear in my post.

I actually mean focusing on one topic IN several different classes with different teachers

Multiple things are great. I'm still doing lots of other stuff (I read 咱们小时候, 明朝那些事，奋斗 (books), and various blogs/百度百科 all the time [obviously with so many books I'm moving at a glacial speed, but I just keep bouncing back and forth] , watch 神话 and chinese movies, speak Chinese with friends and co-workers, listen to Chinese music (although its always a struggle to find good stuff that I like) and Chinesepod, etc...）

I'm attacking Chinese from all these different angles, but that's all my personal time.

My question is regarding the content I study with these two teachers, and if I were to add a new teacher whether or not I should do this same topic....

[haihuozhe74]

Oh, ok, crap, I should have added this into my original post.

My goal in using this study method is to improve my speaking and production. My passive vocabulary, listening, reading; all are pretty good. I'm trying to improve my speaking, and ability to express ideas fluently and coherently. I can chat about life and all this other crap all day with friends and feel completely comfortable, but when it comes down to really trying to explain and thoroughly address topics that I don't talk about very often, I find the appropriate grammar and words just not coming to mind.

I generally hate textbooks, but my thinking right now is; right now, forcing myself to actually discuss over and over these topics that I generally don't give a crap about (ie. the majority of textbook topics), will allow me to build and get accustomed to the grammar that one would use generally use in expressing more complex ideas, concepts, and arguments.

My bad, this is totally what I should have said in that very first post.

I feel like someone who sucks at telling jokes. "And, oh! Oh yeah! There was also an alligator sitting at the bar, and he was drinking with like, um, 2 or 3, maybe four, Australians.....Or were they Russians?"

[imron]

I generally hate textbooks,

Yep, sometimes you've just got to put in the hard yards doing something you don't like to take yourself to the next level.

[Meng Lelan]

Me and Stella read a whole bunch of stuff, from articles about Tiger Mom Amy Chua, to that recent article by 茅于轼 about turning Mao back into a "human being."

These articles are what you find yourself on the internet or from a textbook?? That's quite a selection...!

[haihuozhe74]

These articles are what you find yourself on the internet or from a textbook?? That's quite a selection...!

Haha yeah, I usually just find most of them myself. She found the Tiger Mom article, but all the others I've found myself. We've read some 韩寒，王小峰，茅于轼, and a few others whose names aren't coming to mind just right now.

That 茅于轼 one I found through haohaoreport. If you look on chinaelectionsblog()net under translations and originals you can find some pretty interesting pieces, in addition to some incredibly hard and mind-numbingly boring articles too. I always check 天涯 also, but there's always a chance that you'll end up reading a terribly written article (as in poor grammar and lots of mistakes.）

p.s. sorry, only just now learned how to quote.

[anonymoose]

What's the difference between using a textbook and going over the same chapter several times with different teachers, or finding your own materials and going over them several times? It seems that, from what you said, the repetition is the key rather than the textbook.

One thing I have done a couple of times before, and found to be quite useful, is getting a colourful magazine with plenty of pictures, and just trying to describe in detail what can be seen in the picture. It's surprising how, even if you are fairly competent at everyday conversation, how tricky it can be to actually give a coherent and vivid description of something.

[rezaf]

ne thing I have done a couple of times before, and found to be quite useful, is getting a colourful magazine with plenty of pictures, and just trying to describe in detail what can be seen in the picture. It's surprising how, even if you are fairly competent at everyday conversation, how tricky it can be to actually give a coherent and vivid description of something.

good idea, will try it today. I am always short of topics for my essays.

[haihuozhe74]

What's the difference between using a textbook and going over the same chapter several times with different teachers, or finding your own materials and going over them several times? It seems that, from what you said, the repetition is the key rather than the textbook.

Yeah, repetition is definitely the key, but if you're going over the same materials over and over by yourself, unless its a preeeetty fascinating article, you're gonna get bored.

With different teachers, you have access to different 观点s, different personalities, different senses of humor, and, that which I enjoy the most, different tangents. I love tangents because they aren't planned, and you can learn some incredibly random and interesting stuff.

One thing I learned on a tangent the other day in class is 兄弟如手足，女人如衣服. I learned how to say "Bro's before ho's" in Chinese, haha how cool is that?

I know I'm stating the obvious, but, the tangents people will go on vary by person, mood, topic, etc... I think that if a teacher sees that you're not struggling with the text and you're able to express thoughts comfortably (no matter whether they are yours or exact words from the mouth of your other teacher), they'll be more willing to mention some tangent casually, knowing that you can talk about it, understand, and they won't get bogged down trying to explain it to you over and over.

I'm still figuring out this whole situation, but I think I'm going to try and switch it up so that it's not always reviewing an already read text with the same teacher. (ie, not making the second read-through of a text always with Stella. Switch it up)

Of course you can try to do this sort of thing with friends and not pay money, but, if you're actually friends with someone, it'd feel strange, stilted, and a little forced (at least to me) to try and start discussing why people choose to buy name brand objects or something. A tutor or teacher is there for that specific reason of getting you to use difficult vocab and grammar, correct, and LISTEN.

Also, all these classes I'm taking, and would take, are one-on-one with tutors, they aren't with several other students. I think I would be completely 反对 what I'm doing if I had to do it with other students.

At this point though, I really think I'm already set in what I'm doing, I just needed some input from other people and hear some other thoughts. Thanks a lot, I really appreciate everybody's suggestions.

Of course, if you have any more thoughts, I'm still very open to them

One thing I have done a couple of times before, and found to be quite useful, is getting a colourful magazine with plenty of pictures, and just trying to describe in detail what can be seen in the picture. It's surprising how, even if you are fairly competent at everyday conversation, how tricky it can be to actually give a coherent and vivid description of something.

I'm so stealing that