Some noob questions. Self learning, tones, different dialects etc

[Lumbering Ox]

35 seconds of motivational awesomeness. I wonder if there is a Chinese version.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxGRhd_iWuE

[Flickserve]

and whatever anyone on here says, there is no single correct way to study. Try things, drop them if they don't work, come back later, try a bit of this and a bit of that, that's the joy of self-studying. The important thing is to stay motivated and not to burn out.

this is true. There are ups and downs. The only way to avoid ups and downs is not to get started.

After finding and reading this forum, I concentrated on repeating really easy stuff and pronunciation plus tones for about six months. There are a number of stories of people learning for a year but not being able to be understood by native speakers of Chinese.

It did mean it felt like very little progress initially but generally, my pronunciation is understandable in real life interactions. I am not a great flashcard user. If I would change anything, it's probably working more on sentence repetition on my own with some recordings.

One of my experiences of online teaching in Chinese is that the teachers are eager to pass on a lot of knowledge, language and culture. It was not a problem for one hour but they may not review, and therefore reinforce the information on the subsequent lesson. YMMV but I like to use I have l learnt and have it readily accessible. If I plough through an Anki pack learning lots of words but not their use in sentences, I can't use that vocab for listening nor speaking (unless going for an HSK exam).

[imron]

The important thing is to stay motivated and not to burn out.

Motivation is great and all, but I've found that developing good habits and discipline are far more important.  Motivation comes and goes.  If you have strong discipline and have developed good habits they will stay with you even when you aren't feeling particularly motivated.

[Lumbering Ox]

I put RTK on the backburner doing reviews only and gave that HelloChinese app a shot.

 

I think I'll stick with the Japanese. I don't think Chinese is for me even though it would be more useful locally.

 

At least I gave it a shot.

 

I'd like to thank everyone for their advice. Y'all are a fine bunch of lads and lasses. If my future path even takes me back to Chinese I'll know where to start.

[Flickserve]

Good luck.I would like to try Japanese one day if I get half decent at Mandarin.

[Shelley]

Hope things go well and if you ever change your mind, don't forget you are always welcome here

[Lumbering Ox]

"Good luck.I would like to try Japanese one day if I get half decent at Mandarin."

 

I can't figure out quoting here, so I'll do it old school ;)

 

I always wondered about people who do one then the other. I know the spoken languages are completely different but I'd figure the similarities between the written languages helps but it must be confusing to deal with.

 

I'd figure if I ever wanted to do Chinese after Japanese [or the other way around] I'd want the first language to be really solidified or perhaps put it on maintenance and do some other unrelated language as a sort of break.