July 7.
I spent much
longer creating mnemonics than I expected, but it never felt inefficient. I
knew it would save me from having to relearn everything later. It was kinda
like I was saving future me from a headache.
July 8.
Learning
Chinese pronunciation kinda feels like leveling up in a game. You beat one
boss, and then another one shows up. I guess you only notice the next challenge
once the last one isn't a problem anymore.
Even then, I
almost talked myself out of it. But why, though? Just because it's harder?
We're calling it quits already?
I mean,
waking up at 3:45 every morning and taking a cold shower wasn't exactly easy
either. Now I don't even think about it.
July 9.
The Shift
Today, I
stopped focusing on how many hours I studied and started focusing on what I
built and understood. I also renamed my 12-Hour Chinese Learning System to The
Mandarin Project, inspired by Justin Sung's learning principles.
The Hobby
Actually,
what I seem to enjoy, over and over again, is taking a bunch of disconnected
ideas and turning them into something that actually makes sense. Things like a
framework, a pattern, or a story. I know it's a pretty unconventional way to
describe a hobby over coffee, but that's just how I make sense of things.
July 13.
If I had to
describe myself… I’d say I teach myself Chinese, analyze people more than I
socialize, and somehow consider research a hobby. I also like singing in
different languages and listening to my little sister’s daily lore.
July 14.
Today, I’m
trying something different. Instead of following my usual routine, I’m running
a two-day experiment to see if a shorter, more structured recovery block makes
it easier to actually rest. Instead of a 1:00 – 4:00 pm break, I’ll nap, eat,
and shower, then start Block 3 at 3:00 p.m. Oh, one more thing: no wi-fi during
my study blocks. The goal is to make it easier to stick with my lessons instead
of accidentally doomscrolling for an hour.
July 15.
I was reading
about the imperial exams in China a little while ago and found out that there
were no IQ test or modern civil service exams as we know them today. For the
emperor, passing the imperial exam meant you had earned your place through
knowledge and discipline, even if you came from an ordinary family.
That really
got me thinking what It must have felt like to spend years preparing for an
exam that could change the ocurse of your life.
July 16.
I realized
something interesting. I identified the exact line between passive ingestion
(which feels like learning because I’ve taken in the information, but haven’t
really processed it) and active consolidation (where I connect new ideas to
what I already know and build understanding).
It reminded
me of school. I’d leave class feeling like I understood it. But when it came
time to study for the exam, I’d realized I had to relearn most of it. I really
thought I’d learned it. In reality, I’d mostly just been exposed to it.
July 17.
New
experiment tonight. I’m moving my sleep schedule from 8:00 p.m. – 3:45 a.m. to
7pm-3am. Let’s see if this actually works. Tomorrow, I’ll be tracking three
things: Sleep: how long it takes me to fall asleep after going to bed at 7pm.
Getting out
of bed: is it easier or harder to get up at 3am?
Focus: at
7am, I’ll check whether my focus is still sharp or if my brain’s already
checking out haha.
Also, I’m
testing out a flexible learning window. 4:00 am – 12:00 pm. Instead of planning
every hour, I’ll use this 8-hour block for deep, high-priority learning. That
way, I can adjust whenever something takes longer than expected.
July 21.
If I’m
hyper-fixated on something I actually like, I can literally sit for hours
without even realizing I made a cup of coffee in the first place. It got so bad
my lil sis literally started crying and was like, 'I hope your laptop flies out
the window.' Now whenever she comes into my room, I just say 'nǐ hǎo' and start
acting goofy with her.
Anyway, just
thought I’d share how I usually map out a new concept in my head.
Step 1:
Landscape Mapping (Is this worth thinking deeply about?)
Step 2:
High-Order Encoding (How can I connect, compare, and explain this?)
Step 3:
Diagnostic Checking (Where is my understanding weak?)
Observational
Scripting (culture, history, food, deep nuances)
Immersive
Scripting (street interviews, daily vlogs, native phrasing)
Chinese
Pronunciation
Translation
Practice (English - Chinese)
Speaking
Practice (English - Chinese)
Character
Recognition
Pinyin Typing
Character
Writing
Retrieval
Practice
I don't do
all of these back-to-back in one day. Some days I only focus on like two things
because I actually wanna see how they all connect instead of just getting
through more material.
Like, what's
the point of knowing all of China's provinces and neighboring countries if I
can't build a mental map of where they are and how they relate to each other?
Take Cháoxiǎn, for example. It instantly makes me think of Liáoníng and Jílín
because I've built those connections in my mind. From there, I can picture
China's borders and go from east to south, west, and north.
July 24.
Okay, so I
was thinking about how to avoid ever getting to the point where I'd be like, 'I
don't know where to start, I don't know what's important, I don't understand
it, and I feel overwhelmed.
Then I
thought back to when I first started studying on my own back in June. I just
decided to wake up at 3:45 a.m. and study whatever I felt like. That's when I
started putting on James Scholz's 12-hour study videos. Whether it was Russian,
Korean, or some random stuff, I just went with whatever seemed fun.
And then I
was like, why not finally stick with Chinese this time? I was so sure the
characters would be the hardest part. I didn't even think those z, c, s, x, q,
j, zh, ch, sh, and ü sounds were gonna be the end of me. (lol)
July 27.
Around 4:00
a.m., I started reading about the Opium War. As usual, one thing led to another
and then I just randomly started watching videos about the landslide in
Péngshuǐ County, Chóngqìng and the flooding in Shànghǎi.
I started
wondering what had changed.
Before a
mountain falls, how does it stay up in the first place? Gravity keeps pulling
the mountain down, but the strength of the rocks and soil helps hold it
together. So what changed?
It's easy to
forget that rain doesn't just make the ground wet. Every time it rains, a
little more water can seep into tiny cracks in the rocks and soil. The more
water gets inside, the harder it is for the dirt to hold on. So little by
little the mountain loses its grip, and a big piece crashes right down.
But why did
it become a disaster and not just a mountain falling?
If you can
answer that, you'll be able to explain other things, too. Like why snow slides
off a mountain, why some buildings collapse while others don't, why streets
flood, why roads suddenly drop into sinkholes, and even how massive bridges or
dams break.
Then I
started reading about how many women in Shanghai remain unmarried because
finding someone they want to build a family with isn't easy.
Now I keep
thinking about how many relationships never even get started because of money
or because everyone's fighting for survival in the job market right now. I also
found out that once people are over 35, finding a job can get really hard. It
feels like looking for a needle in a haystack. In Chinese, they have a similar
saying about fishing for a needle in the sea.
What does
that lead to? People might end up making less money. Then they might put off
getting married. What happens next? They might wait longer to have kids too. Or
they might decide not to have kids. If enough people do that, there'll be more
old people than young people.
Anyway, my
eyes got super tired so I stopped reading and just switched over to Mandarin
Corner. I don't even know what Eileen's saying, but I like how she talks.
July 29.
I don't
really think it's fair to expect everyone to speak English just because it's
easier for me. If I'm the one visiting another country, I'd rather be the one
who makes the effort. I don't know why, but that made me think of the old
tributary relationship between Joseon Korea and Ming China, though I don't
really know enough about that part of history yet.
July 30.
Corn story
I was eating
my corn really fast because my sister would be home any minute. I flopped onto
my bed while I was still chewing and pretended I'd been asleep the whole time.
I thought I got away with it, but she woke me up anyway. Haha!
Break
I'm
deliberately taking a short break from Chinese for a few days. For now, I’m
just going to slow down and do other things I like. I also want to revisit case
analysis because I kind of miss doing that. I'll probably read some manga too,
or maybe something by Fyodor Dostoevsky.
Aug 6.
Akala ko
gusto ko lang matuto ng Mandarin.
I thought
that was all I was doing. A normal person would've just memorized the
vocabulary. But my brain is sick. I couldn't stop following ideas through
history, culture, psychology, and civilizations until I forgot I was only
supposed to be learning Mandarin. It’s sort of like the high I got from it went
far beyond the language.
The more I
learned, the harder it became to think of just China. And if you aren't
sleeping in class, you'll realize that Korea, Japan, Russia, Taiwan, and the
Philippines are all tied together by history. Then you look at the Opium Wars,
and Great Britain and France just spawn into the drama too. And don't even ask
me what Portugal was doing in Macau.
Ayan na
talaga yung resibo na hindi naman language ang hinabol ko rito eh kahit mukha
na akong bangkay kakaaral hahaha
