Ang taong hindi marunong mag-aral nang normal

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