This was written March 10, 2024, published March 24, 2024.

Introduction

Hello everyone,
as you likely already know, I’ve been studying Chinese in Taiwan for a few months now. And with the Winter Term ended roughly a week ago, and being a little underwhelmed with my performance, I figured I should retrospect. Note that I didn’t fail or get awful grades overall, but am still disappointed with some of the results, and feel like I haven’t learned or retained as much as I should have.

Ultimately, while it’s painful, there’s no point hiding from my shortcomings, and I should instead explore them to evaluate how I could improve moving forward. So here we go.
(Also, my apologies for the delays. I procrastinated on reviewing this article for a good two weeks.)

Retrospective

First and foremost, I think I struggled with a discipline issue. Unfortunately, this semester I had very few incentives to stay ahead and prepare. I think one of the biggest deterrents was that we had a chapter exam two days after finishing the material. Thus, I always felt like I should keep studying this material until after the exam, instead of preparing for the new chapter, even as we started it. For example, suppose we finished Chapter 1 on Monday, and had our exam on Wednesday. This meant that on either Monday or Tuesday, we would start Chapter 2, and during the second hour on Wednesday, continue with Chapter 2. However, I wouldn’t feel ready to start studying Chapter 2 until Wednesday after class, multiple days into the chapter. This means both that the first few classes going over a new chapter were inefficient for me (not being prepared), and that I fell behind and felt like I constantly had to catch up. The latter being further compounded by having been sick a few times in the semester, which meant missing material and having to recover. (On top of some classes missed for weaker reasons, which I’m not proud of, but it’s pointless to pretend it’s not the case).

On the topic of discipline, I also have a tendency to leave things to the last minute, causing sub-optimal results and poor long-term retention, due to both the lack of time, and added stress.

Another thing that caused me trouble was that I tried to do too many things at once. For example, I had December in Photography which I maintained throughout the month of December. I also tried to have a social life, and on top of that, I decided to join two classmates in trying to prepare for a “skip-level” exam, studying material meant for the next term. This last one was usually two 2h sessions each week, and unfortunately, this mostly caused extra (and unnecessary) stress and worries, but very little language gains.

Accordingly, I must admit I will have to learn to say no. And not just to others, but also to myself. Before accepting a new commitment, I should figure out how much it will impact me and its value, before evaluating whether it makes sense for me.

Another issue is that I haven’t properly reviewed the previous material as the term progressed, only waiting until the final exam for a proper review. But all of this extra vocabulary and grammar is generally useful, so I should really make efforts to practice it, not only for exams, but also language acquisition.

Next on the list, my mental health issues. Throughout the term, I had instances where it got particularly rough, feeding into my stress, and resulting in a vicious cycle. And this turned into inactivity, further making me fall behind and once again feeding this downward spiral.

Another unfortunate reality, I have a lot of trouble with sleep. This stems from two issues: Insomnia, and late-night procrastination. For some reason, I have a lot of trouble convincing myself to go to sleep, and instead idly waste my time. And having an early class forcing me to wake up at 6:30am made this matter a hell of a lot worse. And this also made me much more tired and less attentive in class.

Finally, while it has been a little helpful with my Chinese long-term, I think forcing myself, on a daily basis, to read a book that’s too advanced for me has been an impediment. It’s generally been mentally taxing, and also fairly time-consuming, sometimes requiring 2h for about 3 pages. And unsurprising, I feel fairly mentally drained by the end of it, meaning that studying my normal curriculum because even more arduous.

Lessons?

Based on all of this, what should I do to improve this semester? Well, first and former, I think I need to have more self-discipline. Having dictations daily is definitely going to at least help me not fall behind on the vocabulary. But beyond this, I should also make sure to stay ahead of the material, and maybe have a schedule in place, dictating by when I want to be done with what material. And obviously, learning to say know and limit my commitments will be invaluable.

I should also make sure to review previous material on a regular basis (both vocabulary and grammar). In terms of vocabulary, I think trying to transcribe (by hand) the dialogues through listening to the should be a good exercise, and a good way to identify what words I struggle with the most. As for the grammar, normal review, along with trying to use it during discussions, should be sufficient.

Next up, my busy schedule. One important thing will be to evaluate the actual value of a commitment before accepting it, or being willing to cancel it if its value becomes negative. I will also need to find a way to limit the impact of this blog on my studies. But this blog is a work in progress, and part of the experience is learning what works best for me, and sharing with you these attempts and my conclusion. So I’m convinced I’ll manage to figure something out.

Finally, my sleep, health and mental issues all have a significant impact on all of this. For the sleep, I will need to figure out how to limit the nightly distractions. Having a later class should definitely also help a bit, although I’m worried my days will in turn feel shorter. Beyond that, trying to get into more healthy habits like swimming should also be good. Otherwise, it’s a constant struggle that I’ll have to monitor, but it’s also nothing new to me.

Conclusion

And thus, a new semester begins. Last semester was a disappointment, but this one doesn’t have to be. I think reflecting on why I struggled and investigating potential area of improvements are important. Hopefully this new term goes a little better, but only time will tell.

Hope you have a nice one everyone, and keep on learning!