Language Study

This week has been very pleasant (aside from faulty keyboard issues, Lenovo's build quality is increasingly suspect in my eyes).

In addition to my normal two hour-long tutoring sessions and daily 1.5 hours of language study, I visited one of the intermediate classes on campus to observe the class's level. I was pleased to note that I am swiftly approaching the level of the intermediate class and I expect to surpass it in the very near future.

Studying and learning the language seems to have improved following my complete submission to the fact that in language study, there are no shortcuts. On the upside, retention and growth seem directly related to input (time) so that is a significant motivator to put in significant study time each day. The addition of a tutor also helps significantly and I regret having not paid for one when I was a student.

Of course, living in China helps bring to light every small improvement made on Chinese. I literally will learn a word and use it or see it the next day which is pretty cool. These small pieces of cheese remove the drudgery of studying for studying's sake and replace it with a practicality; the knowledge that you are learning things applicable outside of a testing situation. I suspect that is the key factor in my dislike for traditional schooling but eternal love of learning and self-study.

Only 1800 more characters to go until fluency ;)

I am going to end this article a bit early and seek to fix my keyboard which has given up on typing the correct letters 50% of the time. UGH (even at the higher price, a macbook is more and more enticing).

Oh, one more thing. There is a breakdancing  group here.