Language learning notebook + rambling

[halfcactus]

Didn't feel like doing anything today because 1) there's a storm and I can't focus, 2) the latest book I started sapped me of my will to live (especially because I was really rooting for it). And I had some free time bc groupwatch plans fell through so I thought I'd pull up ChineseSkill and pick up where I left off… 5 years ago (...structured learning was my lockdown project).

The app is supposed to take you to HSK4. In the last five years the curriculum appears to have undergone some heavy restructuring (and according to Reddit, now has a larger and more HSK4-appropriate wordbank) BUT also gotten paywalled. However! Luckily!!! I'm still running the old version, which is free. So now I'm hoping to actually finish the course for completion's sake before the app disappears or starts paywalling me. :'D

When I pulled out my notebook (I take physical notes with the app open) I realized that I'd almost filled up a 60-leaf notebook and only had a few pages left, which means it's time for some ~*documentation*~:

This is my notebook! I got it from a local bookstore for P105 (around 2 USD) more than half a decade ago.



Pictures are badly lit because I took them at night and my room lighting is bad.

The first page! It's not clear in these photos but the pages have a dotted pattern.


I skipped the pronunciation parts but I otherwise started with the basics because I really needed to build a foundation. In spite of my ability to sing along to a few Mandopop songs I, in fact, have no concept of tones, other than the knowledge that there are five of them. So both the audio component of a gamified app and the practice of writing down the characters with the corresponding tone marks were how I learned them. I still mess up half the time, but I am reasonably confident that I can now say "red" and "green" correctly. 😂



This was peak lockdown energy—everything was so neat. I even drew a lot! Ah, my "vocabulary journaling" origin story. :P I'm decent at learning to write and memorize hanzi (except for the traditional form of 飛 which I can never get down because of the curves), which is good because one of my mental hang-ups is being unable to retain or truly "grasp" a word until I can "spell" it. (This is true for other languages. Which is why it sucks for both of my heritage languages to be more colloquial ones.)

I also started out trying to study in simplified Chinese first, but I would eventually give up and go traditional. It was a useful exercise though!

I got increasingly lazy with doodling and having neat/attractive layouts:



The last two pages of this notebook, which I did today—very perfunctory and eager to leave this notebook behind. XD


New notebook time!!! This one is smaller and gridded and, I think, a Secret Santa gift (...that I requested...).


First page—motivation to draw rekindled now that I'm starting afresh, though I don't really remember my notetaking system anymore (other than the colors):


Aaaand this is where I stopped:



ETA: Posting pics on the internet is always a good idea bc I have been kindly informed that I have been writing 不 wrong my whole life lmfao nOOOOO

Comments

[nnozomi]

If your notebook were a Chinese study textbook available for sale, I would buy it! Visually clear, logically organized, entertaining and with adorable doodles <3

[halfcactus]

Ahaha only if you don’t mind a dozen typos 😂 (thank you!)

[geraineon]

I love your notebooks! As nnozomi said, very neat. Love the energy I feel off the pages too <3

My Chinese learning journey is full of starts and stops... It has stopped for a few months but I should get back to it. I can feel the words I remembered in the past disappearing orz