30 Days 1 Language Challenge • Day 4
I may or may not have completely forgotten my Studyvlr/Langblr existed for a bit but I'm here I've remembered again and I'm doing backlog posts haha
I'm using a mix of resources for like a broad net of learning to start with - finding what suits me best. I'm using HelloChinese on the iPad, as well as the HSK1 Standard Coursebook. I have physical copies of the Workbook and Coursebook arriving in a week or two, but for now I'm using a digital scan copy.
I've also realised learning and studying a language is something I've picked up and put down a lot over the years - it's something that recurs consistently over the years. So it's obviously something important to my brain.
In highschool, we were made to learn Bahasa Indonesia, which isn't a bad language! It's a neat little language and I'll be super thankful for the bits I remember when I travel around and maybe visit Indonesia, but for the most part, the language is more or less ruined by how it was taught in school. Big Yikes on that front.
Why do the languages we learn in school always strike us as dry, boring and unnecessary? While it's true you can get by nowadays without learning another language fluently, thanks to things like Google Translate on your phone, knowing another language can open you to so many more things. I believe it's because we're sapped of the option to choose what we learn.
I expressed in 2013 that I wanted to learn Chinese or Japanese - yes it was driven by wanting to learn either language because of Hetalia, but the core point is I wanted to learn a language. It wasn't offered at my school, and I was put under the impression that all language learning would come out the same way that we learned in school. Dry, boring, one size fits all- and that size didn't fit my ADHD wired brain. (We didn't even suspect at the time that I had ADHD, just put down the lack of focus to not enjoying the language!)
Anyway, I'm thinking of taking a language university course in the next year or two.
Good luck with your learning!
再见👋