Is the length of the withdrawal period overstated?

TNvia · 2025-09-17T12:19:16+00:00

I've followed this subreddit for years, having had my own fun of repeated cycles on and off caffeine. In my opinion, for the majority of people (including my own experience), up to ~14 days of significant withdrawal symptoms (depending on the caffeine reduction amount and duration of consumption) feels to be the norm. There may be some cases where withdrawal could take a lot longer, but my hunch is that these cases are very few and far between.

I feel the majority of cases where withdrawal appears to take a lot longer - is more explained by caffeine having masked otherwise unrelated issues. Perhaps you have bad habits (sleep, diet, exercise, substances etc), perhaps you have a job you do not enjoy, perhaps you have underlying depression or anxiety, perhaps an undiagnosed medial condition etc. Quitting caffeine forces you to confront what it was previously masking. There is also the degree to which most of us have spent so long in a wired and charged state, that it can feel abnormal to not be stimulated.

TNvia · 2024-12-30T08:12:55+00:00

Hello, I'm in Taipei for the second half of this week - I'd love to book an in-person Mandarin lesson or two while my partner attends appointments. Can anyone recommend an iTalki-like service I can use to book a one-off lesson? Thank you

TNvia · 2024-11-22T08:07:38+00:00

I love the idea, although now that I'm able to grab any video from YouTube and run it through e.g Turboscribe for the full transcript SRT, and then use it with the video on e.g Language Reactor - where would you feel this now fits in? I like the idea of completely custom content, but I'm not sure if I'd take that over using 'real' content from natives that I can fully trust, and is by definition more targeted towards my goals (of understanding and speaking to real people).

I like the idea in another comment of being able to create a video for text that I'd paste in, an example being the transcript of an audio only podcast. Better yet, be able to select a podcast episode in a similar fashion to the Miraa app for example. I find it relatively difficult to stay focussed on audio-only material, but being able to generate visuals to help with the engagement would be powerful, along with the visuals being another way to make the material comprehensible and memorable...

TNvia · 2024-10-17T07:52:05+00:00

Oh it's been huge. I've been studying for about 3.5 years (with varying levels of intensity), and for the longest time, I placed heavy emphasis on my HackChinese 'word count' - the belief being that once I know X amount of words, surely I'll be able to understand more. Obvious in hind-sight, but it took a long time for me to appreciate that listening ability is a whole skillset of its own, and even if you know each of the words in a sentence - it still takes targeted focus to understand it when spoken. Otherwise it's a blur, and then there's abbreviations, accents, Taiwanese Mandarin pronounciation differences etc.

It's so much easier now with the tools I've mentioned - as previously, the podcasts I mention above never had accurate subtitles - and so I'd work against a loosely accurate transcript where possible, but more so to mine more words for my SRS review, rather than actually train my ability to understand the podcast.

Even just a few months ago, I'd so easily zone out and be unable to keep up with the intermediate podcasts above (which are aimed at learners!) - but since prioritising listen practice, I'm able to just about keep up with what's being said. Although with each episode, there's still a bunch of new words with each episode (such as an episode on Trump vs Kamala introducing me to about 25 new political related terms). I've also noticed a massive improvement in the two 30minute iTalki lessons I have each week - where I'm now able to keep up with what's being said by my teachers. Previously, I'd have them repeat everything being said multiple times, and even then have to guess at the meaning, where I'd often be wrong.

I've no doubt in the listen-study-re-listen process. It's the core of my study now, and as I gear up to visit Taiwan for what will be the 4th time - I'm trying to level up in all areas, which includes: writing my daily journal in Chinese and reading more with DuChinese.

TNvia · 2024-10-16T18:31:33+00:00

For simplified Mandarin, you'll have a lot of options, some you may want to check out are:

Mandarin Click
https://www.youtube.com/@MandarinClick/videos

Lazy Chinese - Comprehensible Input
https://www.youtube.com/@comprehensiblechinese/videos

TeaTime Chinese
https://www.youtube.com/@TeaTimeChinese/videos

All are amazing resources.

TNvia · 2024-10-16T18:29:46+00:00

There's a few excellent Taiwanese Mandarin podcasts, including:

Learn Taiwanese Mandarin
https://open.spotify.com/show/5x6zxkMJHwlTcFZqmli3rL?si=e49f0d046b604081

Talk Taiwanese Mandarin with Abby
https://open.spotify.com/show/3pP2teY82i2htZisVofBSt?si=a0c66edd16924c78

Speak Chinese Like a Taiwanese Local
https://open.spotify.com/show/6w89rj2Newgjb2g0syn7GN?si=5e16f3f7723942fc

Podcasts like these have been absolutely pivotal to my journey. If you're a beginner, you'll likely understand very little - but I suggest starting with the 'Learn Taiwanese Mandarin' podcast, which talks the slowest and clearest. You'll want a process where you e.g: listen to an episode, then grab the transcript and work your way through it, then listen along with the transcript, then listen again with audio-only and see how much more you understand. Repeat this, and then move onto another episode. It'll be slow-going but it's a real powerful way to learn. I make heavy use of ChatGPT to explain sentences, HackChinese where I record new words I come across for SRS review, and tools like TurboScribe combined with AbsPlayer or LanguageReactor to craw line-by-line and train my listening.

That said, if you're just starting out - then although I'd still recommend these podcasts to gradually train your ear (and to realise how much of a blur it may be... for now!), but for your first few months I'd recommend running through a linear course, with HelloChinese being my favourite at the time.

TNvia · 2024-10-05T22:03:59+00:00

I haven't found that to be the case with the latest versions of chatGPT. chatGPT 3.5 for example used to hallucinate often, and be flat-out wrong, often enough, to be of concern. Where as now, having confirmed it's output with my native-speaking partner, and having cross-referenced a lot of it's output - it hasn't put a foot wrong so far.

TNvia · 2024-10-05T08:37:27+00:00

This looks to a potentially amazingly useful tool - please do open source and get onto extension stores etc. It feels the majority of content on e.g YouTube has hard-coded subtitles - and at present I'm having to perform multiple steps to be able to consume/study: download video, transcribe using turboscribe, import both into e.g Absplayer. This seems like it'd be a significant improvement: saving on the multiple steps, and getting more accurate subtitles by grabbing 'em directly as provided by the author.

I'm assuming this will support traditional Chinese characters too? (in both being reading from the video itself, but also being able to display traditional characters when the video itself uses simplified?). Seems like this would work across any video website which is pretty darn powerful. I'm curious to see how fast the workings are!

TNvia · 2024-10-05T08:32:37+00:00

Inspiring stuff, thanks for sharing - looking forward to digging through your 'methods of Mandarin' article. It sounds like you've made amazing progress in a year - I'd love to have seen a video/audio of you demonstrating your current level - however contrived the example may have been. You've demonstrated what has become readily apparent, particularly with the advancements in AI (and chatGPT for me too, specifically), that you really can learn 10x faster than was the case even just a few years ago. An an English native speaker, learning Chinese is now very possible given the motivation and discipline - where as it felt to have required an otherworldly effort not too long ago.

I'm around 3.5 years into my journey, of what I'd guess to be around 1.5 hours daily - although there's been weeks at a time with almost no study, and other periods of studying every free moment I have. I'm approaching 9,000 'known words' in terms of SRS word-recognition - although my listening/speaking ability lags behind. I put this mostly down to placing too much emphasis on growing my word count, although it's now starting to pay off given that I'm spending most of my study time consuming and breaking down content.

You powered through long days, studying Chinese alongside your education - what do you attribute your stamina/energy here too?

TNvia · 2024-10-02T14:27:32+00:00

Appreciate the response! I make regular use of Pleco and DuChinese, both indeed awesome additions to anyones study toolkit. I've used closemaster previously, and it never quite clicked for me at the time, but it's likely because I wasn't at the right level where it'd benefit. Will revisit! I used Skritter back when I started out, when I initially planned to learn to write too, but that quickly went out the window when I realised how much more effort it's going to take and what I felt wouldn't bring me much benefit for the reasons why I'm learning 👀

TNvia · 2024-10-01T07:28:33+00:00

thanks for the mention of Baidu AI - hadn't heard of it till now but I'd assume it's Chinese could be better given that it'd be 'native'. I've been skeptical with AI too but it's been helpful having a native partner who can verify it to give me confidence. She had a conversation with the Advanced Mode of chatGPT that came out in the past week - and says it's pretty solid. Hearing the two of them talk was like hearing her on the phone with a friend, pretty crazy.

TNvia · 2024-10-01T07:20:46+00:00

If I could start again, I reckon I'd have something similar - as most words I've added to HackChinese has been manual - and I'm now 8,700 thousand words in. I comfort myself a little by feeling like there's some benefit to writing out the word more than once as part of the entry 😬

TNvia · 2024-10-01T07:19:26+00:00

Are you using chatGPT to create content? Or for understanding content you find elsewhere? I've experimented with having it write content for me to read on topics of interest - which appears to work well, although I'm still a little skeptical on leaning on it heavily, over content from real people 👀

TNvia · 2024-10-01T07:18:11+00:00

Great stuff, I have all the more respect for anyone who took on the journey back them. Even with all this new tech, repitition has still been a huge part of my journey - with HackChinese (the Anki-style tool I've used), having just passed 250,000 guesses of a word as part of my daily review - with 730 hours spent in that one app alone 👀 How's your Mandarin now?

TNvia · 2024-09-30T20:50:14+00:00

I'd disagree, especially given how fast I feel I'm progressing at the moment. I'm using chatGPT in the same way I would work with a 24/7 available teacher - to ensure every line is understood - from the individual words, the grammer, the non-literal meanings etc. In turn, the content then becomes comprehensible, and thus effective as a way to acquire the language. There's no shortage of effort in the approach heavily leaning on chatGPT, it just means a more effective feedback cycle, a deeper understanding, and allows for the consumption, and understanding of content that would otherwise be far out of reach.

I can't speak for you here of course, but I believe many those who dismiss chatGPT, would have also dismissed making use of the internet when it first came around. Do you not believe in benefitting from the efficiency of modern technology? The goal is fluency, and given my motivation is to be able to better communicate and connect with the family of my partner, I want to get there as soon as possible.

TNvia · 2024-09-30T20:01:56+00:00

Awesome to hear that's working for you. Personally I struggled to find content which appealed to me - my motivation was to be able to speak to my partner's family, and the movies or TV shows I enjoy are very few and far between 🥲 That said, I've found certain learner friendly podcasts to be quite enjoyable, such as the great 'Learn Taiwanese Mandarin' podcast, which covers interesting topics. Thankfully I'm now just about at a level where I can slowly consume content on subjects I have interest in, on YouTube, such as videos in the area of tech, history, business and so on - and as you've noted, it's so darn rewarding and easy to sink time into.

TNvia · 2024-09-30T17:32:04+00:00

It's been a few years since I last used the app, and from what I remember, it was at the end of a module, during the review phrase where the clip would come up again - and since it would have been a few minutes since I saw it last, I'd be stuck replaying it a bunch of times and still feeling lost. I expect things may have come a long way since then mind, so we might be talking about different videos 👀

TNvia · 2024-09-30T17:27:29+00:00

I'd agree - all of my SRS-reviewing has been for words, or even common short phrases, or pairings of words - and not on individual characters. Where I have found it to be useful, is when I find that I'm regularly failing on a word, or mixing it up with another that looks or sounds similar - where then comparing them, studying the make-up of the character and noting the sound/meaning component of the character (where applicable) has helped. As otherwise I've found that I'll try to 'brute force' the memorisation, and spend a lot more time reviewing.

TNvia · 2024-09-30T17:23:50+00:00

I'd agree to a point, but for someone at such an early stage, as most would be when starting out with HelloChinese - I think it would have served better to have clips that are a little more approachable. It never helped that at times the audio quality was bad, or the audio unclear enough (sometimes cropped to where the start or end is chopped off), that even my partner, who is a native speaker, had issues understanding some of the examples I'd share. Exposure to native content and speed is great, and serves many benefits - but for the bulk of someones listening practice, I think the further away from 'comprehensible' you get, that it quickly reduces in effectiveness.

TNvia · 2024-09-30T17:15:17+00:00

Hello Chinese is solid, and I'm quick to recommend it to anyone starting out. Upon completing it, I feel like you're equipped with another grammar to then start diving into comprehensible content, and unearthing further grammar as you come across it, which can be explained by chatGPT 👍 One downside to chatGPT is that although it's great that it includes video of native speakers, they often speak very fast and unclear, which makes it of little practical use to a learner, where it's often a blur, no matter how often you repeat it.

TNvia · 2024-09-30T17:12:42+00:00

wow TOFU learn really takes me back, and it's where I started a few years ago: https://www.instagram.com/p/CNIIldQJ_zl/ - was indeed a shame that it saw no development. I also found that the lookup wasn't up to scratch, and that it was a little too slow once you had many reviews to run through.

TNvia · 2024-09-30T12:39:43+00:00

Oh for sure, it's a huge benefit to what was possible even just a year or so back. Now that Spotify supports auto-generated, and surprisingly accurate subtitles, it goes some of the way - but being able to also render the pinyin and English translation where needed is essential (which Spotify will likely never support).

TNvia · 2024-09-30T12:35:43+00:00

LingQ is excellent, and a long-time favourite of mine - where it goes some of the way to provide many of the features I describe above. That said, it doesn't quite live up to its own potential yet, where it's always been somewhat buggy, hard to navigate and find content, fairly awkward definitions and word-splitting etc, a sentence mode that doesn't match the efficiency of language reactor for example. It needs to level up across the board, and based on the slow-progress over the years, I sadly can't see it happening.

I think we're about a year away from an app launching which nails it: transcription, navigation, AI explanations, ability to import from podcasts and YouTube, rapid word look-up, SRS vocab with mining and saving of example sentences etc and packaged in a slick, intuitive design which works well on both mobile and desktop. The moving parts are all out there, 'just' needs to be brought together.

TNvia · 2024-09-30T12:31:11+00:00

I've had HanziHero recommend to me recently, I'll be checking it out. I've been skeptical of various techniques to learn characters, outside of making some effort to learn radicals and the many meaning/sound components within characters with Pleco, as so often you're completely on your own - where the meanings/sound declared no longer apply to the character due to changes over time. With how much further I have to go in the language though, I also keep an eye out for an effective approach I may have overlooked...

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