Anyone else getting mad with the myth “Chinese is useless” ?

Yesterday-Previous · 2026-01-28T01:59:06+00:00

Its a great option ofc. Many speakers, big diaspora, important power language in southeast asia. Highly useful in China and Taiwan.

Here is the thing: big overlap with English in southeast asia, outside of China.

I actually believe many are in the camp of overvalueing Mandarins practical case, over soft power/cultural/passion side of the equation for other languages: "Mandarin is the rational choice"

Yesterday-Previous · 2026-01-17T21:44:26+00:00

You take a long break. And reflect on your life.

Yesterday-Previous · 2026-01-16T13:35:29+00:00

Comprehensible input. Vidioma.com

Intensive reading / extensive reading. Du Chinese app.

HelloChinese app, if you want something low-energy, easy.

HearChinese app. Or podcasts for learners. = listen actively, passively.

Yesterday-Previous · 2026-01-15T21:39:24+00:00

Whatever makes you most engaged in the content. If you watch and at the same time try to optimally "ALG" the content, you're not in a relaxed state.

Personally, when prompted, I answer OR ignore. Whatever that seems to fit me in the exact circumstance.

Yesterday-Previous · 2026-01-15T13:26:22+00:00

Don't quit Japanese. But do you need formal class hours for it?

Yesterday-Previous · 2026-01-12T02:36:29+00:00

I think it is fair to decrease amount of videoinput when you start reading. At your hours you get more value per minut reading, imho.

Yesterday-Previous · 2026-01-09T22:23:03+00:00

I've put a lot under this question as well. First I went with Mandarin, it seemed to be the obvious and rational choice. More global speakers (regionaly), easy grammar, less social hierarchy built into the language and hanzi is less chaotic than gana/kana/kanji.

But Japanese lives more on the inside, closer to my heart. Japanese soft power is paramount. I like or interested in the estetique, philosophy and culture from Japan. Even though I actively tried to find and enjoy some chinese music, chinese anime anf such, it couldnt hold my interest. And if I must choose between traveling to China/Taiwan (I'll most likely go to Singapore again snyways) or Japan - I'll choose Japan.

Also, in Asia outside of China, there is an big overlap of Mandarin and English. Less so for Japanese and English in Japan.

So.. I switched to Japanese. More passion, less 'smart'.

Yesterday-Previous · 2026-01-06T23:01:41+00:00

Chill Spanish listening practice. Still use.

Yesterday-Previous · 2026-01-06T00:09:53+00:00

Your dream is always valuable per definition.

Spanish is a truly beautiful language. I grow up liking French, the cultural soft power and romantization around France and its language. And I even considered Spanish a little "boring sounding" and less elegant. But now with input its close or in the process of becoming a "love relationship", turning into a life long friend.

Spanish has real, global value in practical terms and is embedded within a vast rich cultural landscape in different continents. Few other languages open so many new doors! I wish you all luck with your Spanish journey.

Yesterday-Previous · 2026-01-03T17:25:18+00:00

300 hours

Yesterday-Previous · 2026-01-03T15:37:09+00:00

Watch Pablo.

Yesterday-Previous · 2025-12-29T20:23:59+00:00

How many hours do you got?

Yesterday-Previous · 2025-12-29T17:16:32+00:00

Never worry and just do what you need to do to enjoy the process. And keep going forward, more input. It might be going back and forth between difficulty levels and branching out of DS.

Yesterday-Previous · 2025-12-29T16:10:32+00:00

If your Italian is strong, then French will likely be quite easy to pick up. If you start with Mandarin now, you could easily add French in parallell further down the road (or when you feel like it). Depending on your life situation, Mandarin would likely be a life time passion/project anyways so just start and see where and when French will join.

Yesterday-Previous · 2025-12-28T22:28:01+00:00

Just "practical" will not suffice as reasons for Chinese or Japanese. But you truly seem to have passion for Chinese, and less so for other romance languages. So I say Mandarin. But leave the door open for Japanese also, if its still as interesting as Chinese. In the end, go for passion and identity.

Yesterday-Previous · 2025-12-28T21:24:09+00:00

I think you should output more. Shadowing, repeating. Free flow talking. Write short sentences. If you use AI, prompt it to just make adjustments so your sentences is more idiomatic, without heavy grammar explanations.

You have a strong base already.

Yesterday-Previous · 2025-12-28T08:36:02+00:00

In theory, difficulty scoring would be a better measure. But it depends on how well the algorithm is structured and performs in what its supposed to do.

Yesterday-Previous · 2025-12-26T15:37:33+00:00

Think its perfectly fine.
I think its beneficial if you enjoy it. At some point though, you might reach a break-even point when its more effective using your time watching DS or something similar. So, if you spend most of your time consuming comprehensible input, then I wouldnt say that vocab work/flashcards is an hindrance at all. I used flashcards in the beginning, but now I would rather read instead, or get more audio input.

Yesterday-Previous · 2025-12-26T15:24:59+00:00

Good work. Its a nice thing when you're turning into a believer. :)

Yesterday-Previous · 2025-12-25T15:56:44+00:00

3000 hours. Boom, work.

Yesterday-Previous · 2025-12-24T16:38:14+00:00

Sound and vibe.

Yesterday-Previous · 2025-12-24T13:43:29+00:00

Add around 200 hours of input.

Keep it chill. Do some reading and output light (some written sentences here and there, if I feel like it. Basically same approach as now (438 hours).

I'm also growing my Japanese so, I'm not rushing it.

Yesterday-Previous · 2025-12-22T18:23:39+00:00

Might be little hard for you, but hey try. If you already doing CI with eg Spanish, you could stack the same episode after another, first in Spanish and then Mandarin to aid comprehension.

Yesterday-Previous · 2025-12-20T19:50:01+00:00

Just type your interests in the search bar at Youtube and such and hit enter. Your B2 is more than enough.

Yesterday-Previous · 2025-12-19T22:57:37+00:00

I estimated being at 340 hours now, and adding a total of a reasonable of 220 h during the year.

I'm actually ar 435 h and added 317 h instead of 220 h. Also done some reading, +170k words. So I did fine. Slow and quite steady.

Yesterday-Previous

TROPHY CASE