Time for a rethink

I have found that lately the rate at which I have been learning Chinese has severely slowed down even though I seem to be spending more and more time studying. So it is time for a bit of a rethink on what I am doing.

Early on I was learning lots of Chinese very quickly (it was quick for me any way). Then I started to listen to ChinesePod in the car on the way to work and then add the words I learnt to a ChinesePod flashcard file. Unfortunately it very quickly got to the point where this was taking up all of my time. So now I have to make a choice between learning Chinese using my old method or learning Chinese using ChinesePod. I simply don't have time to do both, and by trying to do both I have slowed my learning down to a crawl.

I have decided to go back to my old method of study because it was working very well before I changed. I also find ChinesePod a bit too unstructured as lessons go. But having said that I do think there is a lot of good practical material in there, so I will continue to listen to ChinesePod on the way to work as much needed listening practice. I will just drop the ChinesePod flashcards for now.

Also on the subject of ChinesePod. I see that they have released a new HotPot video lesson which was filmed before the hosts returned to Canada. Unfortunately it appears that YouTube has been hacked and is completely offline so I haven't been able to watch it yet.