Language diaries: Starting slow

making learning a lifestyle, not a chore

Good morning! 早安! I wish I could tell you from the last time I posted that I’ve now developed a structured schedule and system for learning Chinese again - that I’ve learned X words, and that I’ve spoken to X teachers, and that I’m fully immersing myself. The truth is, I’ve been tired, and I have no stats to report. Life gets ya, sometimes.

However, here are some small wins that I’d like to share with you, in case it inspires small wins for yourself as well:

01.08.2025

A couple things I had going on this morning: making tea first instead of coffee, nursing a headache from lack of sleep taking Juni in and out of the backyard last night, eating a lil something so I can take my meds for the morning, and getting Juni fed her meds/breakfast before her vet appointment at 9:30am.

Normally, some version of me would feel to overwhelmed to even attempt to think of language learning in this situation. But taking out the shiny black tea packet and eyeing the Chinese characters on the red tea bag gave me some inspo.

I popped on this vlog by Kelly Yang, someone I used to watch heavily during the pandemic.

For me, one of the first things I’ve been wanting to do to train my brain back into learning mode is to get it interested in hearing another language. By this, I mean developing enough empathy and engagement to want to follow native speakers and see life through their lens, in Chinese.

The goal is not for me to sit down and transcribe every sentence (this particular vlog doesn’t even have that many subtitles) or to pick up on new vocabulary. Instead, my goal here is just to listen and see what my ears catch.

This can admittedly result in a lot of ‘white noise’ for phrases and sections I don’t quite catch. But, my focus is to start thinking in the context of Chinese, and to be able to use clues to help me understand the gist of what she’s saying, even if I can’t articulate back every single thing she’s communicating.

As kids, we often pick up language like this anyway - through context. Although we learn our ABC’s, and learn how to sound out letters put together - when we’re around our parents or friends, we start internalizing phrases, like groups of legos sticking together, rather than separate units of legos. Give me! I want! Thank you! I go there!

One of the parts I appreciate about these types of vlogs is Kelly will occasionally sit down and chat to the camera, which is a great conversational, listening tool for me. Her chats are usually pretty relatable, so there’s an existing interest in ‘English’ that I can already pull from to understand her perspective and feelings in Chinese.

When I first started trying to level up my Chinese back in college on my own time outside of class, one of the simplest things I did was just put on a Chinese vlog in the background while I was cooking in the kitchen. I actually started with craziejulia, due to her simple student life vlogs, and predictable sentences.

At the time, having only really studied vocabulary lists and reading textbook conversations in Chinese, it was difficult to get through vlogs like this. But, I eventually noticed that I went from clinging onto every character and squinting at the screen, to multi-tasking in the kitchen with the audio playing, and accidentally beginning to understand phrases without having to peek at the subtitles.

My hope is that I can get back to this dynamic again soon!

12.13.2024

Another win from my last Chinese lesson in December was my teacher telling me even though we hadn’t had many classes together, for her, it was like seeing an old friend again after 3 years.

Here’s our chat after:

English translation

Teacher: Have a great weekend!

Me: Thanks! Rest early.

Teacher: Hahaha, okay. I get sleepy at night… so, please don’t mind me for wearing pajamas during class.

Me: No worries! I, myself, was also wearing pajamas during class.

Teacher: Haha, so that was your pajamas! I couldn’t tell.

I archived new words and phrases I learned on Quizlet (not something I really lean on heavily, but a tool I love using for quick vocabulary review or as a reference for deeper study later). My teachers typically type out new phrases in our Skype chat, so putting them in a place I can find later is important.

For now, I’m finding pleasure in these small, joyful interactions - and wins! - and looking forward to more.