17 Comments
User's avatar
Lou's avatar

Thank you for being so honest about your hardships! It's really motivating to learn from your experience. I think I would only consider 1:1 classes for conversation practice, but again, wouldn't feel more comfortable with a friend? Maybe I'll try a language class with other people if I learn a new language! 😊

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Shea Co's avatar

I appreciate it, Lou! I think having classes with a friend is always fun. Keep me updated if you ever start!

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Victoria's avatar

Conversation practice has been the way to go for me. It's hard to find people/friends who are willig to listen to you make mistakes and give you feedback. In that case, language tutors make the most sense 😊

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Oleg's avatar

I love the idea of "language exchange", where two people learning each other's languages get together and chat. I had a couple of those but it's not that easy to make it consistent, cause you have to factor in changes in two schedules. With a tutor, you can at least be certain that they'll show up :)

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Oleg's avatar

I really miss language classes! I doubt they're more efficient than individual lessons but they are so much fun (unless your classmates suck, but then you can always change groups). Would love to fit in group classes into my learning journey now, but my schedule is already pretty tight.

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Shea Co's avatar

Hey Oleg, just wanted to say that I absolutely love your articles! Personally, I think group classes can be even more effective than one-on-one sessions, especially when it comes to collaborative activities. But hey, that's just my two cents. I really hope you'll have more availability in the future to accommodate group classes. Keep up the great work!

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Oleg's avatar

Thanks Shea, I really dig your stuff and it was finding your a couple of other blogs here on Substack was what encouraged me to start my blog! The group setting has this additional layer of positive competition (which personally motivates me a lot) and of all my experiences, the majority were positive and super fun. When the class gets really goofy and you start role-playing a bank heist or play Alias or put on little theatre performances, that's when you know it's good.

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Amara Iyke's avatar

How do you track your study time?

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Shea Co's avatar

I use an app called Focus To-do! ☺️

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Eric Engle's avatar

Start with what the Chinese call dutizi 独体字 and kangxi radicals. 康熙部首

These are the basis for all the other characters. Most of these will be pictographs (pictures) some will be ideographs (symbols). Then learn the combined ideographs 会意思 where two or more characters are combined to express some third concept common to both. Leave the pictophones for last. You will wind up learning simplified and traditional hanzi as well as kanji but they are very closely related.

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Shea Co's avatar

That is a very interesting take on it! I've always wanted to learn Chinese anyway, so I see this as something being useful in the long run. Thank you so much, Eric! I'll look into those right now.

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Eric Engle's avatar

I am told 60-80% of Japanese words are loan words / cognate to Chinese. I know two native Mandarin Chinese teachers who also speak Japanese, each said learning Japanese was really easy for them. Have fun!!

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RiceBurger Studios's avatar

Communication is all about community! It's inherently social. Everyone is different in their preferences and goals - but we are definitely behind the idea that, for many people, group classes might be a better time/financial investment than private tutors. There's something to be said about being surrounded by people who can understand your struggle - and push you a little bit in a sort of friendly competition! Mileage may vary, but I can definitely relate to your struggle with one-on-one tutor sessions. Loved to hear about your experience with it!! 😊

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Shea Co's avatar

Absolutely, the social aspect of group classes can create a dynamic learning environment that's both motivating and supportive. It's interesting how the presence of peers can encourage us to stretch our capabilities. 😄 My last day for this class is on Monday so I'm gonna give my wallet a break until the next enrollment!

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Victoria's avatar

I love the insight you shared! I only recently started taking lessons but they've all been conversational which means speaking is the goal. Even though I've liked them, I don't think tutors are all that important to be as a self learner.

Recently I've been thinking of group lessons so I may give some a try just to see what it's like. It'd probably help me meet other language learners who share similar interests.

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Shea Co's avatar

I completely agree with you about tutors not being that important. But sometimes, I do wonder if I would have made more progress if I had started with them from the beginning to have a solid foundation and avoid making the same mistakes over and over.

Meeting people who share the same interests is such a great motivator for joining group language classes. By the way, how are your one-on-one sessions going?

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Victoria's avatar

That's a good point too. At least for me, someone who doesn't like to explicitly study grammar, when tutors have started mentioning grammar points and mistakes I was making, it all flew over my head. The best way for me to learn from my mistakes is to know what the "correct" way is by getting input through native content and having that as a reference in my mind for when my tutors do point out a mistake. Now that I have more of a foundation in French, I almost always understand the mistake I made once pointed out by my tutor without having to ask. So if anything, my tutor is there to native my mistakes while I freely make them.

My lessons have been going better now that I understand the type of lessons I need. I do better and speak more when I pick the topic. My tutor does an amazing job asking open ended questions and me to form sentences I think I don't know how to form. Even with the mistakes I make, it feels like a genuine conversation which leaves me feeling confident once the lesson is over! 🙂

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