When you feel learning Chinese is the hardest thing you’ve done (June Goal Check-In)
If you think it’s easy to learn Chinese, then there’s no need to read this post. If you became fluent in three months, then skip this post too. But if you feel like learning Chinese is the hardest thing you have ever done, then please continue.
Some of my grades from spring semester are out already and I went to the office to check them. I really shouldn’t have. I’ve done very very poorly! Some grades I just can’t understand how they are possible! I went from being the top of my class (20 students in class) last year to being perhaps the worst (3 students in class).
I feel like that whole semester was for nothing, feel very humiliated that I got poor grades. I only saw grades from 5 courses, but I don’t really look forward seeing the rest (4).
What I’m trying to tell you, and my self, is that it is okay to feel disappointed, it is understandable to feel that learning Chinese is hard. If you feel like crap because your Chinese isn’t improving, don’t worry, it is okay, I feel too.
What is not okay is to get stuck or give up. I can admit having a feeling like “I got such terrible grades, what’s the point in going forward?” But that’s exactly what you, and me, should do. We might be disappointed right now, but lets not be discouraged. Lets find the reasons why our studies aren’t going as well as we would like to.
My June Goal-Check In isn’t anything to be proud off. I did poorly on my exams and then let my self to a summer holiday mood (even though I have summer course every morning for a month). I’ve watched countless hours of American TV. I needed to get my brain out of learning Chinese, I really needed a break.
But I can’t let my break to last until September when the new semester begins. Learning Chinese isn’t easy for me, it requires a lot of work, a huge amount of hard work. I have to write by hand (Skritter app) in order not to forget characters, I have to study grammar over and over again, I have to read books and watch TV in Chinese, I have to find ways to improve my spoken Chinese. Nothing seems to be enough.
So if you do feel that Chinese is super hard then don’t worry, you’re not the only one.