Comments on: Escaping the convenience trap to learn more Chinese

By: Don't be a tourist | Hacking Chinese

Don't be a tourist | Hacking Chinese — Wed, 26 Mar 2025 05:55:05 +0000

[…] Learning Chinese is not a race; take things at your own pace. The important thing is that you realise that there is a convenience trap and that you slowly work your way out of it. Read more about the convenience trap here. […]

By: Don't try to improve everything at once, limit your focus | Hacking Chinese

Don't try to improve everything at once, limit your focus | Hacking Chinese — Sun, 12 Mar 2023 16:56:39 +0000

[…] In general, you should focus on the weakest link in the chain first. This is because in the real world, if any one link breaks, communication typically fails. It doesn’t matter than your grammar is perfect if nobody understands your way of pronouncing the words. It’s tempting to focus on what you’re already doing well, but escaping the convenience t… […]

By: Guus

Guus — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 08:51:06 +0000

I think it’s safe to say we all have this temptation. When drawing it broader than language learning, I think it also has advantages. We all must specialise in something, no one can learn everything.

I guess the main takeaway from this post is to be conscious of what we want / need to learn and spend our time accordingly.

By: David Feigelson

David Feigelson — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 09:32:22 +0000

The only thing that tests all four skills is the TOP or HSK. Reading and writing are usually private activities where a teacher or private tutor may see this, but no one else. Listening and speaking can be done with anyone who speaks Chinese. I think this is why reading and writing are so neglected. You practically have to pay someone in order to practice. I think its a tossup for which is harder listening or writing. Both involve pattern recognition. The memory component is what makes writing difficult. The vocabulary component is what makes listening difficult. I’ve never taken TOP or HSK so I don’t know what they’re like.