Well, my experience of learning Chinese has largely relied on iKnow, podcasts, supportive PDFs and LingQ. Ever so often with a cup of tea I’ll pick up a relatively straightforward grammar book (no blinding me with unnecessary linguistic jargon) and noticed the points being made there.
Today I’ve gone all traditional. I’m going to start the textbook approach. I’m going to be tackling the new textbooks to see how much progress I can make. Naturally I will have covered some of the early types of materials in my podcasts but I’m really looking to see how the methods work. I must admit when learning Japanese I found that textbooks really helped structure my learning. Yet, at the same time I remember completing the books and not necessarily remembering a great deal. That in itself isn’t unexpected; reviewing and using the language is important to secure knowledge. The big question, then, is what does textbook-learning do to my studying the language? Will my enthusiasm remain though I’m not in control of what I study at what point?
Where will these take me?
Let’s hope not barefoot on cobbled paths.
