I have had Chinese class in school, some 25 years ago.
Some dedicated self study efforts from time to time during the last 10 years or maybe less, but affter I’ve digging deep into Japanese for a while. Also some weekend courses, of like 6 months, twice. (I didn’t take any class in Japanese, maybe except 3 iTalki sessions.)
The last spurt of studying is like 3 years ago, gathering advice from some WaniKani Community fellows. (e.g. dip into reading more)
Before the last 3 years, I think I’m about HSK level 2-3, but have never really took an exam. Now maybe about 5.
Most important things I see right now, would be browsing Chinese websites, marketplaces, SNSs, apps. Maybe also reading signs and printed notices. That is, reading first, but not really books.
It would be nice if I could speak Chinese and listen to news, though.
Japanese goal is really more modest, like manga and entertainment first.
Mostly, there was a technical challenge to implementing it (in terms of finding a data source to populate entries). I don’t think that issue will be solved anytime soon…
I watched a video explaining with real news on a movie (盲山) on social issue (i.e. controversial and cruel). I arrived at this movie from a podcast of this Japanese person living in China.
It’s spoken in Chinese with Chinese sub. But, forgive me, my Chinese isn’t good enough. Downloaded with yt-dlp (youtube-dl fork), audio-to-text into subtitle with Subtitle Edit, uploaded the subtitle file to Gemini chat for line-by-line explanation with vocab list. (Also ChatGPT). Then, use the same chats to search for news references. (More refs in ChatGPT, but I’ve yet to read.)
Also ChatGPT, but free plan limit reaches quickly.
You’ve hit the Free plan limit for GPT-5.
You need GPT-5 to continue this chat because there’s an attachment.
In the end, I read subtitle line-by-line in the chat anyway. Too many text generated and I only read partially. Original (?) lines first, rather than explanations or vocabs, when has come to this.
I like the idea of a Production Challenge, I might take a page from your book and try something similar. Write one sentence a day, or record one unprompted audio note a day…
I approach this with a notebook, setting aside a full double page and 30 minutes for each day, in the morning. Write whatever comes to mind, probably yesterday’s immersion/exposure. The key is tolerating with enough time, and be regular. Look up as much as needed. (Though, Pleco can search only either in Chinese/Pinyin and English. Not knowing Hanzi means searching by Pinyin.)
When into too much of a slump, no idea to continue, I ask DeepSeek to randomize a writing prompt. (Maybe there are also websites for that aren’t AI.) I copy the prompt by handwriting too, ofc.
Actually for Japanese, I used to set aside 15 minutes to speak anything, and record. But I doubt whether I can even pronounce Chinese properly. (Maybe I eventually can, but not the focus yet.)
Fitting in with the IME and checking aren’t the focus yet. Postponing by n weeks, where n is an integer. I probably make a lot of mistakes right now, to be observed and fixed by immersion/exposure.
Next steps, if I even come to that, might be one-man role play, or monologue (welcome to my tedtalk), idk.
If you could put one emotion (such as happiness, loneliness, courage) into a box to permanently save or give to someone else, which emotion would you choose? Why? And where would this box ultimately end up?
Full DeepSeek answer
Of course. Here is a question for a Chinese writing prompt, designed to be thought-provoking and suitable for various age and skill levels.
If you could put one emotion (such as happiness, loneliness, courage) into a box to permanently save or give to someone else, which emotion would you choose? Why? And where would this box ultimately end up?
Why this is a good prompt:
Philosophical Depth: It encourages self-reflection on the nature of emotions, their value, and their impermanence.
Creative Storytelling: It naturally leads to a narrative. The student can invent the box’s origin, its appearance, and the journey it takes.
Emotional Intelligence: It requires the writer to consider the consequences of their choice. Is it selfish to keep happiness? Is it cruel to give away loneliness? Is giving someone courage a gift or an interference?
Open-Ended: There is no single “correct” answer, allowing for immense creativity and personal expression.
Rich Vocabulary: It prompts the use of descriptive language for emotions and abstract concepts.
Potential directions a writer could take:
A Personal Narrative: Choosing to box up a personal grief to finally move on, and then deciding whether to bury it, set it adrift on a river, or lock it away in an attic.
A Sci-Fi/Fantasy Tale: The box is a magical artifact. The story details the quest to deliver the box of “Hope” to a despairing community or a tyrannical ruler who needs “Empathy.”
A Moral Dilemma: The protagonist is tempted to use the box for personal gain or faces the unintended consequences of gifting an emotion.
A Descriptive Piece: Focusing intensely on the sensory details of the emotion itself—what color is courage? What sound does loneliness make? What texture is joy inside the box?
This prompt effectively combines personal reflection with creative potential, making it excellent for practicing Chinese writing.
Yǒu yītiān, nǐ fāxiàn jiāli yī jiàn pǔtōng de wùpǐn (bǐrú yī bǎ jiù yàoshi, yī miàn jìngzi, yīgè zǔfù de chábēi) yōngyǒu yīgè mìmì de chāo nénglì. Zhège wùpǐn shì shénme? Tā de nénglì shì shénme? Zhège fāxiàn rúhé gǎibiànle nǐ huò nǐ jiārén de shēnghuó?
One day, you discover that an ordinary object in your home (like an old key, a mirror, or your grandfather’s teacup) possesses a secret superpower. What is the object? What is its ability? How does this discovery change your or your family’s life?
If you were a force of nature (such as a gust of wind, a river, or a mountain), how would you view the changes in the human city beside you? Would you be a silent observer, or would you try to communicate with them?
Yī zhǒng tèdìng de wèidao (bǐrú lǎo fángzi lǐ de qìxī, mǒu zhǒng jiētóu xiǎochī de xiāngwèi, yǔ hòu nítǔ de wèidao) shùnjiān jiāng nǐ dài huí dào guòqù de mǒu gè chǎngjǐng. Zhè shì shénme wèidao? Tā dài nǐ huí dào le nǎge shíkè? Nàgè shùnjiān fāshēngle shénme gùshi?
A specific smell (like the scent of an old house, the aroma of a particular street food, the smell of earth after rain) instantly transports you back to a scene from your past. What is the smell? What moment does it take you back to? What story unfolded in that instant?
Sep 5 (Fri) prompt. DeepSeek starts to answer in Chinese, even if I have never typed a Hanzi myself
You buy a book in a secondhand bookstore. Upon opening it, you find a strange message written on the flyleaf: “When the bell tolls three times, walk toward the nearest red door in your memory.” Out of curiosity, you decide to follow the instruction. What happens?
On a late-night bus, the only people are the driver, you, and another stranger. Each of you has a reason why you must be riding the bus at this hour. What are your respective reasons? What will happen on this quiet night bus journey?
Your family has passed down a very special item (e.g., a musical instrument, a set of tools, a piece of jewelry). It carries a piece of your family’s history or a certain promise. However, your life’s ambition is completely different from the expectation this item represents. How will you choose? Where will this item ultimately end up?
Nǐ fāxiànle yīgè “gòngxiǎng rìjì běn” shǒujī yìngyòng, kěyǐ yǔ yīgè wánquán nìmíng de mòshēng rén pèiduì, měitiān zhǐ néng hùxiāng fāsòng yī duàn rìjì, bùnéng jiāoliú. Nǐ de dì yīgè nìmíng rìjì huǒbàn xiě xià de dì yī duànhuà shì: “Jīntiān, wǒ zhōngyú juédìng hé shìjiè shàng wéiyī dì nàgè ‘wǒ’ héjiěle.” Nǐ huì rúhé huífù? Nǐmen de gùshi jiāng rúhé zhǎnkāi?
You discover a “shared diary” app that pairs you with a completely anonymous stranger. You can only send one diary entry to each other per day, with no other communication. The first entry from your anonymous diary partner is: “Today, I finally decided to make peace with the only ‘me’ in this world.” How will you reply? How will your story unfold?
A company launches a “memory sorting” service that can help people temporarily “seal away” painful memories, leaving only the beautiful parts. Would you choose to use this service? After sealing your memories, how does your life change? One day, you accidentally discover a fragment of a crucial memory that you had forgotten…
You possess a special ability: you can trap any one minute, anywhere in the world, in a time loop, until you deem that minute “perfect.” However, unbeknownst to you, each repetition comes with a subtle “cost” somewhere unseen. Which minute would you choose to loop? How do you define “perfect”? Finally, what kind of “cost” do you discover?
I feel I should compose a script, and read aloud the whole. Otherwise, speak without a script. Then record.
My stroke orders now follow Japanese pattern, but the key to remembering the Hanzi in a word is actually pronouncing and following Pinyin for choosing Hanzi.
I stripped thumbnails for easy checking out. The listing is also in YouTube description.
I might update the post later once I have checked any of these out.
Podcast lists seem to be for Apple Podcast first (but I don’t have Apple/iOS), but it may be available in various podcast apps, like Spotify. I come across this website and app, not sure how trustworthy it is – 网易云音乐 (NetEase Music)
There is this web blog and podcast (geared towards language learners), but I am not sure about interestingness of Taiwan itself. (I might think more of Hong Kong, but they use more of Cantonese there, I think.)
I have tried a little of 声动早咖啡 and 故事FM. It’s above my level (as also with most things), but not that it’s not interesting.
Also, playing in Spotify app, they have AI-generated Chinese time-synced transcript. which works badly with bilingual ones in my experience, similar to YouTube. Doesn’t appear in the website version, I can’t copy.
