I wasn’t sure what to expect from February. Originally I had planned to launch my new ‘business’, but I suffered so much with my health that my husband and I decided I would wait another month or two before trying to work. That bit sucks because I had to turn down a really awesome opportunity as well…
On the plus side… I had a lot more time for languages. It reminds me a lot of lockdown when I worked for myself and had absolutely hours to study every day. It’s not quite the same at the moment because I’m sick, but I still have time to watch C-dramas, read (at last!), and improve my language skills.
February Wins
One of the biggest ‘wins’ of February was growing my Instagram account. It’s something I have always wanted to do in my 3 years on studygram but, for many reasons, wasn’t consistent enough.
From the last 30 days… here are some stats.
- 11 posts (reaching 30.4k people)
- 19 reels (reaching 66.2k people)
- New followers: 1,934
Hitting 10k seems like a small milestone compared to how many followers some people have these days… but it’s huge to me and I’m really happy I got there. Thanks a lot to those of you who follow, like, and share my content. It means a lot!
What else?
- I started keeping a language diary again. I’m gaining a lot of confidence (back) at writing in Chinese and improving my character recognition and memory. But, feeling very demotivated with German as I’m simply not good enough at it.
- With the amount I’m reading in Chinese, I’m definitely feeling way more comfortable. I’m recognising a lot more characters, picking up speed, and actually really enjoying it. Yiippeeeee!!
What Have I Been Studying?
I’ve used quite a few resources this month. I’ve struggled to concentrate on just one thing, so instead I’ve ‘gone with the flow’ and studied whatever came to mind that day or week.
Chinese Dramas
This month I’ve watched My Boss and Love Endures.
My Boss was cute, but I am getting really bored of the stone-cold male lead who’s bossy and manipulative. I ended up skipping a few scenes and about two episodes before the end I was really ready for it to be over. However, both male and female leads are brilliant actors, the cast were all great and there’s a really good sense of friendship and love. I’d go with 4 stars.
Love Endures has been on my watchlist since I first heard it was being developed. I really admire Yang Zi as an actress and she was great in this as well. I did enjoy the series for the most part, but I had a few issues with the constant back-and-forth between memories and current times. I felt like they had packed so much into the drama that it was hard to grasp anything and go with it. The story was great, the ending was just what most of us, I think, would want. But yeah, I was getting annoyed by the end. Maybe 3.5-4 stars for this one.
Chinese Music
I have been listening to a lot of Chinese music this month! One song that’s currently stuck in my head is No Reason – by Ryan B and Effie. Although I’m kind of disappointed there were no new words for me to translate in this song! I somehow knew them all. Ask me to rap along though? Pah! No chance…
Another song I’m still loving is from the Here We Meet Again OST – 我的天空 by 陳雪燃 Xueran Chen.
Chinese Books
And of course I’m studying with books!
At the moment I’m reading Amidst a Snowstorm, or 在暴雪时分 by Mo Bao Fei Bao 墨宝非宝. I am absolutely hooked on it. It’s such a well-written, heart-warming story and I’m so glad I can understand most of it. When I heard it was being made into a drama, I searched everywhere for a (reasonably priced) physical copy, but in the end could only find one available on my Kindle. I’m trying to hold off starting the drama until I’ve finished the book… but I don’t think I’ll be able to wait much longer because I keep seeing so many cute snippets!!
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is still on the go, but due to the incredible number of new and niche words in the book, I’m not fussing over it too much. I’ll read it when I have time or want something different, but I may also wait until later in the year when I re-watch the movies.
Pssttt… Want to see what I’ve been reading lately? Check out What I’ve Read in February 2024.
I’m trying to use the HSK 5 上 book but in all honesty, I’m not that interested in textbooks at the moment. The vocabulary is all over the place. Keywords are far too easy and the difficult words aren’t included and the grammar isn’t always explained well. Usually, I don’t mind adding more to the textbooks, but at the moment I don’t have the energy or interest.
My little HSK dictionary is still being used for learning new words. If the explanations don’t work for me, I’ll go on YouGlish and find some better examples.
Pssttt… If you want to stay updated with what I’m reading, follow me on Goodreads or Storygraph.
Errr… What About German?
I’m sorry, my favourite language. I simply have no energy for German at the moment other than listening to a few podcasts or doing a few quick lessons on Busuu or Duolingo. I can’t half-arse German because I haven’t got a hold of the grammar – still.
I’m not sure when I’ll be able to make time, but I know I need to carve out a good 1-2 months and dedicate 10-15 hours a week to German. But at the moment, I’m desperately trying to improve my Chinese and I’m not ready to give up my time.
This month, I only managed 2.5 hours of German *painful cringe*
Overall, another really good month for Chinese and I’m seeing and feeling a lot of progress.
Here are 3 final things before I wrap this blog post up.
- 73 hours of Chinese
- Only one day without any studying
- Starting to look into Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and acupuncture, and focusing more on health vocabulary.
What about you? Did you meet your study goals for the month or have any other wins? I’d love to know so feel free to drop me a comment or reach out to me on Instagram!
Miss Hillsmith x Languages Louise 