汉语词汇学习第六周
Hey guys! Welcome to the Sixth and final week of my Chinese Language Learning Challenge!
WE MADE IT!And finally, just like that, six weeks of documenting my studies and progression with learning Chinese vocabulary. Even though I've been getting absolutely bombarded with other uni work and my part-time job, I've managed to overcome the barriers of laziness and finish the blog somewhat successfully!
"Somewhat" ???
Let me explain.
When I thought I had enough time to make a 200+ exam paper for myself like I said I would in my previous blogs, I thought it wasn't a problem. When it came down to making a template specifically for it, I found out that it was too ambitious for TWO main reasons.
Reason 1:
I don't need to test ALL 200 words to see whether or not I've retained them. I know exactly the words I know I can write without thinking twice. So when I started to make a template for 200 words, I knew it was a waste of time to put EVERYTHING in there.
Reason 2:
The words that should be in the final test should be words that I struggled to memorise/retain. As I said in Reason 1, I know exactly the words I can write without thinking twice. So, I also know which words I might/should be worried about when the time comes to test it.
For these two reasons, I hand-picked from all the units of study I had done from the course of this Language Learning Challenge, the vocabulary that I felt uneasy with, or got incorrect.
This is why I said it was "somewhat" successful. I would have said that everything went according to plan if everything DID go to plan, however, I changed a lot from my Final Proposal and even had to change my evaluation method last minute.
Unit 11 + 33 words
So far up to this week, I mentioned that I learnt 175 Chinese words. This week I'll be learning 33 more words to complete my 200 word goal mentioned in the Proposal. It's getting pretty exciting to know that I'm evaluating my methods and learning strategies that I've utilised throughout the whole six week process. By the end of this week, I'll finally get to see the REAL results. Nevertheless, my studies along with the integration of Quizlet and Pleco's will commence for the last time (for this blog) - because I'll most definitely use this method in the future.
Final Evaluation
Finally, we are here.
For starters, i mentioned that I picked the vocabulary that I felt uneasy with, or got incorrect. There were collectively 67 words that I was uneasy with and/or got incorrect. I spent a good amount of time re-doing the study sets by 'Jeremy_Weir' on Quizlet and furiously searched for similes to not be confused with on Pleco.
Here are the results of the Final Test!
Considering that collectively, altogether, there were 208 words that I learnt throughout the 6 week block, and that I felt that (208 minus 67) 141 of those words were too easy to be tested on, getting two incorrect doesn't seem too bad at all. Besides, that means I've learnt and retained 206 words altogether, therefore...
Achieving my Learning Goal!!! (+6 words)
The two words I wrote down incorrectly were honestly pretty close to being correct, however, I had made a mistake that I couldn't fix since it was inscribed with pen. I had to take special time out after the final test to finally remember those words for good.
Final Thoughts on Quizlet & Pleco
To recap on the functions of what Quizlet could do, here is a brief summary:
- Flashcards - these are flashcards;
- Learn - registers which words you know and which words you need to improve on;
- Write - tests your writing skills and only allows you to write out the answer and not type it out;
- Spell - Dictation method of study;
- Test - It tests what you know and further evaluates what you need to learn and saves those words for you;
- Match - use your speed to get the fastest time in matching the English definition along with the Chinese word;
- Gravity - write in the Chinese word of the English word which is coming down in the form of a meteorite. Getting it correct will spare your life and allow you to get to higher levels of difficulty by destroying the meteorite.
My study pattern would generally start off by using the Flashcards function to get familiar with as many words as possible. The Flashcards function also allowed me to 'play' the flashcards. This means that it will say the English word first, flip it to the other side automatically, whilst showing the Chinese word it would also pronounce it, and then it skips to the next flashcard. This method gave me enough time to first listen to the word, and then look at it, and then write it down until it started again with the next word. Once I got familiar with the words, I would test myself and then finally play a game of "Gravity".
I think Quizlet is an amazing app, as I mentioned before, it is perfect for learners of a second language who are focusing on expanding their vocabulary as Quizlet's many function allows learners to learn at a fast pace.
Pleco
The Pleco app was astounding to me at first, and it still is. I tried to find another app that had similar capabilities but better, but I never could. The app allowed me to see the antonyms, homonyms, sentence examples, and even how it would sound in another dialect of Mandarin. I wouldn't recommend this to those who are looking to learn a lot of vocabulary (like how I used Quizlet), but for those who know a lot of Chinese words already and are curious of what else could be found through the search of a single character.
Personally, through the use of Pleco on a weekly basis, I learnt ways to recognise similar characters and find a connection between them, making it easier to distinguish and also recognise/memorise and retain.
Summary
Through blogging my experience in the journey of learning the language of Chinese, I have learnt many things that positively impact my role as a student. The integration of technologies along with study was something I was never fully aware of. I had used it without noticing the impact it had on me - when I don't have my phone or computer, I honestly cannot study.
I didn't know at the start, but something that I've noticed towards the end was that, choosing these technologies (Quizlet and Pleco), was coincidentally a great match up. The reason behind this is, in order to achieve my maximum potential of Technology Assisted Language Learning (TALL), I needed to use a software that complimented each other. For example, Pleco filled up the missing elements of Quizlet (dictionary), and Quizlet made up for Pleco's specific word searches and being unable to learn more than one word at a time.
All-in-all, the learning strategies used has only benefited me and my Chinese learning and has given me more opportunities to succeed. Tweaking of my Proposal was very necessary in order for this outcome; progressing and adding methods of testing, learning and having fun to stay motivated were all the experiences necessary for me to reach this point.
I hope the investment towards my blogs were worth it, I truly think it was! I hope that my blog can be a guide to someone one day who is trying to learn another language also, and best of luck! Thanks again for sticking around and staying with me during my Chinese Language Learning Challenge!
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