My learning plan has evolved in several ways, and will continue to develop as I realize new practice strategies and am able to access more materials and vocabulary. We covered the basic grammar points I had outlined much more quickly than I anticipated. My main issue is with ordering modifiers (adjectives and adverbs), but this can be practiced generally across topics. I am continuing to search for more specific grammatical concepts, but our focus has shifted somewhat to more direct practice and instruction on communicative competence. Class has provided helpful suggestions like visiting SCOLA (I found some news and children’s programs there that I am incorporating along with my other television practice), enabled me to think more critically and specifically about almost every element of language study, from anatomic phonetic articulation to the origins of words and how they have been shared, and helped me compare my learning process to the strategies that have been used in my Spanish learning. I realize that I need to identify some more specific new topics, such as learning themes, vocabulary, or more specific grammar, in order to structure my learning; however, I believe I have also benefited from my flexible approach. One thing that has really surprised me is Duolingo – I began using it to introduce myself to Mandarin, and though I thought I would be able to pause using it to focus more on other practice opportunities, I have found that I can supplement my learning with it if I do not depend on it – it reinforces my vocabulary and forces me to apply it in new, specified ways. This has prompted me to search for worksheets and hope to find some that can help me better soon. I have also been practicing reading aloud and quietly, listening to music and watching documentaries and television with Chinese and English subtitles (in Chinese), writing and checking sentences based around grammatical themes, and repeatedly writing and reading vocabulary words to memorize them. My study is especially focused on grammatical and discourse competence, as I work to understand Mandarin’s building blocks, and I am working to establish a foundation through which I am more capable of understanding sociolinguistic and strategic competence to achieve fluency.
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