Participation
in Reading challenge, November 2020
45 minutes 0.75h
Starting a close reading of 《这样学:唐诗宋词》in prep for the pronunciation challenge next month. Can’t wait!
@Kaynis Olle will probably post a Hacking Chinese article all about pronunciation. Personally, I'll be focused on mimicking, shadowing, and improving reading texts aloud with accuracy. In general, I'd recommend recording yourself speaking and reading text and then listening to it for errors and inconsistencies.
30 minutes 0.5h
Reading 《望天門山》and the supporting text for the poem from 《這樣學:唐詩宋詞》
45 minutes 0.75h
📚 Finished:《漫畫·巴萊》📚
Finished the last four pages during nap time. And enjoyed the 賽德克族文化小事典 at the end of the book for an even deeper look into the research and process that went into making this graphic novel.
This tragic retelling of the 賽德克族人 and their battle with Japanese occupation was a part of Taiwan’s history that I was largely unaware of when I lived in Taiwan. Glad I finally read this book, and can’t wait to rewatch the film Warriors of the Rainbow with a newfound knowledge and appreciation for the bravery and courage of these people.
Final score: 10/10.
Language Difficulty: 7/10
I give this book a 7/10 because overall it was pretty smooth reading. However, there are lots of proper nouns and historical events that I needed to lookup using outside reference materials (beside Pleco) to fully appreciate and understand, which made it more difficult than a standard novel or short story.
75 minutes 1.25h
Coffee and serious 《漫畫·巴萊》 reading this morning, but I had to stop at 10 am to get a move on with the day. Literally have four pages left at this point.
80 minutes 1.33h
Knocking out more pages of《漫畫·巴萊》this evening to make sure I finish the book this weekend. About 40 pages to go at this point.
Are there Skritter decks for MC Great Expectations Key Word Lists?
@Kaynis not at the moment. Jared just uploaded some more word lists to his website, and we’ll start making some more decks for these books in the near future. Been a little busy with some of our projects so it might be a little while. However, if you search online you should be able to get the list upload the words to Skritter. Email team@skritter.com if you have any questions about the process and someone will help ya out!
25 minutes 0.42h
Knocking out some Du Chinese reading
70 minutes 1.17h
A few more chapters of《漫畫·巴萊》. Things are getting intense!!!!!
25 minutes 0.42h
Single Focus Keeper session this morning for some《漫畫·巴萊》reading
60 minutes 1.0h
Knocked out a few pages of 《基地》(Foundation), and then did 40 minutes of Du Chinese reading.
As in Isaac Asimov's Foundation?
@Amy Blake indeed! The Chinese book is on Google Play, actually if you're ever interested in a digital copy.
30 minutes 0.5h
More《漫畫·巴萊》
40 minutes 0.67h
Coffee and《漫畫·巴萊》
45 minutes 0.75h
Finished 《頭文字D》(第十四卷)
45 minutes 0.75h
More《漫畫·巴萊》
35 minutes 0.58h
《頭文字D (第十四卷)》
35 minutes 0.58h
42 pages of《頭文字D(第十四卷)》
40 minutes 0.67h
Two chapters of《漫畫•巴萊》
60 minutes 1.0h
Started 《漫畫·巴萊》this morning, which is a graphic novel version of 《賽德克·巴萊》(Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale). I was living in Taiwan when the movie came out, and some of the actors were my 「車友」(biking friends) in Taiwan so the film has a special place in my heart. I knocked out 48 pages of graphic novel this morning, and looked up a lot of interesting words that I pretty much needed for the book to make sense— things like 紋面 (face tattoo); 游擊 (guerrilla warfare); 出草 (headhunting expedition); 生番 (barbarian; aboriginal savage tribe (dated pejorative, btw... so please don’t say this crap to others)), etc.
40 minutes 0.67h
Finished 《頭文字D(第十三卷)》
65 minutes 1.08h
Finished 《履歷表(The Private Me)》!
Your Resume, please? With the illustration.
How about after the challenge :)
15 minutes 0.25h
《頭文字D(第十三卷)》quick dead time reading session.
20 minutes 0.33h
《頭文字D(第十三卷)》
45 minutes 0.75h
Morning coffee and some more 『履歷表(The Private Me)』reading. I’m 70% done with the book and should finish with plenty of time to start the next one before this challenge is over.
60 minutes 1.0h
Hour of reading 頭文字D (第十三卷)while my daughter watched some 小豬佩奇
30 minutes 0.5h
Morning coffee and 「履歷表(The Private Me)」reading session.
60 minutes 1.0h
Morning coffee and more progress on 「履歷表 (The Private Me)」
15 minutes 0.25h
Finished up 頭文字D (第十二卷) and I’m now 25% done with the entire Initial D collection!
60 minutes 1.0h
頭文字D(第十二卷) reading session. Will finish up the book before bed
30 minutes 0.5h
Coffee and 「履歷表 (The Private Me)」to start the day. I’m now 53% through the book!
The title has me intrigued, isn't 履歷表 the word for "Curriculum vitae"? What's the book about?
Author 幾米 explores a ton of different characters in the style of a CV. Many of the characters have some very strange occupations (吹氣球,縫眼睛,等)and his writing style is rather poetic. There is lots of repetition of questions, such as “最大的夢想” or “一生中最得意的事,” which is great for making these phrases stick in your head. Some of the CVs have me laughing out loud, while others make me a little sad, tbh. The book is also filled with some brilliant illustrations. I’m really enjoying it!
60 minutes 1.0h
Wrapped up 「安末」(was way closer to the end than I thought last night) and started reading 頭文字D (第十二卷)
25 minutes 0.42h
Single Focus Keeper session of 頭文字D (第十二卷)
30 minutes 0.5h
30-minute reading session on break during work. Would have loved to get an hour in this morning, but sometimes you gotta shift the scheduled around a bit. Important part is not breaking the chain!
Now that’s some wisdom I need to take to heart!
I was sooo busy yesterday with work and right after I read your message of the importance of not breaking the chain, I just resume the readings! The time spent in cellphone and social media converted in reading, loving this challenge!
Glad you could find that little nugget of wisdom useful! I take no credit for the idea. I read about it in Atomic Habits, and it was credited to Jerry Seinfeld, although later it turned out he didn’t actually say it. Regardless, it is a powerful statement and the basis for positive habit formation! Happy reading, y’all!
50 minutes 0.83h
Two Focus Keeper Pomodoro sessions while doing a bit of graded reader research and reading Mandarin Companion’s 「安末」. Finished up to chapter 9 this evening, and I’ll probably finish the book tomorrow at some point.
60 minutes 1.0h
Morning coffee and reading 「履歷表」while my kids enjoy some Sunday morning cartoons. Win win! About 50% through the book. Taking a bit more time for close reading in the morning, because I really enjoy the way this author writes.
30 minutes 0.5h
A little bit of Du Chinese reading for the evening.
50 minutes 0.83h
Two Pomodoro sessions using Focus Keeper to wrap up 頭文字D (第十一卷).
25 minutes 0.42h
Single Pomodoro session using Focus Keeper and reading 「履歷表 (The Private Me)」
25 minutes 0.42h
Single Pomodoro session to make some more progress on 「履歷表」(The Private Me).
75 minutes 1.25h
Three 25-minute reading sessions using the Focus Keeper app on my iPad while reading Du Chinese. Finished “Witches’ Loaves” and “The Human Chair” short stories and a few random lessons. Fun stuff!
Ah man that human chair one was creepy. Good story.
The name "The Human Chair" reminds me of this video: https://youtu.be/I2KJ3ZkunAM
Wow! Human Chair! Is it available in Du Chinese?
@Renzo Braga yup. It is one of the stories lessons on Du Chinese
25 minutes 0.42h
Single Pomodoro reading session to prep for Chinese class this afternoon.
50 minutes 0.83h
Two more Focus Keeper sessions. Finished 頭文字D vol. 10 and made it to pg. 32 in vol. 11
45 minutes 0.75h
Morning coffee and reading 「履歷表」. I’m now about 24% done with the book, and will continue to read it every morning until I’m done.
What's that? It just means "resume" to me. A novel?
A book that does indeed just mean resume in English. The author is 幾米, and it is about a bunch of people with crazy jobs, and the whole book is written in a strange "resume" style. Hard to explain, but it's fun. The English title is "The Private Me."
Sounds like a plan! 👍
I see. I've read several of his books, but they were all rather short picture books with a freestyle form of modern poetry, which I think he's most known for. I liked those, though!
I think I'm going to have to check some of that stuff out. My teacher made us all buy the book for an advanced Chinese class back in the day, but we never finished the whole thing. I love 幾米's writing style, and can't wait to check out their poetry!
25 minutes 0.42h
25-minutes of reading 頭文字D before bed (but still on 2020-11-12). Now about 3/4s of the way through episode 10, and will finish the book tonight.
45 minutes 0.75h
Shifted over to TCB for some articles for the evening and knocked out a bunch more reading while listening to Chinese version of Peppa Pig with the kiddos in the background. Haha
60 minutes 1.0h
60-minute analogue reading session from 「履歷表」. Happy that a lot of the words I had highlighted in the past are easy to understand these days (I started the book over since it’s been almost a decade since I read it), and while I’m not reading at 100% comprehension, I’m also not getting to bogged down by mastering the material. I have selected a few pages of text that I’d like to go through with my Chinese teacher at my lesson on Friday, and I’ll circle-back to various areas of the book when I can block out a bit more time for more extended Chinese studying on the weekend.
60 minutes 1.0h
146 pages of 頭文字D(第十卷)
15 minutes 0.25h
A few Du Chinese articles before picking up the kids. I don't even remember the levels, I usually just sort by category and just choose things that look interesting. Today I learned the word 充電寶 (mobile charge pack)
40 minutes 0.67h
Read 104 pages and finished 頭文字D (第九卷) to kick off the challenge
20 minutes 0.33h
A morning session of Du Chinese articles in bed to kick off the day.
25 minutes 0.42h
Coffee and 「履歷表」(The Private Me). Single 25-minute Pomodoro session to make sure I stop and get to work!
Challenge time progress: | |
---|---|
Goal progress: |
Score | 34.43 |
---|---|
Rank | 3rd |
Hours reported | 34.43 |
Profile | |
Goal | 10h |
Any tips on how to go about doing this pronunciation challenge? What are the resources, the methodology?