Consistent work... Mandarin, Cantonese, some Malay.
Usual day starts with situps, listening to mixed-language tapes while making coffee etc, then at least twenty minutes working page-by-page through New Practical Chinese Reader 3, listening to CCTV news while doing morning scans, speaking aloud two pages in Cantonese Slang Dictionary, listening to NPCR2 or other materials on the commute to office, listening to Chinese history on the walk back, some more mixed-language while unpacking, varied materials in the evening.
More detail on some of these. NPCR3 work is "if there's any doubt, look it up in the dictionary, speak every related compound, write it down". I've worked in this book in the past, but this pass am nailing every ambiguity, finder deeper context on each term. About 120 pages in since Christmas; 80 more to go. Then do the same review for NPCR4. In autumn I hope to start fresh work in NPCR5. Volumes 3 & 4 are for second-year college students in intensive study.
The new Oxford Chinese Dictionary is my best friend. The depth of examples, read aloud, really helps me learn or wire a new word, reduce ambiguity of understanding.
Greatly enjoying "From Yao to Mao, 5000 Years of Chinese History", listening to each segment a few times. Almost at the end, then plan on a full re-hearing to embed it. After that it's "Fall and Rise of China". TheGreatCourses.com had both on sale, and both are working very well for me.
Flashcards... not much progress. Right now I get a session or two a week.
Overall I'm hearing much more on the newscasts, and can often glean information from onscreen captions. Vernacular conversation still goes by too fast for me to fully process, but I can often recognize word-by-word. As baseball season gets underway I'll be able to fit in more radio-listening.
Cantonese goal is daily exposure. No real study per se, just ongoing familiarity on basic tourist stuff.
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