One of my habits is improving my Mandarin Chinese.
The short-term goal is to pass the HSK 6.
To get there, my current focus is 4K “words writings learned” on Skritter, and 4 hours/week of private tutoring.
Word writings learned:
- July 8th: 2740 (this goes back to February)
- July 15th: 2920
- July 22nd: 3280
- July 29th: 3460
- August 5th: 3720
- August 12th: 3720; caught up in word readings
- August 19th: 3830
- August 26th: 3850; I spent only 30 minutes/day this week
- September 2nd: 4020 <-- hit my goal, so I'll probably slow down now
- September 9th: 4080
On September 9th, my attention shifted to Skype classes and reading Chinese (this site is particularly helpful given its side-by-side Chinese-and-English versions of most articles).
In early November, I paused this habit. Without a regular opportunity to speak the language (eg, dating a Chinese girl), or a long-term goal where I’d need to use it (eg, starting a company in Shanghai), it was difficult to maintain motivation.