#zhongwenblr

Long time no post! I have been on my course since September, and the first semester was stressful to say the least. Would you guys like a detailed post on my course? I am currently studying enterprise management (企业管理) master course at Qingdao University. Before I started I couldn’t find any other people online/at my uni doing the master course in Chinese… so I had no other people to reference my experience to which I feel would have been helpful. Would you guys like to know about it?

Anyway onto the post…

Below is a preview of my university course notebook. The page you see is where I put an overview of my classes. You can see I have made a note of what study methods to use, info about exams and homework to do. To organise my homework I created a tag called ‘homework’. For each piece of homework I tag it as such. On the right hand panel you can see my tag summary (to open click home > find tags). I then filter to this notebook. I can then see all my tasks tagged 'homework’ from every page and its now organised as a bit to do list.

This is a closer look at the tags summary.

I also have a tag which is called 'to ask’, this tag is used when I come across something I don’t understand and need help. As you can see below I have tagged some words I don’t understand and need clarification. When I next meet my teacher I can simply go to the tags summary and click on each tag that takes me to a different page. This is powerful as you do not need to remember where you got stuck and look in all pages when you meet your teacher for help.

Lastly I have a tag called 'projects’, this is for mini 'projects’ that I want to learn about outside of my course (for example I want to learn some Tang poems, or studying starsigns in Chinese etc.)

Other tag ideas include

·       Exam

·       Remember for later (if I am in class I need to make a note.. e.g. add vocab to my pleco etc. but don’t have time, I’ll note it and execute after class)

In daily life I use such tags too (in my 'organiser’ notebook). One note doesn’t just organise my studies.. But my whole life! (if anyone would like some posts about organising in general then let me know.. I could make some posts).

Tags include…

·       Groceries

·       Recipes

·       Wishlist

·       TV show to watch

If you have any tag ideas let me know in the comments too :D

Hello all,

Sorry for my lack of posts, I have in fact been taking a mental break (i.e. giving my brain a rest so I don’ t burnout before September) as I have been accepted to study a master in business administration at Qingdao University :D :D I am so happy but also crapping it a bit because I think it is going to be quite full on. Best be putting my study tips on this blog to use then!! I am taking the summer to prepare my departure and spend time with family and friends (and catch up on TV/films that I wont have time to come September).

Remember it is always useful to give yourself regulated breaks even when studying for fun so you can give your brain a rest, it may even help your progress by coming back to study refreshed and more motivated :D

As I will be taking a flight tomorrow morning this post seems quite apt :)

Ideas for study:

• Physical books or readers - make sure it’s not too hard a book that you’ll have to make notes for etc. that is more suited to when you have time and space at a desk
• Audiobooks
  
• Spaced repetition flashcards - can be done virtually anywhere - For Chinese I use Pleco and Anki, for French I use Anki
• Load up your phone/MP3 with audio material
• Pen + paper - you can write out characters, write a journal etc.
• Read newspaper apps on your phone (the chairmans bao, dushu etc.)
  
• Laptop with study material you can use offline (or with airport wifi)- 
• download videos offline (IQIYI is like a netflix/youtube in China and has an offline download function on the computer and phone app)
• save online grammar wiki pages offline in advance and make notes when out of wifi
• in addition to studying words with flashcard software, I also have exported it to excel and am working on a list of example sentences which a) aids in remembering new vocabulary and b) helps to remember different circumstances it can be used it (I find there are some words I can tell you the English translation but have a hard time using the word myself). Once I have created example sentences I spend time writing these out so I can learn how to write the characters. This is what I shall be doing on the train and at the airport
• NB* make sure your laptop is fully charged for your journey and charge whilst at the airport. Alternatively you can use your phone