Over the last year I've gotten back into the swing of learning Mandarin and I think I've been making a lot more progress than I have in my many, many past attempts. The big difference this time, I believe, is that I'm spending a lot more energy on immersion learning than spaced repetition. Spaced repetition is a good strategy, but without a sense of where you're going, it's really hard to stay motivated for the literal years it takes to gain proficiency in a new language. They say you should be doing at least an hour of immersion practice every day to make meaningful progress. I figure I can spend an hour a day watching television. I probably already do that plenty of days a week, and maybe I'd even feel better about if I could justify it to myself as "studying." But once I put that spin on it, there's a switch that flips somewhere in my brain. Watching TV isn't really something I do intentionally; it's not something I'm planning my week around. It just happens, usually when I'm…
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