Learning Mandarin – Post #2

Nathan Clark

My goal is to spend 5 minutes everyday practicing Mandarin using the HelloChinese app. What I am learning is that it is difficult to develop new habits, especially when my life is already so insanely busy. Even though I am only aiming for 5 minutes a day, it is difficult to find the capacity after being in school full-time and working several jobs.

So– today I am focusing on how to develop new habits.

I asked Google Gemini: “How do I develop a new habit?”

It gave me 3 steps:

  1. The Strategy of “Small”
    • Basically, don’t start too big
    • Set very small and achievable goals as a means of avoiding getting overwhelmed
      • While I don’t think that 5 minutes a day is an overwhelming goal, I will adjust my goal to simply opening the app everyday
  2. Use “Habit Stacking”
    • Pair the new habit with a habit that you already have
    • For example, meditate for 1 minute after drinking your morning coffee
      • I will try to open my app everyday after dinner. If that doesn’t work, I will try something else
  3. Design Your Environment
    • Put the tools you need for the habit literally front and center
    • If you want to drink more water, put a water bottle on your desk
      • Since I often have my phone on me, I do not think that this is the issue
  4. Reward and Track
    • Use visual progress and instant rewads
      • The app has a built-in streaks and rewards tool, so again, I do not think that this is the issue

I now begin take 2 of my Mandarin-learning journey.

祝我好运 (wish me luck)