u/Present_Cupcake6869

Recently, I came to realize that gaming in moderation is not enough for me.

I have a full time job, a family, pets, other interests. I find that even if I game 2 hours a week, on a Saturday morning, gaming is still occupying my mind most days (creating huge cravings for it).

The issue is that I consume a lot of gaming content, specially on YouTube. I feel like I used that as a passive replacement for when I am not actively playing a game.

I noticed that this makes me much less motivated to do any of my other interests.

Anyways I stopped consuming content for a couple of days and noticed a difference, where I felt better when doing other things.

Although, it all fell down when the weekend came by, and I picked up the controller. I went on Youtube and watched something about the game I was playing. And that led to watching more videos in the following days.

I cannot seem to find the right balance for the hobby. I want to do more of the other things instead. I don't want to feel a resistance towards my other interests. I don't want gaming to occupy my mind 24/7.. It sucks...

Have you found a good balance in the hobby and your life? Or did you quit cold turkey?

it saddens me to have the idea of giving up a hobby I have for more than 25 years of my life.

I found myself struggling with consistency with some learning methods. Every time this happens, I look for alternative ways to go about it. But in this case I really don't know what to do.

For instance, I am using the chinese zero to hero courses and the hsk 1 books. I also paid for the basic pack of Pleco, which gives the flash cards on top of a few other useful features. I am focusing on learning to speak, to read and to hear, have been avoiding the writing aspect.

The issue is.. I struggle with retention. I am not consistent with the flash cards. And no matter how hard I try, I always fall back.

I try to do an hsk lesson once a week. But due to the lack of consistency in reviewing the content, I cannot retain the vocabulary as well as I would have hoped for. In my mind I feel like the flash cards aren't for me.. but everyone says they are essential.

I also do not have all the time in the word. Not in the week days at least.

I tried to look for alternative methods but I cannot find anything. Do you also struggle with consistency at times? What methods do you use to retain what you are learning?

I would love to have some guidance from anyone at different stages of language learning.

Hi!

I am sort of new to language learning. I have been trying different methods to see what works for me. Then I plan to follow through with whats best and continue my journey.

So when you were a beginner (or if you are still one), what methods have you used? I am asking for around hsk 1 and 2 levels.

There seem to be sooo many ways to learn that I am getting slightly overwhelmed right now.

Also, have you learn to write chinese characters? I am debating if I should as many seem to skip that in favor of efficiency.

I welcome everyone's thoughts and experiences.